Runpod

D Runpod (Pods, Serverless, network volumes, S3-compatible API)

Every way a workload drives Runpod (REST v2, GraphQL, runpodctl, the rp and Flash CLIs, GitHub Actions) runs on a static API key; network volumes over S3 need a second static key. No OIDC or federation exists. API keys can be scoped, show a last-used time and are GitHub partner-revoked, but cannot be forced to expire or rotated by API. Into your infra, only private ECR pulls are keyless; Cloud Sync and other registries take pasted keys.

Docs: docs.runpod.io · Checked 2026-11-15 · source YAML · dispute via PR

Inbound D

How a workload running anywhere authenticates to this product.

Static Runpod API key sent as a Bearer token to the REST API v2, the GraphQL API, runpodctl, the rp/Flash CLIs and Serverless endpoint calls; a separate static S3 API key (access key + rps_ secret) for the network volume S3-compatible API. Both are created in the console.

docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“All requests require a [Runpod API key](/get-started/credentials.md) in the request headers.”
api.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“Runpod API key authentication. Generate an API key in the Runpod console and send it in the `Authorization` header as `Bearer <api_key>`.”
docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“Authenticate requests to the Runpod API, CLI, and SDKs.”
docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“Your Runpod API key, which authenticates the CLI to access your account.”
docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“After successful login, your API key is saved to `~/.runpod/config.toml`.”
docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“runpod-api-key: ${{ secrets.RUNPOD_API_KEY }} # Add your API key to a GitHub secret”
docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“Next, you'll need to generate a new key called an "S3 API key" (this is separate from your Runpod API key).”
docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22

Searched the full docs export (llms-full.txt), the REST v2 OpenAPI spec and the GraphQL schema: no OIDC, OpenID, workload identity, federation or token-exchange path exists for any plane, and Runpod's own GitHub Actions example stores the API key as a repository secret. The only non-key bearer the API accepts is a console session JWT for a signed-in human. The rp and Flash CLI "browser" logins simply mint and save an API key locally. The S3-compatible API for network volumes uses its own static access key/secret pair, which is the weakest data-plane path (no expiry, scoping or last-used is documented for it); it is optional, since Pods can mount volumes directly, so the card is graded on the API key that every workload must hold. Runpod has no managed Kubernetes or hosted registry to grade separately, so one card covers the vendor.

Outbound B

How this product reaches into your cloud, repos, or other SaaS.

Private AWS ECR pulls are keyless: you add a repository policy trusting Runpod's fixed AWS deployment roles and register the repository. Every other reach-in takes a pasted static credential: Cloud Sync (AWS access key, GCP service-account JSON, Azure account key, Backblaze key, Dropbox token), Docker Hub/GHCR/GAR registry passwords, and Hugging Face tokens. The GitHub deploy integration is a GitHub App you install.

docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“You configure cross-account IAM delegation so Runpod can pull images on your behalf, with no credential sharing required and no expiring tokens to manage.”
docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“The `aws:PrincipalArn` values are Runpod's fixed AWS deployment roles.”
docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“Register an Amazon ECR delegation that lets Runpod pull private container images from your AWS registry for Pods and Serverless endpoints.”
docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“Enter your **AWS Access Key ID** and **Secret Access Key** in the provided fields.”
docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“Paste the entire contents of your Service Account JSON key into the provided field.”
docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“Enter your **Azure Account Name** and **Account Key** in the provided fields.”
docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“For Google Artifact Registry or gcr.io, set `--username` to the literal `_json_key` and feed the multi-line service-account JSON key file through `--password-stdin`.”
docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“Enter a name, the registry URL, your username, and your password or access token.”
docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“If you're using a gated model, you'll need to enter a [Hugging Face access token](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/security-tokens).”
docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22
“Uninstall "Runpod Inc."”

