# Service Users | Modal Docs

- **URL:** https://modal.com/docs/guide/service-users
- **Summary:** Service users are programmatic accounts that allow automated systems to interact with Modal. They’re ideal for CI/CD pipelines, automated deployments, and other workflows that need to authenticate.

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Service Users
=============

Service users are programmatic accounts that allow automated systems to interact with Modal. They’re ideal for CI/CD pipelines, automated deployments, and other workflows that need to authenticate.

Create a Service User 

Service users are only available for shared workspaces. You will need workspace owner or manager privileges to create service users.

To create a service user:

1.  Go to your workspace [tokens settings page](https://modal.com/settings/tokens/service-users)
    
2.  Click **New Service User**
3.  Enter a name for your service user (must be lowercase alphanumeric, can contain hyphens or underscores)
4.  Click **Create**

After creation, you’ll see the `MODAL_TOKEN_ID` and `MODAL_TOKEN_SECRET`. **This is the only time you can view the token secret** for security reasons.

Use Service User Tokens 

Set the service user credentials as environment variables in your automated environment:

    export MODAL_TOKEN_ID=your-token-id
    export MODAL_TOKEN_SECRET=your-token-secret

Once configured, you can use Modal’s CLI and Python SDK as usual:

    modal deploy your_app.py

Delete a Service User 

To remove a service user:

1.  Go to the [tokens settings page](https://modal.com/settings/tokens/service-users)
    
2.  Find the service user in the table
3.  Click **Delete** when you hover over the row

Permissions 

Service users have the same permissions as workspace members. They cannot do actions that are only permitted for a workspace owner or manager. To learn more about members, managers, and owners, see this [workspace](https://modal.com/docs/guide/workspaces#administrating-workspace-members)
 section.

Securing Service Users 

Because service user tokens are long-lived and used in automated environments, it’s important to limit their access to only what’s necessary:

*   **Store tokens securely.** Use a secrets manager or your CI/CD platform’s built-in secrets storage rather than hardcoding tokens in source code or configuration files.
*   **Use restricted Environments.** Assign service users the **Contributor** role only on the specific Environments they need access to, keeping production isolated from development and staging.

[Service Users](https://modal.com/docs/guide/service-users#service-users)
[Create a Service User](https://modal.com/docs/guide/service-users#create-a-service-user)
[Use Service User Tokens](https://modal.com/docs/guide/service-users#use-service-user-tokens)
[Delete a Service User](https://modal.com/docs/guide/service-users#delete-a-service-user)
[Permissions](https://modal.com/docs/guide/service-users#permissions)
[Securing Service Users](https://modal.com/docs/guide/service-users#securing-service-users)