How to Set Up API Key Rotation for OpenClaw Teams

Intermediate1-2 hoursUpdated 2025-01-16

Shared API keys are a security risk. If one team member leaves or a key is leaked, the entire team is compromised. This guide shows how to implement per-user API keys with automated rotation, emergency revocation, and usage tracking for OpenClaw teams.

Why This Is Hard to Do Yourself

These are the common pitfalls that trip people up.

🔑

Shared key vulnerability

One leaked key compromises the entire team. Rotation requires coordinating with every user simultaneously.

⏰

Zero-downtime rotation

Keys must rotate without breaking active sessions or requiring manual intervention from users

🚨

Emergency revocation

When a key is compromised, you need to revoke it instantly without waiting for the next rotation cycle

📊

Usage attribution

With shared keys, you can't track which team member caused high usage or policy violations

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1

Audit current API key usage

Identify all places where API keys are used.

# Check current OpenClaw configuration:
grep -r "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" ~/.openclaw/
grep -r "api_key" ~/.openclaw/config/

# List users and their current access:
openclaw admin users list

# Check for shared keys in environment variables:
env | grep API_KEY

Step 2

Set up key management system

Use a secret manager to store and rotate keys.

# In config/keys/manager.yaml:
key_management:
  provider: vault  # or "aws-secrets", "azure-keyvault"
  vault:
    url: https://vault.example.com
    auth_method: token
    path: secret/openclaw/api-keys

  rotation:
    enabled: true
    schedule: "0 0 * * 0"  # Every Sunday at midnight
    overlap_period: 7d     # Both old and new keys work for 7 days
    notify_users: true

  revocation:
    immediate: true
    grace_period: 0s

Warning: Without an overlap period, rotating keys will break active sessions. Set `overlap_period` to at least 1 day to allow users to update their local configurations.

Step 3

Configure per-user keys

Assign unique API keys to each team member.

# Create per-user keys:
openclaw admin keys create \
  --user alice@example.com \
  --scope "read,write" \
  --expires-in 90d

openclaw admin keys create \
  --user bob@example.com \
  --scope "read" \
  --expires-in 30d

# In config/auth/users.yaml:
users:
  - email: alice@example.com
    key_id: key_alice_abc123
    scopes: [read, write]
    quota:
      daily_tokens: 1000000
      monthly_cost_limit: 100.00

  - email: bob@example.com
    key_id: key_bob_def456
    scopes: [read]
    quota:
      daily_tokens: 500000
      monthly_cost_limit: 50.00

Step 4

Implement automated rotation schedule

Configure automatic key rotation.

# In config/keys/rotation.yaml:
rotation_policy:
  frequency: 90d
  rotation_window: 7d  # Keys work during overlap

  notifications:
    - type: email
      recipients: [team@example.com]
      notify_before: 7d
    - type: slack
      webhook: https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR/WEBHOOK
      notify_before: 1d

  automation:
    enabled: true
    rotate_on_schedule: true
    require_manual_approval: false

# Set up cron job for rotation:
# In /etc/cron.d/openclaw-rotation:
0 0 * * 0 /opt/openclaw/bin/rotate-keys --config /etc/openclaw/rotation.yaml

Step 5

Set up emergency revocation

Enable instant key revocation for security incidents.

# Revoke a compromised key immediately:
openclaw admin keys revoke \
  --key-id key_alice_abc123 \
  --reason "Key leaked in GitHub commit" \
  --notify-user

# Revoke all keys for a user:
openclaw admin keys revoke-user \
  --email bob@example.com \
  --reason "Employee departed"

# In config/keys/revocation.yaml:
revocation:
  instant_revoke: true
  grace_period: 0s

  triggers:
    - type: suspicious_usage
      threshold: 10x_normal_rate
      action: auto_revoke
    - type: geographic_anomaly
      action: alert_admin

Warning: Emergency revocation with zero grace period will immediately break active sessions. Use this only for confirmed security incidents.

Step 6

Configure key usage monitoring

Track usage per key to identify anomalies.

# In config/monitoring/keys.yaml:
key_monitoring:
  enabled: true

  metrics:
    - type: request_count
      per: user
      interval: 1h
    - type: token_usage
      per: user
      interval: 1h
    - type: error_rate
      per: user
      interval: 1h

  alerts:
    - metric: request_count
      threshold: 1000
      window: 1h
      action: notify_admin
    - metric: token_usage
      threshold: 100000
      window: 1h
      action: throttle

  dashboard:
    url: https://grafana.example.com/openclaw-keys
    refresh: 30s

# View usage per user:
openclaw admin keys usage --user alice@example.com --range 7d

# Export usage report:
openclaw admin keys report --format csv --output usage.csv

Key Rotation Is Critical But Complex

Per-user keys, automated rotation, emergency revocation, usage tracking — securing API access for teams requires careful planning and implementation. Our security experts set up production-grade key management for OpenClaw teams.

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