Delegated user
Carry the interactive user identity through the agent.
Secure access for AI agents
Choose the identity model for each AI agent
Use delegated user identity when an agent acts for an interactive user. Use a Pomerium service-account JWT for a headless agent or background job.
What this pattern controls
Service account
Use a stored JWT for a headless agent.
Consistent policy
Apply the same route and tool policy boundary.
Interactive user
Delegate the signed-in user to the agent
Use delegation when the agent acts for an interactive user. Pomerium applies policy to the delegated user identity.
- Use an mcp: client route to obtain a Pomerium external token.
- Pass that token to an LLM API that supports delegated MCP access.
- Keep the original user identity visible to route and tool policy.
Headless agent
Use a service account for background work
Use a service account for a headless agent or background job. A stored service-account JWT is a credential and can be long-lived.
- Create a Pomerium service account JWT for a headless agent.
- Store the JWT securely and set an expiration when supported.
- Complete upstream OAuth interactively before a headless service account reuses the user connection.
Technical sources
Delegate MCP access to an LLM
Delegate an interactive user through an LLM.
Service Accounts
Create a headless machine identity.
MCP with upstream OAuth
Reuse an approved upstream OAuth connection.
