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Buildkite

INFRA · APIS
Velocity5.0

Buildkite splits agent tokens into scoped permissions, so a test runner can't read secrets.

ci/cdleast-privilegeagent-tokenshosted-agentsgithub-actions-parity
◆Current state
Buildkite has spent November tightening who and what can act inside a CI setup. Agent tokens can now be limited to specific capabilities (running jobs, uploading steps, reading secrets, requesting OIDC tokens) and to specific queues, with missing permissions returning a named 403. That follows self-serve SSO resets, organization-wide OAuth revocation, a read-only MCP scope, and hosted agents on Windows and Linux ARM64.
◆Where it's heading
Two threads run in parallel: least-privilege controls for platform teams, and GitHub Actions parity (hosted runners, runs-on labels, cancel_in_progress) to make switching easier. Most of the security work moves controls that used to need Support or broad tokens into the dashboard and into narrower scopes.
◆Prediction
Expect more scoping of credentials, likely per-pipeline or per-cluster limits on what jobs and AI agents can touch, alongside further hosted-agent platform coverage.

◆Recent moves

  1. 1d ago

    Give agents only the access they need

    Agent tokens can now carry only the capabilities a job needs and register only with chosen queues, so a compromised test agent no longer implies access to secrets or signing infrastructure. It is the largest step yet in November's least-privilege run after SSO resets, OAuth revocation and the read-only MCP scope.

  2. 4d ago

    Set agent token expiry on the dashboard

    Agent token expiry, available through the API since last year, can now be set on the dashboard. A UI convenience for an existing control.

  3. 4d ago

    Hosted agents are now available on Windows and Linux ARM64

    Hosted agents add Windows (public preview) and Linux ARM64, and imported GitHub Actions workflows keep runs-on labels like windows-latest. It completes platform coverage for teams moving off GitHub-hosted runners.

  4. 4d ago

    Choose read-only access when connecting Buildkite MCP

    Buildkite's Remote MCP Server now offers a read-only scope at sign-in, so an AI agent can inspect builds, logs and pipeline state without being able to start or retry jobs. It narrows what agents can do with CI access while keeping full access as an option within existing permissions.

  5. 5d ago

    Cancel in-progress jobs with concurrency groups

    cancel_in_progress lets a waiting job cancel the jobs blocking its concurrency group, the behaviour GitHub Actions users expect for branch builds. A new concurrency map keeps limit, group and method together without breaking old configs, and buildkite-gha maps Actions' own setting to it.

  6. 9d ago

    Revoke OAuth access for your organization

    Admins can revoke every OAuth access and refresh token for the organization in one action, including CLI and remote MCP connections, without contacting Support. Paired with the SSO revoke, it gives incident responders a self-serve containment kit; personal API and agent tokens still need separate handling.