Note
Access to this page requires authorization. You can try signing in or changing directories.
Access to this page requires authorization. You can try changing directories.
An agent can act with permissions assigned to its own identity or with a signed-in person's delegated permissions. The distinction determines which access rules apply and which identity appears as the subject of a request. Microsoft Agent 365 makes those identity relationships visible so an organization can evaluate an agent's authority rather than treating every action as equivalent.
An agent can use different access patterns for different tasks. The authority in effect comes from the identity and permissions used for each operation.
A person's permissions guide delegated work
When an agent acts on a person's behalf, it uses delegated access tied to that person's signed-in identity. The person remains the subject of the access token, while the agent is identified as the actor. The requested access is bounded by the person's permissions and the delegated scopes granted for the operation.
This pattern fits work that depends on a person's own access, such as handling information in that person's mailbox. It also means a change to the person's access affects what the agent can do through that delegated path.
The agent can use its own permissions
An agent can also access a resource with permissions assigned to its own Microsoft Entra Agent ID. In this pattern, the agent identity is the subject, and no signed-in person needs to be present for the work.
This access pattern supports tasks that run independently, such as scheduled processing. Because those permissions belong to the agent identity, administrators can assess and change them without changing a person's own access. The permissions remain until someone reviews or changes the agent's grants.
Records distinguish the actor
The identity model gives security teams a way to distinguish an agent's work from a person's work. Microsoft Entra sign-in and audit records can identify the agent identity and, in delegated activity, the user context and agent actor.
Agent 365 can show an agent's delegated and application permissions for review. Administrators can consider the authority an agent uses in each access pattern and reduce permissions assigned directly to the agent when the work no longer requires them.
Whether the agent acts as itself or on a person's behalf is a core authorization decision, not a detail of how the agent was built. Agent 365 connects that decision to identifiable permissions and records, helping organizations govern both user-directed work and autonomous tasks.