***

title: Service accounts
description: >-
Service accounts provide an identity for integration and automation tools to
access the Unleash API with specific permissions.
keywords: 'service accounts, api access, automation, integration, tokens, authentication'
'og:site\_name': Unleash Documentation
'og:title': Service Accounts for API Access and Automation
max-toc-depth: 3
----------------

<Button small outlined href="/support/availability">
  v4.21
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<Button small href="https://www.getunleash.io/plans">
  Enterprise
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Service accounts provide an identity for integration and automation tools to access the Unleash API. You can assign a role to a service account, granting it a specific set of permissions. Service accounts authenticate using tokens. They do not have a password and cannot access the Unleash Admin UI.

## Create a service account

To create service accounts in the Unleash Admin UI:

1. Go to **Admin settings > Service accounts.**
2. Enter a name and username for the service account and select a root role.
3. Optionally, create and assign a service account token. You can also generate one later.
4. Click **Save service account**.

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  ![Service account tokens](https://files.buildwithfern.com/unleash.docs.buildwithfern.com/f98e2ccbbdaa57d26c8780e0fd3868bf3d1c157f367ebe28e04f0eead4f11341/assets/service-account-tokens.png)
</Frame>

When a service account creates or modifies resources, Unleash uses the username of the account as the value for the *Created by* or *Changed* by properties of [events](/concepts/events).