How often should I rotate API keys?

For production environments, rotate every 90 days. For high-security environments, rotate monthly or even weekly. Always set an overlap period so old keys work during the transition.

What happens if a user doesn't update their key during the overlap period?

After the overlap period expires, the old key stops working and requests will fail with 401 Unauthorized. Send notifications 7 days and 1 day before rotation to give users time to update.

Can I rotate keys without a secret manager like Vault?

Yes, but it's manual and error-prone. You can store keys in encrypted environment files and rotate them with scripts. For teams larger than 10 people, a secret manager is strongly recommended.

How do I handle key rotation for CI/CD pipelines?

Use service accounts with their own rotation schedules. CI/CD keys should have limited scopes and shorter expiration times (30 days). Update pipelines to fetch keys from the secret manager on each run.

🏢Enterprise & Advanced

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

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Emergency revocation

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

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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.

Step 2

Set up key management system

Use a secret manager to store and rotate keys.

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.

Step 4

Implement automated rotation schedule

Configure automatic key rotation.

Step 5

Set up emergency revocation

Enable instant key revocation for security incidents.

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.

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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