diff --git a/.golangci.yml b/.golangci.yml
index 4ff6418..1598c1d 100644
--- a/.golangci.yml
+++ b/.golangci.yml
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ linters:
     - gocyclo
     - godot
     - godox
-    - goerr113
     - gofmt
     - goheader
     - gomodguard
@@ -116,6 +115,9 @@ linters:
     # Needs package whitelists
     - depguard
 
+    # This is mostly a CLI tool, not a package, so it's OK to have dynamic errors
+    - goerr113
+
 issues:
   # Don't hide multiple issues that belong to one class since GitHub annotations can handle them all nicely.
   max-issues-per-linter: 0
diff --git a/internal/command/create/vm.go b/internal/command/create/vm.go
index d9ef9dd..8042b76 100644
--- a/internal/command/create/vm.go
+++ b/internal/command/create/vm.go
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ var memory uint64
 var netSoftnet bool
 var netBridged string
 var headless bool
+var username string
+var password string
 var resources map[string]string
 var restartPolicy string
 var startupScript string
@@ -38,6 +40,10 @@ func newCreateVMCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	command.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&netSoftnet, "net-softnet", false, "whether to use Softnet network isolation")
 	command.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&netBridged, "net-bridged", "", "whether to use Bridged network mode")
 	command.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&headless, "headless", true, "whether to run without graphics")
+	command.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&username, "username", "admin",
+		"SSH username to use when executing a startup script on the VM")
+	command.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&password, "password", "admin",
+		"SSH password to use when executing a startup script on the VM")
 	command.PersistentFlags().StringToStringVar(&resources, "resources", map[string]string{},
 		"resources to request for this VM")
 	command.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&restartPolicy, "restart-policy", string(v1.RestartPolicyNever),
@@ -82,6 +88,8 @@ func runCreateVM(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		NetSoftnet: netSoftnet,
 		NetBridged: netBridged,
 		Headless:   headless,
+		Username:   username,
+		Password:   password,
 		HostDirs:   hostDirs,
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/command/worker/run.go b/internal/command/worker/run.go
index 8a91663..2ecf54d 100644
--- a/internal/command/worker/run.go
+++ b/internal/command/worker/run.go
@@ -12,13 +12,19 @@ import (
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 	"gopkg.in/natefinch/lumberjack.v2"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
 )
 
-var ErrRunFailed = errors.New("failed to run worker")
-
-var ErrBootstrapTokenNotProvided = errors.New("no bootstrap token provided")
+var (
+	ErrRunFailed                   = errors.New("failed to run worker")
+	ErrNoBootstrapTokenProvided    = errors.New("no bootstrap token was provided")
+	ErrEmptyBootstrapTokenProvided = errors.New("empty bootstrap token was provided")
+)
 
 var bootstrapTokenRaw string
+var bootstrapTokenStdin bool
 var logFilePath string
 var stringToStringResources map[string]string
 var noPKI bool
@@ -33,7 +39,9 @@ func newRunCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	}
 
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&bootstrapTokenRaw, "bootstrap-token", "",
-		"a bootstrap token retrieved via `orchard get bootstrap-token <service-account-name-for-workers>`")
+		"a bootstrap token retrieved via \"orchard get bootstrap-token <service-account-name-for-workers>\"")
+	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&bootstrapTokenStdin, "bootstrap-token-stdin", false,
+		"use this flag to provide a bootstrap token via the standard input")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&logFilePath, "log-file", "",
 		"optional path to a file where logs (up to 100 Mb) will be written.")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringToStringVar(&stringToStringResources, "resources", map[string]string{},
@@ -55,8 +63,12 @@ func runWorker(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (err error) {
 	}
 
 	// Parse bootstrap token
+	bootstrapTokenRaw, err := readBootstrapToken()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	if bootstrapTokenRaw == "" {
-		return ErrBootstrapTokenNotProvided
+		return ErrEmptyBootstrapTokenProvided
 	}
 	bootstrapToken, err := bootstraptoken.NewFromString(bootstrapTokenRaw)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -110,6 +122,27 @@ func runWorker(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (err error) {
 	return workerInstance.Run(cmd.Context())
 }
 
+func readBootstrapToken() (string, error) {
+	if bootstrapTokenRaw != "" && bootstrapTokenStdin {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("--bootstrap-token and --bootstrap-token-stdin are mutually exclusive")
+	}
+
+	if bootstrapTokenRaw != "" {
+		return bootstrapTokenRaw, nil
+	}
+
+	if bootstrapTokenStdin {
+		stdinBytes, err := io.ReadAll(os.Stdin)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to read the bootstrap token from the standard input: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		return strings.TrimSuffix(string(stdinBytes), "\n"), nil
+	}
+
+	return "", ErrNoBootstrapTokenProvided
+}
+
 func createLogger() (*zap.Logger, error) {
 	level := zap.InfoLevel
 	if debug {