> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.wandb.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is a service account, and why is it useful?

A **service account** represents a non-human or machine identity that can automate common tasks across teams and projects. Service accounts are ideal for CI/CD pipelines, automated training jobs, and other machine-to-machine workflows.

Service accounts provide the following key benefits:

* **No license consumption**: Service accounts don't consume user seats or licenses.
* **Dedicated API keys**: Secure credentials for automated workflows.
* **User attribution**: Optionally attribute automated runs to human users.
* **Enterprise-ready**: Built for production automation at scale.
* **Delegated operations**: Service accounts operate on behalf of the user or organization that creates them.

Service accounts are useful for tracking automated jobs logged to W\&B, such as periodic retraining and nightly builds. To associate a username with one of these machine-launched runs, use the [environment variables](/models/track/environment-variables) `WANDB_USERNAME` or `WANDB_USER_EMAIL`.

For comprehensive information about service accounts, including best practices and detailed setup instructions, see [Use service accounts to automate workflows](/platform/hosting/iam/service-accounts). For information about how service accounts behave in team contexts, see [Team service account behavior](/platform/app/settings-page/teams#team-service-account-behavior).

The following steps describe how to create a team service account.

To create a new team-scoped service account and API key:

1. In your team's settings, click **Service Accounts**.
2. Click **New Team Service Account**.
3. Provide a name for the service account.
4. Set **Authentication Method** to **Generate API key** (default). If you select **Federated Identity**, the service account can't own API keys.
5. Click **Create**.
6. Find the service account you created, then click its **action (<Icon icon="ellipsis" iconType="solid" />)** menu and click **Create API key**.
7. Provide a name for the API key, then click **Create**.
8. Copy the API key and store it securely.
9. Click **Done**.

<Note>
  Apart from the **Built-in** service accounts, W\&B also supports **External service accounts** using [identity federation for SDK and CLI](/platform/hosting/iam/identity_federation#external-service-accounts). Use external service accounts if you want to automate W\&B tasks using service identities managed in your identity provider that can issue JSON Web Tokens (JWT).
</Note>

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