Access control for short-lived resource principals

Techniques are described for enabling resources within a cloud computing system to interact with each other. In certain embodiments, a resource is assigned a digital token that provides certain access privileges for the duration in which the digital token is valid. The digital token permits the resource to have access for a duration sufficient to perform some operation (e.g., run one-time code or the same code periodically on a scheduled basis), but without extending the level of access for significantly longer than necessary to complete the operation. Each time the resource principal is to perform the operation, the token can be reissued to the resource to provide the resource with time-limited access privileges. The use of this short-lived token avoids having to create permanent credentials for the resource.