Tailscale Integration

✅ Vend Mode: Creddy creates real Tailscale auth keys. Agents use them directly with tailscale up.

Creddy’s Tailscale plugin creates ephemeral auth keys for joining your tailnet. Agents request a key, join the network, and when they disconnect the device is automatically removed.

How It Works

1. Agent requests creddy get tailscale
2. Creddy creates a single-use auth key via Tailscale API
3. Agent runs tailscale up --auth-key=<key>
4. Device joins the tailnet with configured ACL tags
5. When device disconnects → automatically removed (ephemeral)
6. On TTL expiry → key revoked (can’t be used)

Key benefits:

• No hardcoded auth keys in CI/CD or agent configs
• Devices are ephemeral (auto-cleaned on disconnect)
• ACL tags control network access
• Keys are single-use and time-limited

Requirements

• Tailscale account with API access
• API key from Tailscale Admin Console 

Installation

creddy plugin install tailscale

Server Setup

Add the backend with your Tailscale API key:

creddy backend add tailscale

You’ll be prompted for:

• api_key: Tailscale API key
• tailnet: Your tailnet name (e.g., mycompany.com)

Configuration Options

{
  "api_key": "tskey-api-xxx",
  "tailnet": "mycompany.com",
  "default_tags": ["tag:agent"],
  "ephemeral": true,
  "preauthorized": true
}

Agent Enrollment

Agents request Tailscale access during enrollment:

creddy enroll --server http://creddy:8400 --name ci-agent \
  --can tailscale

Authentication: Agents can authenticate to Creddy using either vend tokens (ckr_xxx) or OIDC (client_id/client_secret). Both work with Tailscale.

Or with specific tags:

creddy enroll --server http://creddy:8400 --name ci-agent \
  --can tailscale:tag:ci

Requesting Auth Keys

Once enrolled and approved:

# Get an auth key (default 10 min TTL)
AUTH_KEY=$(creddy get tailscale)
 
# Join the tailnet
tailscale up --auth-key=$AUTH_KEY

With Specific Tags

# Request a key with specific ACL tag
AUTH_KEY=$(creddy get tailscale --scope tailscale:tag:ci)
tailscale up --auth-key=$AUTH_KEY

Custom TTL

# Key valid for 30 minutes
AUTH_KEY=$(creddy get tailscale --ttl 30m)

Use Cases

CI/CD Pipeline

# GitHub Actions
jobs:
  deploy:
    steps:
      - name: Join tailnet
        run: |
          AUTH_KEY=$(creddy get tailscale --ttl 30m)
          sudo tailscale up --auth-key=$AUTH_KEY
          
      - name: Access internal services
        run: |
          curl http://internal-api.tail123.ts.net/deploy
          
      - name: Leave tailnet
        run: sudo tailscale down

Ephemeral VMs

#!/bin/bash
# VM startup script
 
# Get auth key from Creddy
AUTH_KEY=$(creddy get tailscale)
 
# Join tailnet
tailscale up --auth-key=$AUTH_KEY --hostname="worker-$(hostname)"
 
# VM is now on the tailnet
# When VM shuts down, device auto-removes

AI Agents

import subprocess
import os
 
# Agent needs to access internal API
auth_key = subprocess.check_output(
    ["creddy", "get", "tailscale", "--ttl", "1h"]
).decode().strip()
 
subprocess.run(["tailscale", "up", f"--auth-key={auth_key}"])
 
# Now agent can reach internal services
response = requests.get("http://internal-llm.tail123.ts.net/v1/chat")

Scopes

Examples:

• tailscale — uses default_tags from config
• tailscale:tag:ci — device gets tag:ci
• tailscale:tag:prod-agent — device gets tag:prod-agent

TTL Constraints

• Minimum TTL: 1 minute
• Maximum TTL: 24 hours
• Default TTL: 10 minutes

ACL Configuration

Use Tailscale ACLs to control what devices can access:

{
  "acls": [
    // CI agents can only reach internal APIs
    {"action": "accept", "src": ["tag:ci"], "dst": ["tag:api:*"]},
    
    // Production agents have broader access
    {"action": "accept", "src": ["tag:prod-agent"], "dst": ["*:*"]}
  ],
  "tagOwners": {
    "tag:ci": ["group:devops"],
    "tag:prod-agent": ["group:sre"],
    "tag:agent": ["group:platform"]
  }
}

Security Considerations

Auth Key Security

• Keys are single-use (only one device can join)
• Keys are ephemeral (device removed on disconnect)
• Keys have TTL (expire even if unused)
• Keys are pre-authorized (no manual approval step)

Network Access

Devices joining via Creddy are controlled by:

1. ACL tags — what they can access on the tailnet
2. Ephemeral flag — auto-removed on disconnect
3. TTL — limited window to use the key

Best Practices

• Use specific tags per use case (tag:ci, tag:staging-agent)
• Keep TTLs short for untrusted environments
• Review Tailscale admin logs for unusual join patterns
• Use ACLs to limit blast radius

Troubleshooting

”invalid API key”

Ensure your API key:

• Is a valid Tailscale API key (starts with tskey-api-)
• Has permission to create auth keys
• Hasn’t expired

”tailnet not found”

Check the tailnet name matches exactly:

• For personal accounts: your email domain or gmail.com
• For organizations: the organization name from admin console

Device not joining

1. Check key hasn’t expired: creddy get tailscale generates fresh key
2. Check Tailscale daemon is running: tailscale status
3. Check for conflicting state: tailscale logout then retry

ACL errors

If device joins but can’t reach services:

1. Verify tags are applied: tailscale status
2. Check ACL rules allow the tag to access the destination
3. Review Tailscale admin logs for denied connections