r/AI_Agents: Builders Surface Gap in Auth and IAM Best Practices as Agents Move From Demos Into Production Systems

A production agent builder on r/AI_Agents opens a thread asking how teams are actually handling authentication and IAM once agents move beyond demos — specifically whether agents run as service accounts, users, or their own identities; how short-lived credentials are managed during multi-step runs; and what happens to permissions during handoffs between agents. The thread exposes a real gap in shared best practices for agent security architecture, with responses surfacing fragmented approaches from service accounts to user impersonation to custom credential brokers and no clear emerging consensus.