# Which Problems Are Solved
ZITADEL cannot currently be used as an OAuth 2.0 Authorization Server by
clients that need to register themselves at runtime:
- There is no [OAuth 2.0 Dynamic Client Registration (RFC
7591)](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc7591) endpoint, and no
`registration_endpoint` is advertised in the discovery document.
- This blocks [Model Context Protocol
(MCP)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) clients (Claude Desktop,
claude.ai, Cursor, the MCP SDKs), whose OAuth 2.1 authorization profile
expects an Authorization Server that supports dynamic client
registration. They self-register before any user context exists and only
then start the authorization code + PKCE flow.
# How the Problems Are Solved
## Control plane: instance security settings
No feature flag and no runtime config. A
`DynamicClientRegistrationSettings` message is nested under the instance
`SecuritySettings` in `settings/v2`, next to `embedded_iframe` and
`enable_impersonation`:
| `enabled` | `allow_unauthenticated` | Behaviour |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `false` (default) | — | `POST /oauth/v2/register` returns `404`,
`registration_endpoint` absent from discovery |
| `true` | `false` (default) | Token-gated registration, client homed in
the token's organization |
| `true` | `true` | Open registration for MCP hosts, client homed in the
instance default organization |
Both values are carried on `authz.Instance` and loaded with the
instance, exactly like `EnableImpersonation`, so the discovery document
and the endpoint read them per request without an extra query.
`allow_unauthenticated` implies `enabled` in both implementations, so a
single setting closes the endpoint.
Adding the two columns bumps the projection table to
`projections.security_policies3`, following what the impersonation
setting did for `security_policies2`.
## Authorization: a dedicated permission, not `project.app.write`
- New org-scoped permission **`project.app.register_dynamic`**, granted
by default to `ORG_OWNER`, `IAM_OWNER` and `IAM_ORG_MANAGER` — in both
`InternalAuthZ` and `SystemAuthZ`, mirroring where `project.app.write`
already lives.
- New built-in role **`ORG_DYNAMIC_CLIENT_REGISTRAR`** carrying only
that permission, so a service user can self-register clients without
gaining write access to the organization's existing applications.
- Open mode (`allow_unauthenticated = true`) requires no token and no
permission: that is the MCP self-register path.
- A valid token whose user lacks the permission is answered with **`403
insufficient_scope`** (RFC 6750 §3.1) rather than `401 invalid_token`,
so a caller can tell "your token is bad" from "your token may not do
this". `verifyAccessToken` also reports invalid tokens as permission
denied, so the authorization failure is marked explicitly to keep the
two apart.
The check runs once, at the endpoint, right after the token is verified
and before any state is created, so it also gates the auto-provisioning
of the organization's DCR project. The permission itself lives in the
command layer next to the others
(`Commands.CheckPermissionRegisterDynamicClient`). As the OIDC endpoints
are not behind the authorization interceptor, the caller identity is
derived from the verified token, the way token exchange does for the
impersonating actor.
## Registration itself
- **Registered clients are ordinary OIDC applications.** The endpoint
reuses the existing application-creation events
(`NewApplicationAddedEvent` and `NewOIDCConfigAddedEvent`), so the whole
token, authorization and introspection flow keeps working unchanged.
They are stored in a dedicated, auto-provisioned project named `ZITADEL
DCR` per organization (name lookup), so they do not pollute the
`IAMProject` or other projects.
- Input is validated with the existing `GetOIDCV1Compliance` rules;
`private_key_jwt` and `jwks`/`jwks_uri` are rejected with
`invalid_client_metadata`.
- **Endpoint wiring without forking the library.** `NewServer` calls
`op.RegisterServer` instead of `op.RegisterLegacyServer`, so the new
route can be added through the same `op.WithSetRouter` hook as the
authorize callback. `op.RegisterLegacyServer` appends a middleware after
the caller options, which chi forbids once a route has been registered;
`op.NewIssuerInterceptor` reproduces the issuer middleware it would
otherwise add. The `/oauth/v2` routing prefix is unchanged.
# Additional Changes
- **`application_type` inference for custom-scheme redirects** (last
commit, isolated). `application_type` is an OpenID Connect member; RFC
7591 does not define it, so clients that only implement RFC 7591 omit
it. Native MCP hosts doing so register custom-scheme redirect URIs,
which ZITADEL reserves for native applications, and the OIDC default of
`web` rejected them with `invalid_redirect_uri`. Inference is limited to
custom schemes and to an absent `application_type`, so every request
accepted today keeps its current application type and auth method — an
`http` loopback redirect still yields a web application. Happy to drop
this commit if you would rather keep it out of this PR.
