> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.aohwv.dev/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.aohwv.dev/core-concepts/machine-identities.md).

# Machine Identities

A **machine identity** is a non-human account: a service account, automation credential, shared mailbox, or integration login. It can hold access and act, but no single person is its user.

AOH Sync tracks machine identities separately from people because they follow different rules. A service account should outlive any individual, but never outlive its accountability.

## Detection

AOH Sync identifies machine identities using configurable rules defined per connector: naming patterns, account types, source-system flags. Because rules are per connector, a service account in one system can be detected differently than in another.

## Ownership

Every machine identity has an **owner**: a human identity accountable for it. Ownership can be inherited through a chain, so an account owned by someone who reports to a manager has a fallback path if the direct owner is unavailable. A machine identity is never just floating.

## Ownership transfer on leaver

When an owner triggers a [leaver event](/core-concepts/lifecycle.md), AOH Sync runs an ownership transfer cascade:

1. The leaver's machine identities are identified.
2. Ownership moves to the next party in the chain (typically the manager fallback).
3. The transfer is recorded in the [audit trail](/core-concepts/audit-and-compliance.md).

## Inheritors

A machine identity can track **inheritors**: the parties who would take ownership next. This makes the accountability chain visible before any transfer happens.

## Why not just treat them as users

The questions differ. For a user you ask "should this person still have access?" For a machine identity you ask "who is responsible for this, and what happens to it when that person is gone?"


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