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Version: Release 26.3

Personal Access Token (PAT) Authentication

Overview​

Personal Access Tokens (PATs) provide a secure alternative to passwords for authenticating with Digital.ai Release. They are particularly useful for:

  • Authenticating with public APIs
  • Accessing webhook endpoints
  • Automated task execution
note

PATs are supported for both internal and LDAP users. For external users, use OIDC-based authentication. See Configure OpenID Connect (OIDC) authentication for Release for more information.

Managing Personal Access Tokens​

Learn how to create, configure, and manage your Personal Access Tokens for secure authentication.

Creating a PAT​

Follow these steps to generate a new Personal Access Token:

  1. Log in to Digital.ai Release
  2. Navigate to your profile by clicking your avatar in the top-right corner
  3. Select Access tokens
  4. Click Generate new tokens
  5. In the Generate token panel:
    • Enter a descriptive Token name
    • Select a Token expiration period
    • Choose permission scope:
      • Use all permissions: Grants comprehensive access
      • Let me select permissions: Allows custom permission selection (See Global Permissions)
  6. Click Generate
  7. Important: Copy and store the token securely. The token will not be visible after you leave the page.

Creating a Personal Access Token

Managing Token Expiration​

Understanding token expiration settings helps you maintain secure access while ensuring continuous service availability.

note

If this PAT is used as a Release Runner's RELEASE_RUNNER_TOKEN, renewing it is not enough on its own. See Token Expiry Handling for the Runner-specific behavior and the required restart step.

Expiration Options​

  • 7 days
  • 30 days
  • 45 days
  • 60 days
  • 1 year
  • No expiration

Timezone Considerations​

  • Expiration dates are displayed in your local browser timezone
  • The "Expires in" counter shows the exact remaining time, regardless of timezone
  • This ensures consistent expiration tracking across different geographical locations

Token Expiration Table

Deleting a Token​

When a token is no longer needed, you can easily remove it to maintain security:

  1. Locate the token in the Personal access tokens list
  2. Click the Delete button
  3. Confirm by clicking Delete token

Using Personal Access Tokens​

Learn how to implement PAT authentication in different scenarios, from API calls to webhook configurations.

Authentication with Public APIs​

There are two methods to authenticate API calls using PATs:

Method 1: Basic Authentication​

curl -u :<pat> 'http://localhost:5516/api/v1/releases' -i -X GET

Method 2: Header Authentication​

curl --header 'x-release-personal-token: <pat>' 'http://localhost:5516/api/v1/releases' -i -X GET

Authentication for Automated Tasks​

When setting up automated tasks, you can use PATs for secure authentication. Here's how to configure it:

  1. Leave the username field empty
  2. Enter your PAT as the password
  3. Start the release

Automated Task Authentication

Configuring Webhook Endpoints with PAT​

Follow these steps to set up webhook endpoints using PAT authentication:

  1. Navigate to Configuration > Connections
  2. Under Webhooks and Events, click + next to HTTP Endpoint for Webhooks
  3. Configure the endpoint:
    • Select an HTTP endpoint option
    • Enter a descriptive Title
    • Enable the endpoint
    • Specify the Endpoint Path
    • Set Authentication Method to Token Authentication
    • Enter your PAT in the Secret Token field
    • Set the desired Request Retention value
  4. Click Save to apply the configuration