authentication

name	authentication
description	How auth works in agent-native apps. Use when wiring login/signup, configuring auth modes, setting up organizations, protecting routes, or debugging session issues.
metadata	{"internal":true}

Authentication

Rule

Auth is powered by Better Auth with account-first design. Every new user creates an account on first visit. Use getSession(event) to authenticate custom routes; actions are auto-protected.

Auth Modes

Mode	Behavior
Development (default)	Real Better Auth — same flow as production. There is no auth bypass. On first run the framework auto-creates a throwaway dev account and signs you in (credentials printed once to the console; disable with AGENT_NATIVE_DISABLE_AUTO_DEV_ACCOUNT=1), so you are not stuck at a login wall. getSession() returns the signed-in user or null — it never falls back to a sentinel identity.
Production (default)	Better Auth with email/password + social providers (Google, GitHub). Organizations built in.
AUTH_MODE=local	Not a browser auth bypass, and never returns local@localhost. It only affects CLI/agent identity: it lets pnpm action / the local agent loop auto-bind to the single real signed-in dev user from the sessions table (see scripts/dev-session.ts). Browser login is unchanged.
AUTH_SKIP_EMAIL_VERIFICATION=1	QA/preview escape hatch for real email/password accounts. Signup skips email verification and does not send the signup verification email. Local dev/test skips verification by default; set AUTH_SKIP_EMAIL_VERIFICATION=0 only when testing verification itself. Use +qa emails for test accounts.
AUTH_DISABLED=true	Skip login/signup entirely — every request runs as [e-mail]. For local dev, cloud previews, and internal demos only; not for production with real users.
ACCESS_TOKEN / ACCESS_TOKENS	Static bearer fallback for MCP/connect clients that cannot use OAuth. Not browser auth and never a token login page.
Custom	Pass your own getSession to autoMountAuth(app, { getSession }).

Never use local@localhost as a fallback identity in app code (getRequestUserEmail() ?? "local@localhost", session?.email ?? "local@localhost", etc.). There is no dev auth shim. That pattern pools every unauthenticated request into one shared tenant and caused the 2026-04-29 credentials leak. When there is no session, throw or return 401 — never substitute a sentinel. Enforced by scripts/guard-no-localhost-fallback.mjs.

Remote MCP OAuth

Every app's /_agent-native/mcp endpoint is also a standard protected MCP resource. OAuth-capable hosts connect with the remote MCP URL only, receive a WWW-Authenticate challenge, discover /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource and /.well-known/oauth-authorization-server, dynamically register a public client, and complete authorization-code + PKCE at /_agent-native/mcp/oauth/authorize / /_agent-native/mcp/oauth/token. Access tokens are audience-bound to the exact MCP URL and carry user/org identity plus mcp:read, mcp:write, and/or mcp:apps; refresh tokens are stored hashed and rotate. Keep ACCESS_TOKEN and pnpm exec agent-native connect for local stdio proxying and fallback clients. The CLI uses the OAuth-native URL-only entry for Claude Code/Claude Code CLI by default; use the Connect page or npx @agent-native/core@latest connect --token <token> when a client needs explicit bearer headers.

Local → Real Account Migration

Upgrading from local@localhost to a real account preserves SQL-backed workspace data. The built-in migration moves application_state, user-scoped settings, oauth_tokens, and any template table that uses owner_email.

Templates with legacy global settings can provide POST /api/local-migration for one-time re-homing during the upgrade flow.

Organizations

Organizations are framework-managed, not handled by Better Auth's organization plugin (which is intentionally NOT registered). Org data lives in the framework's own organizations, org_members, and org_invitations tables. Every app supports creating orgs, inviting members, and role-based access (owner/admin/member).

The active org flows automatically: session.orgId — resolved by getOrgContext from org_members plus the user's active-org-id setting (not from a Better Auth session field) — → AGENT_ORG_ID → SQL scoping (see security skill).

When an authenticated user has no org memberships, the framework auto-creates a default org (named after the user) the first time getOrgContext runs. This keeps org-scoped templates from showing a manual "create organization" step. The auto-create path skips users with pending invites or a matching allowed_domain org so they can join the intended team instead. Set AUTO_CREATE_DEFAULT_ORG=0 only for deployments that intentionally want manual org creation.

Do not wrap normal app shells in <RequireActiveOrg> just to force setup. Use non-blocking org UI such as InvitationBanner, OrgSwitcher, and a /team route so users can accept invites, join domain-matched teams, or switch orgs without blocking the primary product experience. Place org UI inside the agent sidebar so the setup checklist, chat, and CLI stay usable during setup.

