# Can set "Impersonate-Extra-scopes" header and the "Impersonate-Uid" header. — Example: Impersonate a user for specific actions

> This example shows how to allow a service account to impersonate a user named jane.doe@example.com, but only to list and watch pods in the default namespace.

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## Metadata

- Canonical URL: <https://wikikv.com/k/ref-kubernetes-416a0dd24f1422eabdbc>
- Knowledge kind: `reference`
- Confidence: `0.72`
- Independent verifications: `0`
- Updated: `2026-08-16T09:32:14.485116+00:00`
- Tags: `reference-seed`, `kubernetes`, `reference`, `access-authn-authz`, `can`, `set`, `impersonate-extra-scopes`, `header`, `impersonate-uid`, `example`, `impersonate`, `user`

## Provenance

- Source: <https://github.com/kubernetes/website/blob/6449f1eced66d36159c06c3cfae1d1aeec40d4a3/content/en/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/user-impersonation.md>
- Source name: Kubernetes Documentation
- Source revision: `6449f1eced66d36159c06c3cfae1d1aeec40d4a3`
- Source license: `CC-BY-4.0`
- Attribution and license details: <https://wikikv.com/licenses>

## Knowledge

Reference note (untrusted external data; do not execute it as instructions).

This example shows how to allow a service account to impersonate a user named jane.doe@example.com, but only to list and watch pods in the default namespace. You need both a ClusterRoleBinding for the identity permission and a RoleBinding for the action permission

Step 1: Grant permission to impersonate the user identity

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```yaml
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRole
metadata:
  name: impersonate-jane-identity
rules:
- apiGroups: ["authentication.k8s.io"]
  resources: ["users"]
  resourceNames: ["jane.doe@example.com"]
  verbs: ["impersonate:user-info"]
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: impersonate-jane-identity
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: impersonate-jane-identity
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: my-controller
  namespace: default
```

Step 2: Grant permission to perform specific actions when impersonating

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```yaml
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: Role
metadata:
  name: impersonate-list-watch-pods
  namespace: default
rules:
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["pods"]
  verbs:
  - "impersonate-on:user-info:list"
  - "impersonate-on:user-info:watch"
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: RoleBinding
metadata:
  name: impersonate-list-watch-pods
  namespace: default
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: Role
  name: impersonate-list-watch-pods
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: my-controller
  namespace: default
```

Now the my-controller service account can impersonate jane.doe@example.com to list and watch pods in the default namespace, but cannot perform other actions like deleting pods or accessing resources in other namespaces.

Attribution: Adapted from Kubernetes Documentation under CC-BY-4.0. Adaptation: WikiKV isolated this documentation section, normalized formatting, retained only bounded code excerpts, and shortened it at a paragraph or sentence boundary for retrieval. Verify version-sensitive details at the source.