diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1b40ae7..789c5c2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 installed via the published tar balls in the GitHub repo.
 
 ~~~bash
-pip install https://github.com/britive/python-cli/releases/download/v0.1.2/pybritive-0.1.2.tar.gz
+pip install https://github.com/britive/python-cli/releases/download/v0.1.3/pybritive-0.1.3.tar.gz
 ~~~
 
 The end user is free to install the CLI into a virtual environment or in the global scope, so it is available
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index d58a98f..0fc10e7 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [metadata]
 name = pybritive
-version = 0.1.2
+version = 0.1.3
 author = Britive Inc.
 author_email = support@britive.com
 description = A pure Python CLI for Britive
diff --git a/src/pybritive/britive_cli.py b/src/pybritive/britive_cli.py
index 9d5d4d2..29c21c5 100644
--- a/src/pybritive/britive_cli.py
+++ b/src/pybritive/britive_cli.py
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
 import io
-import os
-
 from britive.britive import Britive
 from .helpers.config import ConfigManager
 from .helpers.credentials import FileCredentialManager, EncryptedFileCredentialManager
@@ -13,6 +11,7 @@
 from .helpers.cache import Cache
 from britive import exceptions
 from pathlib import Path
+from datetime import datetime
 
 
 default_table_format = 'fancy_grid'
@@ -286,46 +285,71 @@ def checkin(self, profile):
             application_name=app_name
         )
 
-    def checkout(self, alias, blocktime, console, justification, mode, maxpolltime, profile):
-        self.login()
+    def checkout(self, alias, blocktime, console, justification, mode, maxpolltime, profile, passphrase):
         # first check if this is a profile alias
         profile_or_alias = alias or profile
-        profile = self.config.profile_aliases.get(profile, profile)
-        parts = profile.split('/')
-        if len(parts) != 3:
-            raise click.ClickException('Provided profile string does not have the required 3 parts.')
-        app_name = parts[0]
-        env_name = parts[1]
-        profile_name = parts[2]
 
-        try:
-            response = self.b.my_access.checkout_by_name(
-                profile_name=profile_name,
-                environment_name=env_name,
-                application_name=app_name,
-                programmatic=False if console else True,
-                include_credentials=True,
-                wait_time=blocktime,
-                max_wait_time=maxpolltime,
-                justification=justification
-            )
-        except exceptions.ApprovalRequiredButNoJustificationProvided:
-            raise click.ClickException('approval required and no justification provided.')
-        except ValueError as e:
-            raise click.BadParameter(str(e))
+        credentials = None
+        app_type = None
+
+        if mode == 'awscredentialprocess':
+            self.silent = True  # the aws credential process CANNOT output anything other than the expected JSON
+            # we need to check the credential process cache for the credentials first
+            # then check to see if they are expired
+            # if not simply return those credentials
+            # if they are expired
+            app_type = 'AWS'  # just hardcode as we know for sure this is for AWS
+            credentials = Cache(passphrase=passphrase).get_awscredentialprocess(profile_name=profile_or_alias)
+            if credentials:
+                expiration_timestamp_str = credentials['expirationTime'].replace('Z', '')
+                expires = datetime.fromisoformat(expiration_timestamp_str)
+                now = datetime.utcnow()
+                if now >= expires:  # check to ensure the credentials are still valid, if not, set to None and get new
+                    credentials = None
+
+        if not credentials:  # nothing found via aws credential process or not aws credential process mode
+            self.login()
+            profile = self.config.profile_aliases.get(profile, profile)
+            parts = profile.split('/')
+            if len(parts) != 3:
+                raise click.ClickException('Provided profile string does not have the required 3 parts.')
+            app_name = parts[0]
+            env_name = parts[1]
+            profile_name = parts[2]
 
-        if alias:  # do this down here so we know that the profile is valid and a checkout was successful
-            self.config.save_profile_alias(alias=alias, profile=profile)
+            try:
+                response = self.b.my_access.checkout_by_name(
+                    profile_name=profile_name,
+                    environment_name=env_name,
+                    application_name=app_name,
+                    programmatic=False if console else True,
+                    include_credentials=True,
+                    wait_time=blocktime,
+                    max_wait_time=maxpolltime,
+                    justification=justification
+                )
+                credentials = response['credentials']
+                app_type = self._get_app_type(response['appContainerId'])
+            except exceptions.ApprovalRequiredButNoJustificationProvided:
+                raise click.ClickException('approval required and no justification provided.')
+            except ValueError as e:
+                raise click.BadParameter(str(e))
+
+            if alias:  # do this down here so we know that the profile is valid and a checkout was successful
+                self.config.save_profile_alias(alias=alias, profile=profile)
+            if mode == 'awscredentialprocess':
+                Cache(passphrase=passphrase).save_awscredentialprocess(
+                    profile_name=profile_or_alias,
+                    credentials=credentials
+                )
 
