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# 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`).
The Identity Infrastructure for Developers
ZITADEL is an open-source identity and access management platform built for teams that need more than basic auth. Whether you're securing a SaaS product, building a B2B platform, or self-hosting a production IAM stack — ZITADEL gives you everything out of the box: SSO, MFA, Passkeys, OIDC, SAML, SCIM, and a battle-tested multi-tenancy model.
No vendor lock-in. No compromise on control. Just a robust, API-first identity platform you can own.
🏡 Website | 💬 Chat | 📋 Docs | 🧑💻 Blog | 📞 Contact
Why ZITADEL
We built ZITADEL to handle the hardest IAM challenges at scale — starting with multi-tenancy.
| ZITADEL | FusionAuth | Keycloak | Auth0/Okta | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open-source | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Self-hostable | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Infrastructure-level tenants | ✅ Instances (High scale) | ✅ Tenants | 🟡 Realms (Scaling limits) | ❌ (Multi-tenant = multi-account) |
| B2B Organizations | ✅ Native & Unlimited | 🟡 via Entity Management | ✅ (Recent addition) | 🟡 (Plan/Account dependent) |
| Full audit trail | ✅ Comprehensive Event Stream* | 🟡 Audit logs | 🟡 Audit logs | 🟡 Audit logs |
| Passkeys (FIDO2) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Actions / webhooks | ✅ | ✅ | 🟡 via SPI | ✅ |
| API-first (gRPC + REST) | ✅ | 🟡 REST only | 🟡 REST only | 🟡 REST only |
| SaaS + self-host parity | ✅ | ✅ | ➖ N/A | ➖ N/A |
ZITADEL Cloud and self-hosted ZITADEL run the same codebase.
Key differentiators for architects:
- Relational core, event-driven soul — every mutation is written as an immutable event for a complete, API-accessible audit trail. Unlike systems that log only select activities, ZITADEL provides a comprehensive event stream that can be audited or streamed to external systems via Webhooks.
- Strict multi-tenant hierarchy — Identity System → Organizations → Projects, with isolated data and policy scoping at multiple levels
- API-first design — every resource and action is available via connectRPC, gRPC, and HTTP/JSON APIs
- Zero-downtime updates and horizontal scalability without external session stores
Get Started in 3 Minutes
ZITADEL Self-Hosted
# Docker Compose — up and running in under 3 minutes
curl -LO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zitadel/zitadel/main/deploy/compose/docker-compose.yml \
&& curl -LO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zitadel/zitadel/main/deploy/compose/.env.example \
&& cp .env.example .env \
&& docker compose up -d --wait
Full deployment guides:
Need professional support for your self-hosted deployment? Contact us.
ZITADEL Cloud (SaaS)
Start for free at zitadel.com — no credit card required. Available in US · EU · AU · CH. Pay-as-you-go pricing.
Integrate with the V2 API
ZITADEL exposes every capability over a typed API. Here's how to create a user with the V2 REST API:
curl -X POST https://$ZITADEL_DOMAIN/v2/users/human \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"username": "[email protected]",
"profile": { "givenName": "Alice", "familyName": "Smith" },
"email": { "email": "[email protected]", "sendCode": {} }
}'
Explore the full API reference — including connectRPC and gRPC transports — or jump straight to quickstart examples.
Features
Authentication
- Single Sign On (SSO) · Username/Password · Passkeys (FIDO2 / WebAuthn)
- MFA: OTP, U2F, OTP Email, OTP SMS
- LDAP · Enterprise IdPs and social logins
- OpenID Connect certified · SAML 2.0 · Device authorization
- Machine-to-machine: JWT Profile, PAT, Client Credentials
- Token exchange and impersonation
- Custom sessions for flows beyond OIDC/SAML
- Hosted Login V2
Multi-Tenancy
- Identity brokering with pre-built IdP templates
- Customizable B2B onboarding with self-service for customers
- Delegated role management to third parties
- Domain discovery
Integration
- gRPC, connectRPC, and REST APIs for every resource
- Actions: webhooks, custom code, token enrichment
- RBAC · SCIM 2.0 Server
- Audit log and SOC/SIEM integration
- SDKs and example apps
Self-Service & Admin
- Self-registration with email/phone verification
- Administration Console for orgs and projects
- Custom branding per organization
Deployment
- PostgreSQL (≥ 14) · Zero-downtime updates · High scalability
Track upcoming features on our roadmap and follow our changelog for recent updates.
Showcase
Login V2
Our new, fully customizable login experience — documentation
Adopters & Ecosystem
Used in production by organizations worldwide. See the full Adopters list — and add yours by submitting a pull request.
- SDKs: All supported languages and frameworks
- Examples: Clone and use our examples
How To Contribute
ZITADEL is built in the open and welcoming to contributions of all kinds.
- 📖 Read the Contribution Guide to get started
- 💬 Join the conversation on Discord
- 🐛 Report bugs or request features via GitHub Issues
Contributors
Made with contrib.rocks.
Security
Security policy: SECURITY.md
Vulnerability Disclosure Policy — how to responsibly report security issues.
Technical Advisories are published for major issues that could impact security or stability in production.
License
AGPL-3.0 — see LICENSING.md for the full licensing policy, including Apache 2.0 and MIT exceptions for specific directories.