Checked: ECR delegation (Pods and Serverless, beta), Container Registry Auth (Docker Hub, GHCR, Google Artifact Registry/gcr.io, other registries), Cloud Sync (S3, GCS, Azure Blob, Backblaze B2, Dropbox), Hugging Face cached models, and the GitHub deploy integration. AWS ECR is the one keyless cloud path, which makes this B rather than D/F. Cloud Sync is the worst: it tells you to create an AWS access key under "Security credentials" and paste GCP service-account JSON or an Azure storage account key, with only generic advice to use dedicated accounts and rotate; GCP and Azure have no keyless option anywhere. A reviewer should check the ECR design: the repository policy trusts Runpod's shared deployment roles with no External ID or per-customer condition, and the delegation API takes only the repository ARN, so nothing documented stops another Runpod account that knows the URI from registering the same repository (a confused-deputy gap; still keyless, so not graded down). The GitHub integration is a GitHub App installed with repository selection, which the rubric counts as keyless.

Hygiene for any static credential the product still issues

✗ Expiry enforceable	The November 2024 release note promises "expirations", but the current key-creation steps ask only for a name and permissions, and the GraphQL ApiKey type (id, permissions, createdAt, lastUsed, name, policies, isActive, isLegacy) has no expiry field. No default lifetime, maximum or org policy is documented, and S3 API keys show none either. Per the changeable-default precedent (temporal passes on a platform-enforced cap), nothing here is enforced, so fail. Keys can be disabled with a toggle, which is not expiry. docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22 “Give your key a name and set its permissions (All, Restricted, or Read Only).” graphql-spec.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22 “isLegacy - Boolean” docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22 “Least-privilege tokens with fine-grained scopes and expirations for safer automation.”
✗ Rotation via API	API keys and S3 API keys are created, edited, disabled and revoked only on the console Credentials page. REST v2 covers SSH keys, secrets, registry credentials and ECR delegations but has no API-key endpoints; the published GraphQL mutations are pod, cluster and registry-auth operations only (keys can be listed via myself.apiKeys, not minted or revoked). Account secrets can be rotated by API, but those are values Runpod stores for you, not credentials it issues. docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22 “Click Revoke Key to confirm.” graphql-spec.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22 “RunPod API spec includes most common GraphQL types, queries, and mutations to manage your pods.” docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22 “Use it to create and manage Pods, query Serverless endpoints, provision storage, and retrieve billing data”
✓ Scoped keys	There is no service account or other machine principal; keys belong to a user or a team (team-created keys act for the team, and Organizations, in beta, add member roles). But the key itself carries permissions narrower than its owner: All, Read Only, or Restricted with per-API None/Read Only/Read-Write and per-Serverless-endpoint access. That is a key limited to a subset of permissions and resources, so it passes. Legacy keys from before 2024-11-11 have full AI API access. S3 API keys document no scoping. api.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22 “Keys are scoped to the permissions granted when created; requests may return `403` when a valid key lacks access to the requested resource or action.” docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22 “To improve security, generate a new key with Restricted permission and select the minimum permission needed for your use case.” docs.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22 “Read/Write**: Full access to your endpoints.”
✓ Last-used visible	The GraphQL ApiKey type exposes lastUsed alongside createdAt, so dead keys can be found programmatically. The console docs do not mention a last-used column, and nothing equivalent is documented for S3 API keys. graphql-spec.runpod.io checked 2026-10-22 “lastUsed - DateTime”
✓ Leak revocation	The first ✓ is GitHub's Partner column, so a Runpod API key pushed to a public repo is reported to Runpod. S3 API keys are not listed. docs.github.com checked 2026-10-22 “\| RunPod \| RunPod API Key \| runpod_api_key \| ✓ \| ✓ \| ✓ \| ✓ \| ✓ \| ✗ \|”

Notes

One card for the whole vendor: Pods, Serverless, Instant Clusters, network and global volumes are all driven by the same API key, and Runpod has no managed Kubernetes or registry with its own auth. Three of five hygiene checks pass (scoping, last used, GitHub partner revocation), which holds inbound at D; an enforced expiry or an API to mint and revoke keys would make four. Inbound moves to B or A only with a federated path (GitHub Actions OIDC or a bring-your-own issuer) into the API. Outbound moves to A with keyless GCS/Azure/S3 for Cloud Sync and GAR, and should add an External ID or per-customer condition to ECR delegation. REST API v1 is retired on 2026-11-15; this card is graded on v2.

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