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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesAn AWS service control policy (SCP) can cap what principals in an organization’s member accounts are allowed to do, but it cannot inherently tell whether a request came from a person or an AI agent. To make a same-role restriction selective, build it around request context keys that the actual integration supplies—or separate the agent with its own role—and test every relevant request path before rollout.
What an SCP can—and cannot—control
An SCP sets a maximum-permissions ceiling for principals in AWS Organizations member accounts; it does not grant permissions. Identity-based policies still need to allow an action. Applicable policies constrain effective access, and an explicit deny takes precedence over an allow. AWS distinguishes SCPs, which constrain principals, from resource control policies (RCPs), which constrain access to resources. See AWS’s SCP documentation and IAM policy evaluation logic.
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That ceiling is useful as an organization-wide backstop, but it is not an agent detector. A role ARN or a successful role assumption does not, by itself, establish whether a human or an agent initiated a particular request. An SCP can distinguish requests only through conditions based on attributes available on those requests.
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Can an SCP distinguish an agent using the same role?
Sometimes, if the request path supplies a suitable context key. AWS Security Blog guidance on Model Context Protocol (MCP) describes AWS-managed MCP servers providing request context keys that policies can inspect. One example is aws:ViaAWSMCPService. AWS characterizes context keys as “your primary mechanism to restrict agent actions differently from human-initiated actions on the same role.” See AWS’s guidance on secure AI agent access patterns.
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The condition is only as useful as its coverage. An equivalent API action routed through another tool, such as a shell or CLI, may not carry the same MCP-related signal. Do not assume every agent invocation—or every AWS service request—has aws:ViaAWSMCPService. The available context depends on the integration and request path; the sources do not establish universal coverage across services, agent runtimes, or custom MCP implementations.
Choose the signal that matches your architecture
Dedicated agent role
Where feasible, give the agent a separate, narrowly permissioned role rather than sharing a human role. This provides clearer identity separation for policy conditions, access reviews, and incident investigation. AWS recommends controlling runtime credentials and using narrower agent-specific roles where appropriate, particularly for custom or self-managed agents.
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Request context key
For an integration that supplies a reliable key on the relevant calls, a policy condition can target requests carrying that signal. This is the most request-specific option for distinguishing agent-routed actions from human actions on the same role, but only for the paths where the key is present and meaningful. Inventory alternate routes before relying on it.
Principal tag
A consistently applied tag on roles intended for agent use can support inventory, reviews, and policy conditions using aws:PrincipalTag. AWS describes this as a governance signal, not proof of who initiated an individual session. Its reliability depends on who can set, change, or remove the tag. If people can assume a tagged role, the tag alone cannot establish that a particular request was agent-initiated.
Plan the SCP backstop before writing a deny
- Map execution paths. Record the agent runtime, integration, credentials, and tools it can use. Identify the AWS context keys actually present on relevant requests, including calls made through alternate routes.
- Separate identities where practical. Prefer a dedicated agent role when it is feasible. If using role tags, restrict and audit tag administration so the policy signal cannot be casually altered.
- Define the prohibited actions and scope. Decide which actions and principals the guardrail should affect, and which accounts it applies to. Write a narrowly scoped explicit deny conditioned on signals that exist on the requests you intend to restrict. Preserve necessary human workflows through clear, auditable exceptions rather than broad assumptions.
- Test both sides of the boundary. Validate that the intended agent calls are denied, allowed human workflows still work, and alternate agent routes do not bypass the condition. Test in the target organization structure; an example condition is not universally safe across accounts and services.
- Roll out gradually and monitor operations. Expand scope only after validating results. AWS cautions that an SCP change can lock users out of key services, so account for essential service operations and recovery needs before applying a broad deny. See AWS’s guidance on SCP effects and testing.
Match the control to the risk
| Approach | What it distinguishes | Main limitation | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dedicated agent role | Role identity, rather than individual request intent | Requires credential and role design that keeps human access separate | Clearer identity separation and narrower permissions |
| Request context key | Requests carrying a supported integration signal | Coverage can vary by integration and request path | Different treatment of agent-routed and human-routed calls sharing a role, where the key is present |
| Principal tag | Principals or roles marked for agent use | Depends on trusted tag controls; does not prove who initiated a session | Inventory, access review, and role-level policy conditions |
These controls can be combined, but they solve different parts of the problem: a role separates identities, a context key describes a request path, and a tag records governed metadata. None should be treated as a universal label for “agent.”
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