Microsoft Entra Agent ID

Governing Agent Identities

12 November 2026New feature+12 / −8 lines

In brief

The documentation adds a default inactivity policy for agent identities across all tenants. It explains that inactive identities are identified, relevant users are notified, and identities may be disabled when activity does not resume. It also updates sponsor lifecycle guidance and adds a PostgreSQL governance link.

What Entra admins need to know

Administrators should account for inactivity-based notifications and possible agent identity disabling when governing agent access and sponsorship.

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Governing Agent Identities

Microsoft Entra allows you to ensure that the right people have the right access to the right apps and services at the right time. With the addition of the Microsoft agent identity platform, managing the access rights of agents in the same way is just as important in the governance lifecycle of your organization's identities. The Microsoft agent identity platform introduces the concept of Agent Identities (IDs). Agent identities are accounts within Microsoft Entra ID that provide unique ~~identification~~identification, authentication and ~~authentication~~authorization capabilities for AI agents.

This allows agent identities to be governed with Microsoft Entra features in the same style as you would govern human identities. With Agent identities, you can govern and manage the identity and access lifecycle of agents, ensuring the agents have a responsible person providing oversight throughout the agent lifecycle and agent's access does not persist longer than it is needed. This article provides an overview of how Microsoft Entra can be utilized to govern agent ~~identities.~~identities and access.

License requirements

Agent identities in other Microsoft products and portals

Microsoft Foundry automatically provisions and manages agent identities throughout the agent lifecycle. When the first agent in a Foundry project is created, Microsoft Foundry provisions a default agent identity blueprint and a default agent identity for the project, and agents in the project authenticate by using the shared project's agent identity. Publishing an agent automatically creates a dedicated agent identity blueprint and agent identity, and the agent will authenticate by using the unique agent identity. Foundry supports use of the agent identity for authentication in ~~Model Context Protocol (MCP)~~Model Context Protocol (MCP) and ~~Agent-to-Agent (A2A) tools.~~Agent-to-Agent (A2A) tools. You can also build an autopilot in Foundry, which augments the agent identity with an agent user account. For more information, see Agent identity concepts in Microsoft Foundry and What is an autopilot in Microsoft Foundry?.
You can configure an Azure App Service or Azure Functions app to use the Microsoft Entra agent identity platform to securely connect to resources as an agent. For more information, see How to use an agent identity in App Service and Azure Functions.

Agents can then be assigned access packages to their agent identities through three different request pathways.

The agent identity itself can programmatically request an access package when needed for its operations, by creating an accessPackageAssignmentRequest.
The agent's sponsor can request access on behalf of the agent ID, providing human oversight in the access request process. For more information, see Request an access package on behalf of an agent identity.

After submission, the access request is routed to designated approvers based on the access package configuration.

When the agent identity has received an access package assignment with an expiry date, and if a sponsor is set on the agent identity, as the expiry date approaches, the sponsor receives notifications about the pending expiration. The sponsor then has two options: they can request an extension of the access package (if permitted by policy), or they can allow the access package assignment to expire. If the sponsor requests an extension, this request can trigger a new approval cycle, where approvers again confirm whether continued access is appropriate. If the sponsor takes no action, the access package assignment automatically expires on its end date, and the agent identity loses access to the target resources.

For a guide on creating an access package for agents, see: access packages for agent identities in Microsoft Entra Agent ID. For a guide on assigning identities to an existing access package, see: View, add, and remove assignments for an access package in entitlement management. For a guide on how access packages can be used with applications such as an Azure database which relies upon security groups, see Govern agent access to data in Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server.

Conditional Access for agent identities

From the My Access portal, Sponsors and Owners of agent identities are able to request access packages on behalf of their agent identities. For a guide on requesting access packages, see: Request an access package on behalf of an agent identity.

Agent identities sponsor administrationlifecycle

One of the most important parts of governing agent identities is making sure that a ~~delegated~~designated human user is always assigned as the sponsor, to make sure the agent identity's access to resources are ~~current.~~appropriate. If the sponsor is leaving the organization, sponsorship of the agent identities iscan be automatically transferred to their manager. With sponsorship transferred, there's always a human user accountable for managing the access and lifecycle of the agent identities. Microsoft Entra ID Governance features can help streamline this process within your organization. Lifecycle workflows include multiple tasks around notifying cosponsors, and managers of sponsors, of impending sponsorship changes. For a guide on setting up a workflow for agent identities sponsors, see: Agent identity sponsor tasks in Lifecycle Workflows.

Agent identity lifecycle automation

To ensure the security and manageability of agent identities for Microsoft customers, Microsoft Entra Agent ID provides a default inactivity policy to all tenants. This policy identifies inactive agent identities, notifies relevant users, and then proceeds to disable the identity if no new activity is detected. For more information, see Microsoft Entra Agent ID default inactivity policy and Entra Agent ID lifecycle policies.

