Keeping credentials out of an AI agent's context with Relay

WorkOS Relay, released in early access in August 2026, is a credential-proxy service intended to reduce agent security risks by keeping third-party API tokens outside the agent’s process and attaching them only when requests pass through WorkOS. The discussion frames prompt injection primarily as a route for usable credentials or sensitive data to leave an agent, especially when systems combine private-data access, untrusted input, and external communication capabilities. It contrasts Relay’s proxy-gateway approach with short-lived token minting and long-lived credential delivery, arguing that proxying can prevent provider credentials from appearing in an agent’s memory while also restricting requests to HTTPS endpoints on approved provider host allowlists. Relay forwards requests using WorkOS authentication and user or organization context, handles connected-account lookup and token refresh, strips sensitive headers and cookies, and returns provider responses, while using 402 responses to signal that user authorization is needed. The service does not prevent all harmful actions: an injected agent may still access data within its granted scopes, misuse a leaked WorkOS API key, or exfiltrate information through other available network paths. It also centralizes credentials within WorkOS, creating a high-value broker target with added latency, reliability, scaling, and trust considerations, so organizations must evaluate both broker security and the scopes granted to each provider connection.

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