Kong releases Token Vault to keep credentials from AI agents

Kong has released Token Vault for all customers. It is part of Kong Identity, the Kong tool that controls how AI agents get access to company systems. A credential is a secret, such as a password, that opens a system. Token Vault supplies the credential at the time of use. The agent does not hold it. Kong gave no test results.

How it works

The agent first signs in with its identity. Kong Identity selects the systems that the agent can use. When the agent sends an approved message, Token Vault supplies the credential. The agent can get APIs, models and data.

The numbers

Kong gave no numbers, no test results and no names of customers. Reza Shafii, a Kong vice president, says that an agent can have access and not hold the credentials.

What is not known

Kong says that control of all credentials in one system makes it easy to remove access. Kong says that teams do not write different credential code for each new connection. Kong did not show this. It did not tell if the tool works with tools from other companies.

Insight: Vendors move to stand between agents and secrets

On 20 October 2026, Evervault released tokens that keep payment card data from agents. On 15 October, Self Labs released Agent Vault for the same task. Kong does it for company credentials. This reads as a move to control the layer between agents and secrets. The first broker that a company selects can set the standard for all its agents. Select one standard for all agents before each vendor sets a different standard.