diff --git a/docs/source/reference/config.rst b/docs/source/reference/config.rst
index e7594142331..53c983edfad 100644
--- a/docs/source/reference/config.rst
+++ b/docs/source/reference/config.rst
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ Available fields and semantics:
     # instances (e.g., a serve controller on GCP or AWS may need to provision
     # Kubernetes resources).
     #
-    # Default: 'LOCAL_CREDENTIALS'.
+    # Default: 'SERVICE_ACCOUNT'.
     remote_identity: my-k8s-service-account
 
     # Attach custom metadata to Kubernetes objects created by SkyPilot
diff --git a/sky/backends/backend_utils.py b/sky/backends/backend_utils.py
index 5a9663b1275..cf43cfdf2ed 100644
--- a/sky/backends/backend_utils.py
+++ b/sky/backends/backend_utils.py
@@ -804,7 +804,7 @@ def write_cluster_config(
     excluded_clouds = []
     remote_identity = skypilot_config.get_nested(
         (str(cloud).lower(), 'remote_identity'),
-        schemas.REMOTE_IDENTITY_DEFAULT)
+        schemas.get_default_remote_identity(str(cloud).lower()))
     if remote_identity is not None and not isinstance(remote_identity, str):
         for profile in remote_identity:
             if fnmatch.fnmatchcase(cluster_name, list(profile.keys())[0]):
diff --git a/sky/clouds/cloud.py b/sky/clouds/cloud.py
index 889e6716074..08045e28ab9 100644
--- a/sky/clouds/cloud.py
+++ b/sky/clouds/cloud.py
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ class CloudImplementationFeatures(enum.Enum):
     OPEN_PORTS = 'open_ports'
     STORAGE_MOUNTING = 'storage_mounting'
     HOST_CONTROLLERS = 'host_controllers'  # Can run jobs/serve controllers
+    AUTO_TERMINATE = 'auto_terminate'  # Pod/VM can stop or down itself
 
 
 class Region(collections.namedtuple('Region', ['name'])):
diff --git a/sky/clouds/kubernetes.py b/sky/clouds/kubernetes.py
index 5740e0ed9b1..f50050716a8 100644
--- a/sky/clouds/kubernetes.py
+++ b/sky/clouds/kubernetes.py
@@ -97,8 +97,12 @@ def _unsupported_features_for_resources(
         is_exec_auth, message = kubernetes_utils.is_kubeconfig_exec_auth()
         if is_exec_auth:
             assert isinstance(message, str), message
+            # Controllers cannot spin up new pods with exec auth.
             unsupported_features[
                 clouds.CloudImplementationFeatures.HOST_CONTROLLERS] = message
+            # Pod does not have permissions to terminate itself with exec auth.
+            unsupported_features[
+                clouds.CloudImplementationFeatures.AUTO_TERMINATE] = message
         return unsupported_features
 
     @classmethod
@@ -270,7 +274,8 @@ def make_deploy_resources_variables(
         port_mode = network_utils.get_port_mode(None)
 
         remote_identity = skypilot_config.get_nested(
-            ('kubernetes', 'remote_identity'), schemas.REMOTE_IDENTITY_DEFAULT)
+            ('kubernetes', 'remote_identity'),
+            schemas.get_default_remote_identity('kubernetes'))
         if (remote_identity ==
                 schemas.RemoteIdentityOptions.LOCAL_CREDENTIALS.value):
             # SA name doesn't matter since automounting credentials is disabled
diff --git a/sky/core.py b/sky/core.py
index b5ecc483354..b1006fe19ab 100644
--- a/sky/core.py
+++ b/sky/core.py
@@ -488,6 +488,19 @@ def autostop(
                 f'  {_stop_not_supported_message(handle.launched_resources)}.'
             ) from e
 
