If an agent acts using your password, API key, or bearer token, a service may record the credential holder—often you—without identifying the agent or the instructions behind its action. The agent can also inherit the credential’s permissions, so a mistake or stolen secret may have broader consequences than the task requires. Give agents distinct identities and narrowly delegated access instead of handing them your personal credentials.
What does an agent inherit from your credentials?
A credential is proof a service accepts for access; by itself, it does not explain who or what is operating the client. When an agent uses a human credential, downstream records may identify the human account while omitting the agent and the delegation context. That can leave an organization knowing which account authenticated, but not which agent, instruction, or authorization led to a consequential action. NIST warns that sharing personal or enterprise credentials with agents can create accountability gaps and security, privacy, and legal risks. NIST: Why Agentic AI Needs a Strong Identity Foundation
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Access is inherited too. An agent operating with a broad token may be able to reach resources or perform actions well beyond its immediate task. Static API keys and bearer tokens can be copied and replayed by whoever obtains them; a bearer token does not, on its own, prove that the caller is the intended agent. Credentials can also leak if a design lets them enter prompts, configuration, tool output, or logs. These are risks, not a claim that every service behaves the same way. NIST guidance on agent identity and credentials
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Which access pattern makes the agent accountable?
Compare access designs by asking whose identity the service sees, how much authority the credential grants, how long it remains usable, whether the delegation is visible downstream, and whether the model can read the secret.
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| Access pattern | Identity and accountability | Permission and exposure trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Human password, API key, or bearer token given to the agent | The service may record the human credential holder without distinguishing the agent or delegation. | The agent can inherit the credential’s existing authority; copied or exposed credentials may be replayed. Avoid this pattern for agent access. NIST |
| Distinct agent or workload identity | The agent has its own identifier and entitlements, bound to the user or system operating it, making the actor easier to distinguish. | Permissions can be set for the agent rather than inherited wholesale from a person. NIST recommends treating agents as first-class entities with unique identifiers, credentials, and associated entitlements. NIST |
| Explicit, constrained delegation | The access represents an authorized agent acting on behalf of a user or system, if the platform carries that context into downstream records. | Limit the authorization by task, resource, action, audience, and duration. OAuth 2.0 and SPIFFE are among established approaches discussed by NIST; the right implementation depends on the platform. NIST |
A distinct identity and delegated authority solve related but different problems: the identity helps name the agent, while delegation records the authority under which it acts. A design should preserve both where the service supports them.
How do you give an agent only the access it needs?
- Create an identifiable actor. Use an agent or workload identity with its own identifier and entitlements. Bind it to the operating user or system so the relationship is traceable, rather than treating the agent as an invisible extension of a person. NIST
- Constrain delegated authority. Grant only the tools, actions, resources, and audience needed for the task, and prefer short-lived access where supported. Set permissions narrowly enough that a token cannot authorize unrelated work; make sure there is a way to revoke it. NIST discusses scoped, audience-restricted credentials and token lifecycle management, including issuance, updates, and revocation. NIST
- Require a separate check for sensitive actions. Do not assume an agent’s proposed action is authorized just because it can call a tool. Validate the action against its scope, privilege, and approval state, and require explicit authorization for sensitive operations. OWASP recommends least privilege for agent tools and permissions. OWASP AI Agent Security Cheat Sheet
- Keep the secret outside model-visible context. Where the platform allows it, store credentials in a secret facility or downstream execution component and pass the agent only the operation it needs. OWASP advises against logging credentials or personal data in plain text. GitHub describes a workflow design in which secrets remain outside the agent runtime and are used in isolated downstream jobs; that is a platform-specific example, not a guarantee available everywhere. OWASP
- Record the action and authorization, not the secret. Keep audit records that identify the actor, action, relevant authorization, and outcome, and protect the records from unauthorized access or alteration. Correlate activity using credential metadata or identifiers rather than retaining the original token value. OWASP
What would this look like for a coding agent?
Suppose a coding agent uses a developer’s personal access token to edit repositories. The service may attribute changes to the developer’s credential, making it harder to establish whether the person or the agent performed an operation. A safer design uses an agent-specific identity or installation credential, limits repository and operation permissions to the task, and preserves the delegated authorization in the audit trail.
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GitHub’s documentation offers a concrete example of platform-specific controls: its agent audit events can include an actor_is_agent field, and its enterprise credential-review guidance describes correlating credential identifiers with audit activity without needing the original token value. These features illustrate useful patterns; they do not establish that other providers expose the same fields or controls. Check the current documentation and configuration for the service you use. GitHub: Audit log events for agents · GitHub Enterprise Cloud: Reviewing credentials in your enterprise
What an authenticator does—and does not—solve
A user’s FIDO2 security key may be useful where a service supports it, but it does not create an agent identity, narrow an agent’s permissions, or record delegated authority by itself. NIST describes consumer-facing agent authenticators bound to user identities as an early-stage area, so a security key should not be treated as a universal way to authenticate agents. Agent identity and delegation controls depend on the standards and features implemented by the particular platform. NIST
Quick Recap
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