Agentic identity is a distinct identity model for AI agents that act autonomously or on behalf of users. Unlike traditional machine identities (service accounts, API keys), agentic identities require ephemeral credentials, granular delegated access via OAuth 2.1/PKCE, and strong protocol compliance. The post covers why agents don't fit human or conventional NHI patterns, maps OWASP Top 10 agentic threats to identity mitigations, and provides practical guidance for both MCP server builders (separate auth/resource servers, enforce per-tool scopes, audit everything) and AI agent developers (use credential vaults, never store user credentials, bind actions to delegating users, request minimum viable scopes).
Table of contents
Why agentic identity needs its own modelSecurity considerations for agentic identityWhat makes managing agentic identities differentAgentic identity best practicesConsistent governance for agentic identityFAQs about agentic identitySort: