> **Building with AI coding agents?** Install the authstack plugin with one command. This equips your agent with accurate Scalekit implementation patterns.
>
> **Recommended**:
> ```bash
> npx @scalekit-inc/cli setup
> ```
>
> Global:
> ```bash
> npm install -g @scalekit-inc/cli
> scalekit setup
> ```
>
> Supports Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Codex + skills for 40+ agents.
> Features: full-stack-auth, agent-auth, mcp-auth, modular-sso, modular-scim.
> [Full setup guide](https://docs.scalekit.com/dev-kit/build-with-ai/)

---

# Bring your own auth into your MCP server

Federated authentication system with Scalekit's OAuth 2.1 authorization layer for MCP servers
If you already have an authentication system in place, you can use Scalekit as a drop-in OAuth 2.1 authorization layer for your MCP servers. This federated approach allows you to maintain your existing auth infrastructure while adding standards-compliant OAuth 2.1 authorization for MCP clients.

**Why use federated authentication?**

- **Preserve existing auth**: Keep your current authentication system and user management
- **Standards compliance**: Add OAuth 2.1 authorization without rebuilding your auth layer
- **Seamless integration**: Users authenticate with your familiar login experience
- **Centralized control**: Maintain full control over user authentication and policies

When an MCP client initiates authentication, Scalekit acts as a bridge between the MCP client and your existing authentication system. The flow involves redirecting users to your login endpoint, validating their identity, and passing user information back to Scalekit to complete the OAuth 2.1 flow.

```d2 pad=50
shape: sequence_diagram

"MCP Client"
"Scalekit"
"Your App"

"MCP Client" -> "Scalekit": GET /oauth/authorize
"Scalekit" -> "Your App": 302 to /login\n?login_request_id=<reqid>\n&state=<state>
"Your App" -> "Your App": Auth user with \n existing auth system
"Your App" -> "Scalekit": POST /auth-requests/<login_request_id>/user
"Scalekit" -> "Your App": 200 OK
"Your App" -> "Scalekit": 302 to /partner:callback\n?state=<state>
"Scalekit" -> "MCP Client": Consent, code, token exchange, tokens
```

1. ## Initiate authentication flow

   When the MCP client starts the authentication flow by calling `/oauth/authorize` on Scalekit, Scalekit redirects the user to your configured login endpoint with two critical parameters:

   - `login_request_id`  : Unique identifier for this login request
   - `state`  : OAuth state parameter to maintain security across requests

   **Example redirect URL:**

   ```sh showLineNumbers=false frame="none"
   https:///login?login_request_id=<reqid>&state=<state>
   ```

   The login request and its `state` stay valid for approximately 10 minutes. Complete authentication and send the callback to Scalekit within that window. If the request expires, Scalekit shows an `invalid_state` error page and the connection must be restarted from the MCP client.

2. ## Authenticate the user in your system

   When the user lands on your login page, process authentication using your existing logic?whether that's username/password, SSO, biometric authentication, or any other method your system supports.

   After successful authentication, make a secure backend-to-backend POST request to Scalekit with the authenticated user's information.

   ```bash showLineNumbers=false title="Send user details to Scalekit"
   curl --location '/api/v1/connections/<connection_id>/auth-requests/<login_request_id>/user' \
      --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     --header 'Authorization: Bearer <access_token>' \
      --data-raw '{
        "sub": "1234567890",
        "email": "alice@example.com",
        "given_name": "Alice",
        "family_name": "Doe",
        "email_verified": true,
        "phone_number": "+1234567890",
        "phone_number_verified": false,
        "name": "Alice Doe",
        "preferred_username": "alice.d",
        "picture": "https://example.com/avatar.jpg",
        "gender": "female",
        "locale": "en-US"
      }'
   ```

   ## User attribute descriptions

**Required attributes:**

   - `sub`  ? Unique identifier for the user in your system (subject)
   - `email`  ? User's email address

   **Optional attributes:**

   - `given_name`  ? User's first name
   - `family_name`  ? User's last name
   - `email_verified`  ? Whether email has been verified
   - `phone_number`  ? User's phone number in E.164 format
   - `phone_number_verified`  ? Whether phone has been verified
   - `name`  ? User's full name
   - `preferred_username`  ? Preferred username
   - `picture`  ? URL to user's profile picture
   - `gender`  ? User's gender
   - `locale`  ? User's locale preference (e.g., "en-US")

   > note: Finding your connection_id
>
> Replace the placeholder values:
> - `` — Your Scalekit environment URL
> - `<connection_id>` — The connection ID for your BYOA integration. Find it in **Dashboard > MCP Servers > [your server] > Advanced Configurations > Connection ID**. It starts with `conn_`.
> - `<login_request_id>` — The login request ID from step 1
> - `<access_token>` — Your Scalekit API access token
>
> **Do not use the MCP Server's resource ID here.** The resource ID (starts with `res_`) identifies the MCP server itself and is used for token audiences and client registration — it is a different value.

3. ## Redirect back to Scalekit

   After receiving a successful response from Scalekit confirming the user details were accepted, redirect the user back to Scalekit's callback endpoint with the `state` parameter.

   **Callback URL format:**

   ```sh showLineNumbers=false frame="none"
   /sso/v1/connections/<connection_id>/partner:callback?state=<state_value>
   ```

   The `state_value` must match the `state` parameter you received in step 1. This ensures the authentication flow's integrity and prevents CSRF attacks.

   > caution: State validation
>
> Always verify that the `state` value you send back matches exactly what you received initially. Mismatched state values should be rejected.

4. ## Complete the OAuth flow

   After processing the callback from your authentication system, Scalekit automatically handles the remaining OAuth 2.1 flow steps:

   - Displays the consent screen to the user (if required)
   - Generates the authorization code
   - Handles token exchange requests from the MCP client
   - Issues access tokens with appropriate scopes

   The MCP client receives valid OAuth 2.1 tokens and can now access your MCP server with the authenticated user's identity.

   > tip: Security best practices
>
> - Store and transmit all sensitive data (tokens, user information) securely
> - Use HTTPS for all communications between your system and Scalekit
> - Implement proper logging for authentication events for audit trails
> - The `login_request_id` and `state` parameters are critical for security?never reuse them across requests

Your MCP server now supports federated authentication with your existing auth system

## Troubleshooting

## `invalid_state` error page after login

Scalekit returns `error=invalid_state` when the login request has expired or the returned `state` does not match the value from step 1. The login request stays valid for approximately 10 minutes.

Treat the two causes separately:

- **Expired request:** First-time signup often takes longer than 10 minutes. Restart the connection from the MCP client. The default error page cannot be replaced with a custom page.
- **Mismatched `state`:** Confirm your application stores the `state` value from step 1 and returns it unchanged. Do not drop, overwrite, or rewrite it. Keep state validation enabled. Restarting the MCP connection does not fix a mismatch.

## The handoff request times out with a gateway timeout error

Create the Scalekit client once at application startup and reuse that single instance across requests. Constructing a new client on every request re-runs the full bootstrap, which opens a fresh connection and fetches a new access token before the request can proceed. That extra work adds latency and can exceed the request deadline, which surfaces as a `deadline_exceeded` gateway timeout on the user-details call. A shared client caches its token and refreshes it internally.


---

## More Scalekit documentation

| Resource | What it contains | When to use it |
|----------|-----------------|----------------|
| [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) | Structured index with routing hints per product area | Start here — find which documentation set covers your topic before loading full content |
| [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) | Complete documentation for all Scalekit products in one file | Use when you need exhaustive context across multiple products or when the topic spans several areas |
| [sitemap-0.xml](https://docs.scalekit.com/sitemap-0.xml) | Full URL list of every documentation page | Use to discover specific page URLs you can fetch for targeted, page-level answers |