+    # Check if autodown is required and supported
+    if not is_cancel:
+        try:
+            cloud.check_features_are_supported(
+                handle.launched_resources,
+                {clouds.CloudImplementationFeatures.AUTO_TERMINATE})
+        except exceptions.NotSupportedError as e:
+            raise exceptions.NotSupportedError(
+                f'{colorama.Fore.YELLOW}{operation} on cluster '
+                f'{cluster_name!r}...skipped.{colorama.Style.RESET_ALL}\n'
+                f'  Auto{option_str} is not supported on {cloud!r} - '
+                f'see reason above.') from e
+
     usage_lib.record_cluster_name_for_current_operation(cluster_name)
     backend.set_autostop(handle, idle_minutes, down)
 
diff --git a/sky/execution.py b/sky/execution.py
index 2cffc5a7d09..b1fb4ec4164 100644
--- a/sky/execution.py
+++ b/sky/execution.py
@@ -207,8 +207,12 @@ def _execute(
                             f'{colorama.Style.RESET_ALL}')
                 idle_minutes_to_autostop = 1
             stages.remove(Stage.DOWN)
-            if not down:
-                requested_features.add(clouds.CloudImplementationFeatures.STOP)
+            if idle_minutes_to_autostop >= 0:
+                requested_features.add(
+                    clouds.CloudImplementationFeatures.AUTO_TERMINATE)
+                if not down:
+                    requested_features.add(
+                        clouds.CloudImplementationFeatures.STOP)
         # NOTE: in general we may not have sufficiently specified info
         # (cloud/resource) to check STOP_SPOT_INSTANCE here. This is checked in
         # the backend.
diff --git a/sky/provision/kubernetes/utils.py b/sky/provision/kubernetes/utils.py
index 3b3608947ad..8ccf64201c7 100644
--- a/sky/provision/kubernetes/utils.py
+++ b/sky/provision/kubernetes/utils.py
@@ -634,16 +634,18 @@ def is_kubeconfig_exec_auth() -> Tuple[bool, Optional[str]]:
         user for user in user_details if user['name'] == target_username)
 
     remote_identity = skypilot_config.get_nested(
-        ('kubernetes', 'remote_identity'), schemas.REMOTE_IDENTITY_DEFAULT)
+        ('kubernetes', 'remote_identity'),
+        schemas.get_default_remote_identity('kubernetes'))
     if ('exec' in user_details.get('user', {}) and remote_identity
             == schemas.RemoteIdentityOptions.LOCAL_CREDENTIALS.value):
         ctx_name = current_context['name']
         exec_msg = ('exec-based authentication is used for '
                     f'Kubernetes context {ctx_name!r}.'
-                    ' This may cause issues when running Managed Jobs '
-                    'or SkyServe controller on Kubernetes. To fix, configure '
-                    'SkyPilot to create a service account for running pods by '
-                    'adding the following in ~/.sky/config.yaml:\n'
+                    ' This may cause issues with autodown or when running '
+                    'Managed Jobs or SkyServe controller on Kubernetes. '
+                    'To fix, configure SkyPilot to create a service account '
+                    'for running pods by setting the following in '
+                    '~/.sky/config.yaml:\n'
                     '    kubernetes:\n'
                     '      remote_identity: SERVICE_ACCOUNT\n'
                     '    More: https://skypilot.readthedocs.io/en/latest/'
diff --git a/sky/utils/schemas.py b/sky/utils/schemas.py
index 518d5edf07a..c50e15185a3 100644
--- a/sky/utils/schemas.py
+++ b/sky/utils/schemas.py
@@ -535,7 +535,12 @@ class RemoteIdentityOptions(enum.Enum):
     SERVICE_ACCOUNT = 'SERVICE_ACCOUNT'
 
 
-REMOTE_IDENTITY_DEFAULT = RemoteIdentityOptions.LOCAL_CREDENTIALS.value
+def get_default_remote_identity(cloud: str) -> str:
+    """Get the default remote identity for the specified cloud."""
+    if cloud == 'kubernetes':
+        return RemoteIdentityOptions.SERVICE_ACCOUNT.value
+    return RemoteIdentityOptions.LOCAL_CREDENTIALS.value
+
 
 _REMOTE_IDENTITY_SCHEMA = {
     'remote_identity': {