diff --git a/cmd/sessions.go b/cmd/sessions.go
index d98a6d1..8017b98 100644
--- a/cmd/sessions.go
+++ b/cmd/sessions.go
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ var sessionLoginCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		case "yaml":
 			util.PrintYAML(newSessions)
 		default:
-			log.Error().Msg("unrecognized output format")
+			log.Error().Msg("unrecognized output sessionOutputFormat")
 			os.Exit(1)
 		}
 	},
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ var sessionLogoutCmd = &cobra.Command{
 
 var sessionStatusCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use: "status",
-	Example: `  // show the host's session service status in YAML format
+	Example: `  // show the host's session service status in YAML sessionOutputFormat
   magellan sessions status https://172.21.0.2:5000 -u $bmc_username -p $bmc_password -i -F yaml`,
 	Args:  cobra.MinimumNArgs(1),
 	Short: "Show the status of the session service",
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ var sessionListCmd = &cobra.Command{
 				case FORMAT_YAML:
 					util.PrintYAML(session)
 				default:
-					log.Error().Msg("unrecognized output format")
+					log.Error().Msg("unrecognized output sessionOutputFormat")
 					os.Exit(1)
 				}
 
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ var sessionListCmd = &cobra.Command{
 				case FORMAT_YAML:
 					util.PrintYAML(sessionIDs)
 				default:
-					log.Error().Msg("unrecognized output format")
+					log.Error().Msg("unrecognized output sessionOutputFormat")
 					os.Exit(1)
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/internal/util/bmc.go b/internal/util/bmc.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d2aaebf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/util/bmc.go
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+package util
+
+import (
+	"github.com/davidallendj/magellan/pkg/bmc"
+	"github.com/davidallendj/magellan/pkg/secrets"
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
+)
+
+func GetBMCCredentials(store secrets.SecretStore, id string) bmc.BMCCredentials {
+	var (
+		creds bmc.BMCCredentials
+		err   error
+	)
+
+	if id == "" {
+		log.Error().Msg("failed to get BMC credentials: id was empty")
+		return creds
+	}
+
+	if id == secrets.DEFAULT_KEY {
+		log.Info().Msg("fetching default credentials")
+		if creds, err = bmc.GetBMCCredentialsDefault(store); err != nil {
+			log.Warn().Err(err).Msg("failed to get default credentials")
+		} else {
+			log.Info().Msg("default credentials found, using")
+		}
+		return creds
+	}
+
+	if creds, err = bmc.GetBMCCredentials(store, id); err != nil {
+		// Specific credentials for URI not found, fetch default.
+		log.Warn().Str("id", id).Msg("specific credentials not found, falling back to default")
+		if defaultSecret, err := bmc.GetBMCCredentialsDefault(store); err != nil {
+			// We've exhausted all options, the credentials will be blank unless
+			// overridden by a CLI flag.
+			log.Warn().Str("id", id).Err(err).Msg("no default credentials were set, they will be blank unless overridden by CLI flags")
+		} else {
+			// Default credentials found, use them.
+			log.Info().Str("id", id).Msg("default credentials found, using")
+			creds = defaultSecret
+		}
+	} else {
+		log.Info().Str("id", id).Msg("specific credentials found, using")
+	}
+
+	return creds
+}
diff --git a/pkg/collect.go b/pkg/collect.go
index dd4ff1a..9f459a6 100644
--- a/pkg/collect.go
+++ b/pkg/collect.go
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ type CollectParams struct {
 //
 // Requests can be made to several of the nodes using a goroutine by setting the q.Concurrency
 // property value between 1 and 10000.
-func CollectInventory(assets *[]RemoteAsset, params *CollectParams, store secrets.SecretStore) ([]map[string]any, error) {
+func CollectInventory(assets *[]RemoteAsset, params *CollectParams) ([]map[string]any, error) {
 	// check for available remote assets found from scan
 	if assets == nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no assets found")
@@ -134,12 +134,6 @@ func CollectInventory(assets *[]RemoteAsset, params *CollectParams, store secret
 					log.Warn().Str("id", config.URI).Msg("username will be blank")
 				}
 
-				// get BMC username to send
-				bmcCreds, err := bmc.GetBMCCredentials(params.SecretStore, config.URI)
-				if err != nil {
-					log.Error().Str("id", config.URI).Msg("username will be blank")
-				}
-
 				// data to be sent to smd
 				data := map[string]any{
 					"ID":                 fmt.Sprintf("%v", node.String()[:len(node.String())-2]),