An API provides a frontend interface to one or more backend services. Access to an API is controlled by a set of frontend credentials, and access to the one or more backend services is controlled by a set of backend credentials. A credential-translation table maintained within the API links each backend credential to one or more frontend credentials. Links between frontend and backend credentials may be managed by an administrator of the API. The API uses the translation table to translate frontend credentials provided with an API call into backend credentials used to access backend services. The API provides users with the ability to update the backend credentials in the credential-translation table based at least in part on the frontend credentials provided by the user. The API may limit the ability to extract backend credentials to administrative users.