Related content

Manage agents in end user experience - Sponsors can manage their agents from the My Account portal.
What is entitlement management?
What is Microsoft Entra ID Governance?
Govern agent access to data in Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server

@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@ ai-usage: ai-assisted  # Governing Agent Identities -Microsoft Entra allows you to ensure that the right people have the right access to the right apps and services at the right time. With the addition of the Microsoft agent identity platform, managing the access rights of agents in the same way is just as important in the governance lifecycle of your organization's identities. The Microsoft agent identity platform introduces the concept of Agent Identities (IDs). Agent identities are accounts within Microsoft Entra ID that provide unique identification and authentication capabilities for AI agents.+Microsoft Entra allows you to ensure that the right people have the right access to the right apps and services at the right time. With the addition of the Microsoft agent identity platform, managing the access rights of agents in the same way is just as important in the governance lifecycle of your organization's identities. The Microsoft agent identity platform introduces the concept of Agent Identities (IDs). Agent identities are accounts within Microsoft Entra ID that provide unique identification, authentication and authorization capabilities for AI agents. -This allows agent identities to be governed with Microsoft Entra features in the same style as you would govern human identities. With Agent identities, you can govern and manage the identity and access lifecycle of agents, ensuring the agents have a responsible person providing oversight throughout the agent lifecycle and agent's access does not persist longer than it is needed. This article provides an overview of how Microsoft Entra can be utilized to govern agent identities.+This allows agent identities to be governed with Microsoft Entra features in the same style as you would govern human identities. With Agent identities, you can govern and manage the identity and access lifecycle of agents, ensuring the agents have a responsible person providing oversight throughout the agent lifecycle and agent's access does not persist longer than it is needed. This article provides an overview of how Microsoft Entra can be utilized to govern agent identities and access.  ## License requirements @@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ The agent identity and the agent user allow AI agents to take on digital identit  ### Agent identities in other Microsoft products and portals -* **Microsoft Foundry** automatically provisions and manages agent identities throughout the agent lifecycle. When the first agent in a Foundry project is created, Microsoft Foundry provisions a default agent identity blueprint and a default agent identity for the project, and agents in the project authenticate by using the shared project's agent identity. Publishing an agent automatically creates a dedicated agent identity blueprint and agent identity, and the agent will authenticate by using the unique agent identity. Foundry supports use of the agent identity for authentication in Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Agent-to-Agent (A2A) tools. For more information, see [Agent identity concepts in Microsoft Foundry](/azure/ai-foundry/agents/concepts/agent-identity).+* **Microsoft Foundry** automatically provisions and manages agent identities throughout the agent lifecycle. When the first agent in a Foundry project is created, Microsoft Foundry provisions a default agent identity blueprint and a default agent identity for the project, and agents in the project authenticate by using the shared project's agent identity. Publishing an agent automatically creates a dedicated agent identity blueprint and agent identity, and the agent will authenticate by using the unique agent identity. Foundry supports use of the agent identity for authentication in [Model Context Protocol (MCP)](/azure/foundry/agents/how-to/mcp-authentication) and [Agent-to-Agent (A2A) tools](/azure/foundry/agents/concepts/agent-to-agent-authentication). You can also build an autopilot in Foundry, which augments the agent identity with an agent user account. For more information, see [Agent identity concepts in Microsoft Foundry](/azure/ai-foundry/agents/concepts/agent-identity) and [What is an autopilot in Microsoft Foundry?](/azure/foundry/agents/concepts/autopilot-overview).  * You can configure an **Azure App Service or Azure Functions app** to use the Microsoft Entra agent identity platform to securely connect to resources as an agent. For more information, see [How to use an agent identity in App Service and Azure Functions](/azure/app-service/overview-agent-identity). @@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ To use access packages for agent identities, configure an access package with th > [!NOTE] > If your agents aren't using Microsoft Entra agent IDs, but are using service principals, then also create an access package assignment policy with the option **All Service principals** to allow service principals in your directory to be able to request this access package. -Agents can then be assigned access packages through three different request pathways.+Agents can then be assigned access packages to their agent identities through three different request pathways.  - The agent identity itself can programmatically request an access package when needed for its operations, by creating an [accessPackageAssignmentRequest](/graph/api/entitlementmanagement-post-assignmentrequests?tabs=http). - The agent's sponsor can request access on behalf of the agent ID, providing human oversight in the access request process. For more information, see [Request an access package on behalf of an agent identity](entitlement-management-request-behalf.md#request-an-access-package-on-behalf-of-an-agent-identity).