Credentials store secret keys, tokens, and authentication data for your services. All credentials are encrypted at rest, and agents can only access them programmatically during task execution—they never see the actual values.

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Managing Credentials

Go to Accounts → Credentials and click New Credentials to create an entry. Credentials

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Name

A descriptive identifier for the credential. Use naming conventions that show its purpose and target system. Example: prod_db_ssh_root or aws_prod_api_key

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Description

Additional context about what this credential is for. Example: Root SSH credentials for production Ubuntu database server

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Organization

By default, credentials are available to all organizations. Select a specific organization to restrict access to only that org’s agents.

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Type

  • Value: Store the credential directly in 2501’s encrypted storage
  • Vault Path: Reference a secret stored in an external vault like HashiCorp Vault
When using vault paths, make sure the vault is accessible from where your agents run.

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Value

The actual credential data or vault path reference. All values are encrypted and only decrypted when needed. ⚠️ Important: Escape special characters properly to prevent authentication errors.

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Agent Accessible

Controls whether agents can use this credential during tasks. Enable for:
  • SSH configurations for remote execution
  • API keys for CLI tools
  • Database credentials for queries
  • Any credential the agent needs to pass to commands
Disable for:
  • Service credentials used only by 2501 infrastructure
  • MCP server authentication tokens
  • Backend service bearer tokens

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Assigning Credentials to Agents

When creating or editing an agent, find the credentials section to assign what’s needed. Assign Creds For each credential, configure:
  • Role: How the credential will be used (see below)
  • Priority: Order of precedence when multiple credentials of the same type exist
  • Required: Whether the agent can work without it
Only credentials marked “Agent Accessible” will show up here.

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Credential Roles

Roles define how agents use credentials during execution.

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Authentication

For service and API authentication:
  • Username: Login identifier
  • Password: Authentication password
  • API Key: Service API key
  • Secret: Generic secret value
  • Token: Bearer tokens, access tokens, session tokens

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Remote Access

For SSH and remote connections:
  • SSH Username: Remote system login name
  • SSH Password: Password-based SSH authentication
  • SSH Private Key: Private key for key-based authentication
  • SSH Public Key: Public key (rarely needed)

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Machine Configuration

For network and service connectivity:
  • Host: IP address or hostname
  • Hostname: Fully qualified domain name
  • Port: Service port number
  • Certificate: SSL/TLS certificates
  • Private Key: Machine or service private keys
  • Public Key: Machine or service public keys

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Common Use Cases

SSH Remote Execution
Roles: SSH Username, SSH Private Key, Host
Agent Accessible: Yes
Required: Yes API Service Integration
Roles: API Key, Host
Agent Accessible: Yes
Required: No (can fall back to anonymous) Database Access
Roles: Username, Password, Host, Port
Agent Accessible: Yes
Required: Yes MCP Server Authentication
Role: Token
Agent Accessible: No
Required: Yes

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Credential Priority

When multiple credentials with the same role are assigned to an agent, priority determines which gets tried first. Lower numbers = higher priority. Useful for:
  • Failover scenarios (try primary, fall back to secondary)
  • Multi-environment access (different credentials for different systems)
  • Credential rotation (keep old credentials briefly while transitioning)

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Security Best Practices

Only mark credentials as “Agent Accessible” when necessary. Use organization-level scoping to limit exposure. Rotate credentials regularly and after any suspected compromise. For production systems, prefer vault paths over direct values. Review which agents have access to sensitive credentials, and always document the credential’s purpose clearly.