---
id: alibabacloud-credentials
version: "1.0.11"
license: Apache License 2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# alibabacloud-credentials — The alibabacloud credentials module of alibabaCloud Python SDK.

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 8.0M/mo

## What it is and what it does

This package provides credential management for the Alibaba Cloud Python SDK, handling the authentication layer between your application and Alibaba Cloud services. It abstracts away the complexity of multiple credential types—from simple access key pairs to temporary STS tokens, RAM role assumption, OIDC federation, and bearer tokens—into a unified Config and Credentials interface.

The package depends on alibabacloud-tea (the core Alibaba Cloud SDK transport layer), alibabacloud-credentials-api (the credential interface contract), APScheduler (likely for token refresh scheduling), and aiofiles (for async file operations, possibly for reading OIDC token files). It's actively maintained, supports Python 3.7 through 3.12, and carries no known security vulnerabilities. Use it when building applications that integrate with Alibaba Cloud services and need flexible, secure credential handling.

Use it for:

- Initialize SDK clients for Alibaba Cloud services using stored or environment-based credentials without hardcoding secrets.
- Assume temporary RAM roles with session-based credentials for fine-grained access control in multi-tenant or federated environments.
- Integrate OIDC identity providers for Kubernetes or other federated identity systems accessing Alibaba Cloud.
- Rotate and refresh STS tokens automatically during long-running application lifecycles.
- Support multiple credential strategies (access keys, bearer tokens, credentials URIs) in a single codebase for different deployment scenarios.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Manages authentication credentials for Alibaba Cloud services, supporting multiple credential types including access keys, STS tokens, RAM roles, OIDC, and bearer tokens.

Yes. This is the official credential provider for Alibaba Cloud's Python SDK ecosystem—actively maintained, permissively licensed, low install friction, and carrying zero known vulnerabilities. Install it if you are building applications that authenticate to Alibaba Cloud services; it is a required dependency for most Alibaba Cloud SDK packages.

## Install

pip install alibabacloud-credentials
uv add alibabacloud-credentials
poetry add alibabacloud-credentials

## Installing alibabacloud-credentials

Before you install: Low friction: pure Python wheel with four runtime dependencies (APScheduler, aiofiles, alibabacloud-tea, alibabacloud-credentials-api). Active maintenance with a release 7 days ago and ongoing commits.

License in practice: Apache License 2.0 (permissive) allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions, requiring only license and copyright notice preservation.

Quickstart:

pip install alibabacloud-credentials

from alibabacloud_credentials.models import Config
from alibabacloud_credentials import Credentials

config = Config(
    type='access_key',
    access_key_id='YOUR_ACCESS_KEY_ID',
    access_key_secret='YOUR_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET'
)
creds = Credentials(config)

Requires Python 3.7 or above; Alibaba Cloud account with valid credentials (AccessKey ID and secret, or equivalent auth method) must be obtained separately.

Verify before relying:

- Whether all credential types (access_key, sts, ram_role_arn, ecs_ram_role, oidc_role_arn, credentials_uri, bearer) are fully functional in version 1.0.11
- Performance characteristics when rotating credentials or handling token expiration
- Compatibility details with specific Alibaba Cloud service endpoints

## Package facts

- License: Apache License 2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 8.0M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

alibaba cloud authentication, alibabacloud credentials, alibaba cloud sdk credentials, cloud credential management, alibaba cloud access keys, sts token handling, alibaba cloud iam, alibaba-cloud, credential-management, authentication

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