-        app_container_id = response['appContainerId']
-        app_type = self._get_app_type(app_container_id)
         cc_printer = self.__get_cloud_credential_printer(
             app_type,
             console,
             mode,
             profile_or_alias,
             self.silent,
-            response['credentials']
+            credentials
         )
         cc_printer.print()
 
diff --git a/src/pybritive/choices/mode.py b/src/pybritive/choices/mode.py
index d9e9b54..c7c5163 100644
--- a/src/pybritive/choices/mode.py
+++ b/src/pybritive/choices/mode.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
         'env-nix',                  # environment variable output specifying "export"
         'env-wincmd',               # environment variable output specifying "set"
         'env-winps',                # environment variable output specifying "$env:"
-        'awscredentialprocess',     # aws credential process output
+        'awscredentialprocess',     # aws credential process output with additional caching to make the credential process more performant
         'azlogin',                  # azure az login command with all fields populated (suitable for eval)
         'azps',                     # azure powershell script
         'browser'                   # when console access is checked out open the browser to the URL provided
diff --git a/src/pybritive/commands/checkout.py b/src/pybritive/commands/checkout.py
index 1472e12..7d33304 100644
--- a/src/pybritive/commands/checkout.py
+++ b/src/pybritive/commands/checkout.py
@@ -25,5 +25,6 @@ def checkout(ctx, alias, blocktime, console, justification, mode, maxpolltime, s
         justification=justification,
         mode=mode,
         maxpolltime=maxpolltime,
-        profile=profile
+        profile=profile,
+        passphrase=passphrase
     )
diff --git a/src/pybritive/helpers/cache.py b/src/pybritive/helpers/cache.py
index 4b6f9d3..bfda76e 100644
--- a/src/pybritive/helpers/cache.py
+++ b/src/pybritive/helpers/cache.py
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 import json
 import os
+from .encryption import StringEncryption, InvalidPassphraseException
 
 
 class Cache:
-    def __init__(self):
+    def __init__(self, passphrase: str = None):
+        self.passphrase = passphrase
+        self.string_encryptor = StringEncryption(passphrase=self.passphrase)
         home = os.getenv('PYBRITIVE_HOME_DIR', str(Path.home()))
         self.path = str(Path(home) / '.britive' / 'pybritive.cache')  # handle os specific separators properly
         self.cache = {}
@@ -27,6 +30,8 @@ def load(self):
 
         if 'profiles' not in self.cache.keys():
             self.cache['profiles'] = []
+        if 'awscredentialprocess' not in self.cache.keys():
+            self.cache['awscredentialprocess'] = {}
 
     def write(self):
         # write the new cache file
@@ -38,8 +43,25 @@ def get_profiles(self):
 
     def save_profiles(self, profiles: list):
         self.cache['profiles'] += profiles
+        # dedup the list of profiles
+        self.cache['profiles'] = list(dict.fromkeys(self.cache['profiles']))
         self.write()
 
     def clear(self):
         self.cache['profiles'] = []
+        self.cache['awscredentialprocess'] = {}
+        self.write()
+
+    def get_awscredentialprocess(self, profile_name: str):
+        try:
+            ciphertext = self.cache['awscredentialprocess'].get(profile_name)
+            if not ciphertext:
+                return None
+            return json.loads(self.string_encryptor.decrypt(ciphertext))
+        except InvalidPassphraseException:  # if we cannot decrypt don't error - just make the API call to get the creds
+            return None
+
+    def save_awscredentialprocess(self, profile_name: str, credentials: dict):
+        ciphertext = self.string_encryptor.encrypt(json.dumps(credentials, default=str))
+        self.cache['awscredentialprocess'][profile_name] = ciphertext
         self.write()
diff --git a/src/pybritive/helpers/credentials.py b/src/pybritive/helpers/credentials.py
index 29fad99..947a42e 100644
--- a/src/pybritive/helpers/credentials.py
+++ b/src/pybritive/helpers/credentials.py
@@ -7,12 +7,9 @@
 import click
 import configparser
 import json
-from cryptography.fernet import Fernet, InvalidToken
-from cryptography.hazmat.backends import default_backend
-from cryptography.hazmat.primitives import hashes
-from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.kdf.pbkdf2 import PBKDF2HMAC
 from .config import ConfigManager
 import os
+from .encryption import StringEncryption, InvalidPassphraseException
 
 
 interactive_login_fields_to_pop = [
@@ -179,23 +176,9 @@ def __init__(self, tenant_name: str, tenant_alias: str, cli: ConfigManager, pass
         self.path = str(Path(home) / '.britive' / 'pybritive.credentials.encrypted')
         self.passphrase = passphrase
         self.prompt()
+        self.string_encryptor = StringEncryption(passphrase=self.passphrase)
         super().__init__(tenant_name, tenant_alias, cli)
 