A2A Identity

Set A2A_SECRET (same value) on all apps that must verify each other's identity.

• Outbound A2A calls are signed with JWTs
• Inbound calls are verified cryptographically
• Without A2A_SECRET, A2A calls are unauthenticated (fine for local dev)

Cross-App SSO (Dispatch identity hub)

Each hosted *.agent-native.com app has its own user store, so "sign in once" is identity federation, not a shared cookie. Dispatch is the identity authority.

• Opt-in per app via one env var: set AGENT_NATIVE_IDENTITY_HUB_URL=https://dispatch.agent-native.com and the app shows a "Sign in with Agent-Native" option. Unset = zero behavior change — the whole path is dormant. Reversible at any time.
• Flow: app → GET <hub>/_agent-native/identity/authorize?app=&redirect_uri=&state= → user logs in at Dispatch → 302 back with a short-lived (≤5min) A2A_SECRET-signed identity JWT (sub/email/name/org_domain/scope:"identity"). Strict redirect_uri allowlist (*.agent-native.com + localhost). App verifies the token, JIT-links strictly by verified email (existing same-email user → reused unchanged; new email → created), then mints a normal local session.
• Invariant (do not break): identity rows are only ever added — never modified, renamed, or deleted. Enabling SSO logs users out, but they always log back into the same email-matched account with data intact. Email is the only thing that crosses the trust boundary; the app never trusts a user id, role, or org from the wire.
• Canary rollout: deploy with the env unset everywhere (no-op) → set it on one app (mail) only → verify (logout → SSO → Dispatch → back to the same pre-existing account, data intact, direct logins still work) → expand app-by-app → rollback = unset the env on that app's deploy (instant, no data change).

Full runbook + flow detail: Cross-App SSO doc.

Builder Browser Access

Apps can connect to Builder via the cli-auth flow and persist shared browser credentials in .env. Agents then use the built-in get-browser-connection tool to provision a real browser session via AI Services.

Protecting Custom Routes

Actions are auto-protected. Do not create custom /api/ routes for normal CRUD, data queries, or action-backed operations; use defineAction and the auto-mounted action endpoint instead. If a route-only concern forces a custom route:

import { getSession } from "@agent-native/core/server";

export default defineEventHandler(async (event) => {
  const session = await getSession(event);
  if (!session) throw createError({ statusCode: 401 });
  // ...
});

Never create unprotected routes that modify data.

Sign-In from a Public Page

For public pages (share links, embeds, marketing pages) that need anonymous viewers to sign in and return to where they were, navigate them through the framework's sign-in entry point — never roll your own:

const ret = window.location.pathname + window.location.search;
window.location.href =
  "/_agent-native/sign-in?return=" + encodeURIComponent(ret);

After successful sign-in (token / email-password / Google OAuth), the framework 302s to return. The path is validated as same-origin via the URL parser — open-redirect / header-injection inputs fall back to /.

Bookmarked private paths already work when the request reaches the server — the auth guard serves the login page at the requested URL and post-login reload returns the user there.

Gating the App Shell (avoid the logged-out infinite spinner)

The server auth guard only protects requests that actually reach the Nitro function. A statically-served / CDN-cached SPA shell, or a client-side (React Router) navigation made after the session expired, never re-hits the guard — so the app boots with no session, every data query 401s, and the UI sticks on its loading state forever. Server-side protection alone is not enough; gate on the client too.

For a fully private app (every page requires auth, like mail), wrap the routed shell with the framework's RequireSession. It resolves the session on the client and redirects signed-out visitors to /_agent-native/sign-in?return=… instead of spinning:

import { AppProviders, RequireSession } from "@agent-native/core/client";

<AppProviders queryClient={queryClient}>
  <RequireSession bypass={isMcpEmbedSurface()}>
    <AppLayout>
      <Outlet />
    </AppLayout>
  </RequireSession>
</AppProviders>;

• Place it inside AppProviders (so the loading fallback is themed) and around the layout/outlet — also around any always-mounted effects (poll, automation trigger) so they don't fire 401s for logged-out visitors.
• Pass bypass for surfaces that authenticate by another mechanism (embed / popout iframes carrying their own token) so they are never bounced to sign-in.
• Apps with public/anonymous routes (share pages) must not wrap the whole app — gate only the private subtree, or use the redirect={false} + signedOut props to render an inline call-to-action instead of redirecting.

Related Skills

• security — Data scoping, SQL injection, secrets
• actions — Auto-protected by the auth guard
• Cross-App SSO doc — Dispatch identity hub, federation flow, canary runbook