Create an execution identity

An Agent Execution Identity pairs a dedicated Salesforce user, the execution user, with a Named Credential that signs in as that user. An agent with an identity runs as its execution user.

Do you need one?

You want the agent to	Identity
Wait for a person to approve a tool call	Needed
Run from a scheduled flow, a platform event flow, or Apex in the background	Needed
Keep working through long waits and recover after failures without the starter	Needed
Help the signed-in person and do only what they could do anyway	Not needed. Leave the field blank.

A run of an agent with an identity that a person starts, for example from a record page or by saving a record, is also limited to what that person can see. The person cannot turn this off.

Create one

You need a System Administrator. It takes about 30 minutes the first time.

1. Create the execution user. Use a dedicated user, never a real person. A Salesforce Integration user works best: profile Minimum Access - API Only Integrations, permission set license Salesforce API Integration. It signs in only through the API and does not use a full license.

2. Give the execution user access. Assign AgentKernelServicePrincipal, AgentModelAdapters, and only the business access its agents’ tools need.

   Caution

   Never assign AgentKernelHumanDecision or any other approval permission. Core refuses an identity whose user can approve.

3. Create a certificate. In Setup, open Certificate and Key Management and create a self-signed certificate, for example Agent_Core_Loopback.

4. Create an External Client App (or a connected app) with OAuth turned on.

   • Scopes: Manage user data via APIs (api) and Perform requests at any time (refresh_token).
   • Turn on JWT Bearer Flow and upload the certificate from step 3.
   • Set Permitted Users to Admin approved users are pre-authorized. Add a permission set that only the execution user holds.
   • Copy the Consumer Key.

5. Create an External Credential with protocol OAuth 2.0 and flow JWT Bearer.

   • Identity Provider URL: https://<your My Domain>/services/oauth2/token.
   • Signing Certificate: the certificate from step 3.
   • JWT claims: iss is the Consumer Key, sub is the execution user’s username, and aud is https://login.salesforce.com (in a sandbox, https://test.salesforce.com).
   • Add one Named Principal, for example ServiceUserPrincipal.

6. Create a Named Credential. Set its URL to your My Domain URL and its External Credential to the one from step 5. Leave Generate Authorization Header on.

7. Create a permission set that lets people use the credential. Under External Credential Principal Access, add the principal from step 5. Assign the permission set to:

   • People and integrations that start runs of this agent or reply to them.
   • Approvers.
   • Operators who rescue or reconcile runs.
   • The owner of Core’s schedules.

8. Create the Agent Execution Identity record. Pick the execution user in User, enter the Named Credential’s API name, and check Active.

9. On the record in Pluto Console, click Verify. Without Pluto Console, run the Verify Agent Execution Identity Flow action. It signs in through the Named Credential and checks that it lands on the execution user.

10. On each agent that should run as this user, select the identity in Agent Execution Identity.

How it fails

What you see	Cause	Fix
Verify fails	The Named Credential signs in as another user, or not at all.	Fix what Verification Result says, then click Verify again.
A run continues only after up to 10 minutes	The person whose action continued the run cannot use the credential. The work still happens, on the next recovery pass.	Assign them the permission set from step 7.
A run pauses with DISPATCH_UNDELIVERABLE	Core tried three times to start the next step and could not sign in.	Check that the user is active and Verify passes, then rescue the run.
Fix execution identities on the Health card	An identity failed Verify, changed since it passed, or someone holds the credential without needing it.	Follow the card. It names the identity or the users.

Changing the user or the Named Credential clears the last Verify result. Verify again after any change.

Rules Core enforces

• Each Named Credential belongs to one identity.
• An identity in use by an agent or a run cannot be deleted. Uncheck Active instead. Runs already started keep their identity.
• You cannot clear the identity on an agent that has tools needing approval.
• An execution user can never approve or reconcile its own runs.

Cost

A run started by anyone other than the execution user signs in through the Named Credential once: 1 extra job and 1 API call. A reply, approval, or rescue on such a run costs the same again. See Limits and cost.