Open-source arken-auth replaces API keys with per-agent key signatures for MCP calls
zach-benson · reddit · 2026-11-02
Developer zach-benson released arken-auth (Apache 2.0), an open-source auth scheme for AI agents calling MCP servers and APIs. Each agent gets a key pair at creation; calls sign a one-time nonce with the private key and the server verifies, so no API keys are stored and every call is attributed to a specific agent identity via a W3C did:key identifier. The agent side is a drop-in fetch replacement (npm: arken-client), with support for MCP servers, Express, and FastAPI. The author is seeking agent builders hitting credential-management pain in production to try it and report breakages.
More from coding & agent
- Claude Code brings back 'ultrathink' after cache-miss issue is fixed — daniel_mac8 · 2026-11-02
- Claude Code tip: type 'ultrathink' mid-turn to boost reasoning effort on hard tasks — daniel_mac8 · 2026-11-02
- AI executes, human decides: lessons from finishing the Najd Arabic typeface with Claude — aziz4ai · 2026-11-02
- One night, zero hand-drawn letters: designer art-directs Claude to build a full Arabic typeface — aziz4ai · 2026-11-02
- A 3D stack view for debugging agent swarms, with time slices exposing group failures — strickvl · 2026-11-02
- Visualizing agent swarms: a 3D stack view that drills down to single messages — strickvl · 2026-11-02