@@ -63,9 +63,9 @@ Agents can then be assigned access packages through three different request path  After submission, the access request is routed to designated approvers based on the access package configuration. -When the agent identity has received an access package assignment with an expiry date, and if a sponsor is set on the agent identity, as the expiry date approaches, the sponsor receives notifications about the pending expiration. The sponsor then has two options: they can request an extension of the access package (if permitted by policy), or they can allow the access package assignment to expire. If the sponsor requests an extension, this request can trigger a new approval cycle, where approvers again confirm whether continued access is appropriate. If the sponsor takes no action, the access package assignment automatically expires on its end date, and the agent identity loses access to the target resources.+When the agent identity has received an access package assignment with an expiry date, and a sponsor is set on the agent identity, as the expiry date approaches, the sponsor receives notifications about the pending expiration. The sponsor then has two options: they can request an extension of the access package (if permitted by policy), or they can allow the access package assignment to expire. If the sponsor requests an extension, this request can trigger a new approval cycle, where approvers again confirm whether continued access is appropriate. If the sponsor takes no action, the access package assignment automatically expires on its end date, and the agent identity loses access to the target resources. -For a guide on creating an access package for agents, see: [access packages for agent identities in Microsoft Entra Agent ID](../agent-id/agent-access-packages.md). For a guide on assigning identities to an existing access package, see: [View, add, and remove assignments for an access package in entitlement management](entitlement-management-access-package-assignments.md).+For a guide on creating an access package for agents, see: [access packages for agent identities in Microsoft Entra Agent ID](../agent-id/agent-access-packages.md). For a guide on assigning identities to an existing access package, see: [View, add, and remove assignments for an access package in entitlement management](entitlement-management-access-package-assignments.md). For a guide on how access packages can be used with applications such as an Azure database which relies upon security groups, see [Govern agent access to data in Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server](../agent-id/govern-agent-access-azure-postgresql.md).  ## Conditional Access for agent identities @@ -82,10 +82,13 @@ From the [My Account portal](https://myaccount.microsoft.com/), Sponsors and Own From the [My Access portal](https://myaccess.microsoft.com/), Sponsors and Owners of agent identities are able to request access packages on behalf of their agent identities. For a guide on requesting access packages, see: [Request an access package on behalf of an agent identity](entitlement-management-request-behalf.md#request-an-access-package-on-behalf-of-an-agent-identity).  -## Agent identities sponsor administration+## Agent identities sponsor lifecycle -One of the most important parts of governing agent identities is making sure that a delegated human user is always assigned to make sure the agent identity's access to resources are current. If the sponsor is leaving the organization, sponsorship of the agent identities is automatically transferred to their manager. With sponsorship transferred, there's always a human user accountable for managing the access and lifecycle of the agent identities. Microsoft Entra ID Governance features can help streamline this process within your organization. Lifecycle workflows include multiple tasks around notifying cosponsors, and managers of sponsors, of impending sponsorship changes. For a guide on setting up a workflow for agent identities sponsors, see: [Agent identity sponsor tasks in Lifecycle Workflows](agent-sponsor-tasks.md).+One of the most important parts of governing agent identities is making sure that a designated human user is always assigned as the sponsor, to make sure the agent identity's access to resources are appropriate. If the sponsor is leaving the organization, sponsorship of the agent identities can be automatically transferred to their manager. With sponsorship transferred, there's always a human user accountable for managing the access and lifecycle of the agent identities. Microsoft Entra ID Governance features can help streamline this process within your organization. Lifecycle workflows include multiple tasks around notifying cosponsors, and managers of sponsors, of impending sponsorship changes. For a guide on setting up a workflow for agent identities sponsors, see: [Agent identity sponsor tasks in Lifecycle Workflows](agent-sponsor-tasks.md). +## Agent identity lifecycle automation++To ensure the security and manageability of agent identities for Microsoft customers, Microsoft Entra Agent ID provides a default inactivity policy to all tenants. This policy identifies inactive agent identities, notifies relevant users, and then proceeds to disable the identity if no new activity is detected. For more information, see [Microsoft Entra Agent ID default inactivity policy](agent-default-activity-policy.md) and [Entra Agent ID lifecycle policies](agent-lifecycle-policies.md).  ## Related content @@ -94,3 +97,4 @@ One of the most important parts of governing agent identities is making sure tha - [Manage agents in end user experience](/entra/agent-id/manage-agent-identities-end-user) - Sponsors can manage their agents from the My Account portal. - [What is entitlement management?](entitlement-management-overview.md) - [What is Microsoft Entra ID Governance?](identity-governance-overview.md)+- [Govern agent access to data in Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server](../agent-id/govern-agent-access-azure-postgresql.md)