-    @staticmethod
-    def salt():
-        return base64.b64encode(os.urandom(32)).decode('utf-8')
-
-    def key(self, salt: str):
-        kdf = PBKDF2HMAC(
-            algorithm=hashes.SHA256(),
-            length=32,
-            salt=base64.b64decode(salt.encode()),
-            iterations=100000,
-            backend=default_backend()
-        )
-        key = base64.urlsafe_b64encode(kdf.derive(self.passphrase.encode()))
-        return key
-
     def prompt(self):
         if not self.passphrase:
             self.passphrase = click.prompt(
@@ -205,17 +188,12 @@ def prompt(self):
 
     def decrypt(self, encrypted_access_token: str):
         try:
-            encrypted_access_token, b64salt = encrypted_access_token.split(':')
-            key = self.key(b64salt)
-            return Fernet(key).decrypt(base64.b64decode(encrypted_access_token.encode())).decode('utf-8')
-        except InvalidToken:
-            raise click.ClickException('Invalid passphrase provided. Unable to decrypt credentials.')
+            return self.string_encryptor.decrypt(ciphertext=encrypted_access_token)
+        except InvalidPassphraseException:
+            click.ClickException('invalid passphrase provided - cannot decrypt credentials.')
 
     def encrypt(self, decrypted_access_token: str):
-        salt = self.salt()
-        key = self.key(salt)
-        encrypted_access_token = Fernet(key).encrypt(decrypted_access_token.encode())
-        return f'{base64.b64encode(encrypted_access_token).decode("utf-8")}:{salt}'
+        return self.string_encryptor.encrypt(plaintext=decrypted_access_token)
 
     def load(self, full=False):
         path = Path(self.path)
diff --git a/src/pybritive/helpers/encryption.py b/src/pybritive/helpers/encryption.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e0c7ff3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pybritive/helpers/encryption.py
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import uuid
+from cryptography.fernet import Fernet, InvalidToken
+from cryptography.hazmat.backends import default_backend
+from cryptography.hazmat.primitives import hashes
+from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.kdf.pbkdf2 import PBKDF2HMAC
+import os
+import base64
+import click
+
+
+class InvalidPassphraseException(Exception):
+    pass
+
+
+class StringEncryption:
+    def __init__(self, passphrase: str = None):
+        self.passphrase = passphrase or str(uuid.getnode())  # TODO change?
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _salt():
+        return base64.b64encode(os.urandom(32)).decode('utf-8')
+
+    def _key(self, salt: str):
+        kdf = PBKDF2HMAC(
+            algorithm=hashes.SHA256(),
+            length=32,
+            salt=base64.b64decode(salt.encode()),
+            iterations=100000,
+            backend=default_backend()
+        )
+        return base64.urlsafe_b64encode(kdf.derive(self.passphrase.encode()))
+
+    def encrypt(self, plaintext: str) -> str:
+        salt = self._salt()
+        key = self._key(salt)
+        ciphertext = Fernet(key).encrypt(plaintext.encode('utf-8'))
+        return f'{base64.b64encode(ciphertext).decode("utf-8")}:{salt}'
+
+    def decrypt(self, ciphertext: str):
+        try:
+            ciphertext, b64salt = ciphertext.split(':')
+            key = self._key(b64salt)
+            return Fernet(key).decrypt(base64.b64decode(ciphertext.encode())).decode('utf-8')
+        except InvalidToken:
+            raise InvalidPassphraseException()
diff --git a/src/pybritive/options/passphrase.py b/src/pybritive/options/passphrase.py
index 1a01c7f..cc0d238 100644
--- a/src/pybritive/options/passphrase.py
+++ b/src/pybritive/options/passphrase.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 option = click.option(
     '--passphrase', '-p',
-    help='The passphrase to use for the encrypted-file credential backend type.',
+    help='The passphrase to use for encrypting credentials.',
     envvar='PYBRITIVE_ENCRYPTED_CREDENTIAL_PASSPHRASE',
     show_envvar=True,
     show_default=True