CredentialBinding

CredentialBinding binds a CredentialSource to a workload and defines how the credential is delivered. Credentials can be injected on-the-wire (the kernel transparently rewrites HTTP headers) or made available as files on the sysfs filesystem.

• API Group: core.riptides.io
• Version: v1alpha1
• Kind: CredentialBinding
• Plural: credentialbindings

Note: CredentialBinding replaces the deprecated WorkloadCredential resource. All new configurations should use CredentialBinding.

Spec

workloadID

Type	string
Required	Yes

The workload ID this binding applies to. Must match the workloadID of an existing WorkloadIdentity.

credentialSource

Type	string
Required	Yes

The name of the CredentialSource resource to bind.

propagation

Type	object
Required	Yes

Defines how the credential is delivered to the workload. One or both of the following may be configured:

propagation.injection

On-the-wire credential injection. When configured, the Riptides kernel module transparently rewrites outbound HTTP requests to inject the credential (e.g., as an Authorization header). Injection is activated when egress traffic matches the specified selectors.

Field	Type	Required	Description
selectors	array of selector objects	Yes	Label selectors that match against Service labels. When outbound traffic targets a matching service, the credential is injected into the request.

The selectors use the same label-matching mechanism as Service labels. For example, {api: openai} matches a Service with labels: {api: openai}.

propagation.sysfs

File-based credential delivery. When configured (even as an empty object {}), the Riptides daemon writes credential files to a well-known sysfs path that the workload can read directly:

/sys/module/riptides/credentials/<binding-hash>/<binding-name>/<filename>

The actual file paths are reported in the resource’s status.

Status

Field	Type	Description
state	string	Current state of the binding. Valid values: OK, FAILED.
message	string	Human-readable message with additional detail.
updateAt	string (date-time)	Timestamp of the last status update.
sysfs.files	array of file objects	List of credential files available on sysfs (only present when propagation.sysfs is configured).

sysfs.files[]

Field	Type	Description
path	string	Absolute filesystem path to the credential file.
type	string	Type of file content. Valid values: CONFIG, CREDENTIAL, TOKEN.

Examples

Injection-only binding

Inject a JWT credential into outbound HTTP requests targeting a specific service:

apiVersion: core.riptides.io/v1alpha1
kind: CredentialBinding
metadata:
  name: client-jwt-binding
  namespace: riptides-system
spec:
  workloadID: demo/httpclient
  credentialSource: my-jwt-svid
  propagation:
    injection:
      selectors:
        - service: my-backend

Injection and sysfs binding

Deliver a Vault-sourced credential both via on-the-wire injection and as a file on sysfs:

apiVersion: core.riptides.io/v1alpha1
kind: CredentialBinding
metadata:
  name: vault-api-keys-binding
  namespace: riptides-system
spec:
  workloadID: support-assistant/app/assistant-api
  credentialSource: vault-api-keys
  propagation:
    injection:
      selectors:
        - api: openai
    sysfs: {}

When the binding is active, the status reports the sysfs file paths:

status:
  state: OK
  sysfs:
    files:
      - path: /sys/module/riptides/credentials/33bc2e42-24c0-5ca1-bb5b-80c2537580df/vault-api-keys-binding/token.jwt
        type: TOKEN
  updateAt: "2026-02-25T08:34:53.942667783Z"

Usage with WorkloadIdentity

CredentialBindings work in conjunction with WorkloadIdentity to deliver credentials transparently. The WorkloadIdentity enables TLS interception at the top level, and the CredentialBinding’s propagation.injection.selectors determine which outbound connections receive the credential:

# WorkloadIdentity enables TLS interception:
connection:
  tls:
    mode: PERMISSIVE
    intercept: true
---
# CredentialBinding targets specific services via selectors:
spec:
  workloadID: my-app/workload
  credentialSource: vault-api-keys
  propagation:
    injection:
      selectors:
        - api: openai   # matches Service labels

When the workload makes an outbound connection to a service matching the injection selectors, Riptides transparently intercepts the connection and injects the bound credential.

Related Resources

• CredentialSource — The credential source that this binding references.
• WorkloadIdentity — The workload that receives the injected credential.
• Service — Injection selectors match against service labels.
• API Reference Overview