diff --git a/swh/lister/gitlab/lister.py b/swh/lister/gitlab/lister.py
--- a/swh/lister/gitlab/lister.py
+++ b/swh/lister/gitlab/lister.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 # License: GNU General Public License version 3, or any later version
 # See top-level LICENSE file for more information
 
-import random
 import time
 from urllib3.util import parse_url
 
@@ -28,34 +27,6 @@
             self.PATH_TEMPLATE = '%s&per_page=%s' % (
                 self.PATH_TEMPLATE, per_page)
 
-    def request_params(self, identifier):
-        """Get the full parameters passed to requests given the
-        transport_request identifier.
-
-        For the gitlab lister, the 'credentials' entries is configured
-        per instance. For example::
-
-          - credentials:
-            - gitlab.com:
-              - username: user0
-                password: <pass>
-              - username: user1
-                password: <pass>
-              - ...
-            - other-gitlab-instance:
-              ...
-
-        """
-        params = {
-            'headers': self.request_headers() or {}
-        }
-        creds_lister = self.config['credentials'].get(self.instance)
-        if creds_lister:
-            auth = random.choice(creds_lister)
-            if auth:
-                params['auth'] = (auth['username'], auth['password'])
-        return params
-
     def uid(self, repo):
         return '%s/%s' % (self.instance, repo['path_with_namespace'])
 
diff --git a/swh/lister/phabricator/lister.py b/swh/lister/phabricator/lister.py
--- a/swh/lister/phabricator/lister.py
+++ b/swh/lister/phabricator/lister.py
@@ -15,13 +15,17 @@
     MODEL = PhabricatorModel
     LISTER_NAME = 'phabricator'
 
-    def __init__(self, forge_url, api_token, instance=None,
+    def __init__(self, forge_url, instance=None, api_token=None,
                  override_config=None):
         if forge_url.endswith("/"):
             forge_url = forge_url[:-1]
         self.forge_url = forge_url
-        api_endpoint = ('api/diffusion.repository.'
-                        'search?api.token=%s') % api_token
+        if api_token:  # from the cli, we might want to provide it as initially
+            api_endpoint = ('api/diffusion.repository.'
+                            'search?api.token=%s') % api_token
+        else:
+            api_endpoint = 'api/diffusion.repository.search'
+
         api_baseurl = '%s/%s' % (forge_url, api_endpoint)
         if not instance:
             instance = urllib.parse.urlparse(forge_url).hostname
@@ -29,6 +33,27 @@
         super().__init__(api_baseurl=api_baseurl,
                          override_config=override_config)
 
+    def request_params(self, identifier):
+        """Override the default params behavior to retrieve the api token
+
+        Credentials are stored as:
+
+        credentials:
+          phabricator:
+            <instance>:
+              - username: <account>
+                password: <api-token>
+
+        """
+        params = super().request_params(identifier)
+        if not params or 'auth' not in params:
+            return params
+        # Setup configuration token
+        auth = params['auth']
+        params['api.token'] = auth[1]  # retrieve password which is
+        del params['auth']
+        return params
+
     def request_headers(self):
         """
         (Override) Set requests headers to send when querying the
diff --git a/swh/lister/phabricator/tasks.py b/swh/lister/phabricator/tasks.py
--- a/swh/lister/phabricator/tasks.py
+++ b/swh/lister/phabricator/tasks.py
@@ -6,10 +6,10 @@
 from swh.lister.phabricator.lister import PhabricatorLister
 
 
-def new_lister(forge_url='https://forge.softwareheritage.org', api_token='',
-               instance='swh', **kw):
-    return PhabricatorLister(forge_url=forge_url, api_token=api_token,
-                             instance=instance, **kw)
+def new_lister(forge_url='https://forge.softwareheritage.org', instance='swh',
+               api_token=None, **kw):
+    return PhabricatorLister(
+        forge_url=forge_url, instance=instance, api_token=api_token, **kw)
 
 
 @app.task(name=__name__ + '.IncrementalPhabricatorLister')
diff --git a/swh/lister/phabricator/tests/test_tasks.py b/swh/lister/phabricator/tests/test_tasks.py
--- a/swh/lister/phabricator/tests/test_tasks.py
+++ b/swh/lister/phabricator/tests/test_tasks.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
     assert res.successful()
 
     lister.assert_called_once_with(
-        api_token='', forge_url='https://forge.softwareheritage.org',
+        api_token=None, forge_url='https://forge.softwareheritage.org',
         instance='swh')
     lister.db_last_index.assert_called_once_with()
     lister.run.assert_called_once_with(min_bound=42)