M7. MCP authorization (OAuth code flow)
- Dominant language
- C#
- Stars
- 3
- Forks
- 7
- Avg merge
- 1d 9h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 18
Description
## Why
Today the MCP server relies solely on **origin-header validation** and localhost binding — safe for a single-user local machine, but there is **no authorization layer**. Any **remote, hosted, or shared** agent deployment (team agent, CI runner, cloud-hosted assistant) currently has no supported way to authenticate a caller. The MCP spec defines an **OAuth 2.1 authorization-code flow** for exactly this; adopting it unlocks hosted/agentic scenarios without falling back to master keys.
This is the natural companion to confirmation/elicitation (item M3): authorization answers *"who is allowed to call,"* M3 answers *"what may they do."*
## Proposed behavior
- Implement the MCP **authorization-code flow** for the HTTP transport: advertise the authorization server, validate bearer tokens on each request, and map the authenticated identity onto the shell's existing Entra/RBAC connection so tool calls run with **least-privilege, per-caller** credentials rather than a shared session.
- Keep localhost/no-auth as an explicit opt-in for the current single-user experience.
## Acceptance criteria
- Unauthenticated remote requests are rejected.
- A client can complete the authorization-code flow and call tools with a bearer token.
- Identity flows to the Cosmos/ARM credential.
- Localhost no-auth mode preserved behind a flag.
- Threat model + `docs/mcp.md` updated.
---
_Filed from the Agentic & Automation Roadmap (`docs/agentic-roadmap.md`), item **M7**, Wave 2. Priority P1._
Contributor guide
Research direction
Start with docs/mcp.md and docs/agentic-roadmap.md, especially roadmap item M7, then trace the HTTP transport and existing Entra/RBAC credential path. Done means remote unauthenticated requests are rejected, bearer-token authorization works, identity reaches Cosmos/ARM credentials, localhost no-auth remains flag-gated, and the threat model and documentation are updated.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- azure, csharp
- Domain
- authentication, authorization, cli, security
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Active
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100