- **Docs**: a Dynamic Client Registration integration guide, a
`registration_endpoint` section on the OpenID Connect endpoints page,
and the new role in the administrators table (plus its description in
the Console translations).
# Additional Context
- Part of #9810. This is **Phase 1 (DCR)**; #12315 adds RFC 7592 and
#12316 adds CIMD, both stacked on this branch and rebased once this
lands.
- Implements the control-plane and authorization model requested in the
review of this PR, itself a refinement of the direction in
https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/issues/9810#issuecomment-4891176997.
- **Out of scope (deliberately)**: RFC 7592, CIMD, persisting free-form
metadata (`logo_uri`, `contacts`, and similar), and `private_key_jwt` /
`jwks_uri` (rejected cleanly). No new event types.
- Follow-ups explicitly left out, per the review: DCR client lifecycle
and richer audit, consent and custom scopes, JWT / `aud` (RFC 8707), and
RFC 8414 AS metadata (currently absent from both ZITADEL and
`zitadel/oidc`).
# Which Problems Are Solved
Zitadel exposes the secrets generator configuration through its admin
api. This allows instance admins to manage them on their own and they
can create overwrite the system / runtime defaults (incl. expiration).
This very much needed in multi-instance scenarios such as zitadel.cloud.
Currently the invite code configuration was not manageable through the
API, but only runtime config.
# How the Problems Are Solved
- added the `invite_code` type to the API allowing it to be set and
retrieved.
- added the type to console's management list
- added the type to be stored on instance setup
- change the `GetSecretGenerator` endpoint to fall back to the runtime
config if no config is stored on the instance itself
- ensure the `length` and at least one charset is enabled, return an
error otherwise
- expiry is not enforced, so 0 allows codes with no expiry (current
state)
# Additional Changes
None
# Additional Context
- closes https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/issues/10474
# Which Problems Are Solved
This PR adds the OTP SMS Challenge needed for CreateSession API
https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/issues/11035
# How the Problems Are Solved
- Introduce `OTPSMSChallengeCommand` (validate/execute/events) for
session creation checks
- Introduce `GetOTPCryptoGeneratorConfigWithDefault` to fetch
per-instance secret generator settings
- Add unit tests
# Additional Changes
Refactor tests in `session_check_recovery_code_test.go` to make the
helper functions reusable in `session_challenge_otp_sms_test.go`
# Additional Context
Related to https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/issues/11035
# Which Problems Are Solved
As part of #11035 , this PR implements the password check logic for
session validation
# How the Problems Are Solved
- Add system config to default configuration of `domain` package for
easy initialization. Intialize the system settings when Zitadel starts
up
- Add password hasher verify logic to the default configuration of
`domain` package. Initialize it when Zitadel starts up.
- Add settings repositories with their mocks
- Implement the logic for doing a password check
# Additional Context
This is a cherry-picked PR + minor changes, coming from
https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/pull/11164
- Relates to #11035
- Depends on https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/pull/11777
# Which Problems Are Solved
The `SecretGenerators` setting is missing among the instance settings in
the new relational model.
# How the Problems Are Solved
This PR adds:
* `SettingTypeSecretGenerator` type to the settings model
* `SecretGeneratorSettingsRepository` and
`secretGeneratorSettingsJSONChanges` interfaces to set, retrieve, and
delete `secret_generator` settings, and corresponding unit tests.
* projection reducers to reduce the following events:
* `SecretGeneratorAddedEvent`
* `SecretGeneratorChangedEvent`
* `SecretGeneratorRemovedEvent`
* integration tests to test that the events get reduced correctly
# Additional Changes
N/A
# Additional Context
- Part of https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/issues/10207
---------
Co-authored-by: Copilot <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: Marco A. <[email protected]>
# Which Problems Are Solved
As part of https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/issues/9599 to push to
move to a relational db table model, this is the migration of the
settings
# Additional Changes
I had to add 2 non source code files
`backend/v3/storage/database/events_testing/font.otf` and
`backend/v3/storage/database/events_testing/picture.png`, these are used
as part of the reduce tests, hence why they're sourced inside
`backend/v3/storage/database/events_testing/settings_instance_test.go`
- Closes https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/issues/10207
---------
Co-authored-by: adlerhurst <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: Copilot <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: Tim Möhlmann <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: Stefan Benz <[email protected]>
jmaretteandGitHub
Livio SpringandGitHub
Gayathri VijayanandGitHub
Marco A.andGitHub
