OpenID Connect: Authorization code flow - Plugin

Authorization code flowv1.0+

This example configures the OpenID Connect plugin with an authorization code flow.

Here’s how the auth code flow works:

sequenceDiagram
    autonumber
    participant client as Client <br>(e.g. mobile app)
    participant kong as Gateway
    participant idp as IdP <br>(e.g. Keycloak)
    participant httpbin as Upstream <br>(upstream service,<br> e.g. httpbin)
    activate client
    activate kong
    client->>kong: HTTP request
    kong->>client: Redirect mobile app to IDP 
    deactivate kong
    activate idp
    client->>idp: Request access and authentication<br>with client parameter
    Note left of idp: /auth<br>response_type=code,<br>scope=openid
    idp->>client: Login (ask for consent)
    client->>idp: /auth with user credentials (grant consent)
    idp->>client: Return authorization code and redirect
    Note left of idp: short-lived authcode
    activate kong
    client->>kong: HTTP redirect with authorization code
    deactivate client
    kong->>kong: Verify authorization code flow
    kong->>idp: Request ID token, access token, and refresh token
    Note left of idp: /token<br>client_id:client_secret<br>authcode
    idp->>idp: Authenticate client (Kong)<br>and validate authcode
    idp->>kong: Returns tokens
    Note left of idp: ID token, access token, and refresh token
    deactivate idp
    kong->>kong: Validate tokens
    Note right of kong: Cryptographic<br>signature validation,<br>expiry check<br>(OIDC Standard JWT validation)
    activate client
    kong->>client: Redirect with session cookie<br>having session ID (SID)
    Note left of kong: sid: cryptorandom bytes <br>(128 bits)<br>& HMAC protected
    client->>kong: Authenticated request with session cookie
    deactivate client
    kong->>kong: Verify session cookie
    Note right of kong: Retrieve encrypted tokens<br>from session store (redis)
    activate httpbin
    kong->>httpbin: Backend service request with tokens
    Note right of idp: Access token and ID token
    httpbin->>kong: Backend service response
    deactivate httpbin
    activate client
    kong->>client: HTTP response
    deactivate kong
    deactivate client

For a full example that shows you how to set up the authorization code flow with Keycloak, see Configure OpenID Connect with the auth code flow.

Note: Setting config.client_auth to client_secret_post lets you test the connection to your IdP, but we recommend using a more secure auth method in production. You can use any of the supported client auth methods.

Prerequisites

A configured identity provider (IdP)

Environment variables

ISSUER: The issuer authentication URL for your IdP. For example, if you’re using Keycloak as your IdP, the issuer URL looks like this: http://localhost:8080/realms/example-realm
CLIENT_ID: The client ID that the plugin uses when it calls authenticated endpoints of the IdP.
CLIENT_SECRET: The client secret needed to connect to your IdP.
TOKEN_SALT: A random string that decK requires (v1.59 and later) so session credentials aren’t regenerated on every sync. This parameter is optional for other formats. For example, generate one with openssl rand -base64 16.

Set up the plugin

Add this section to your kong.yaml configuration file:

decK

kong.yaml

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_format_version: "3.0"
plugins:
  - name: openid-connect
    config:
      issuer: ${{ env "DECK_ISSUER" }}
      client_id:
      - ${{ env "DECK_CLIENT_ID" }}
      client_secret:
      - ${{ env "DECK_CLIENT_SECRET" }}
      client_auth:
      - client_secret_post
      auth_methods:
      - authorization_code
      - session
      response_mode: form_post
      preserve_query_args: true
      login_action: redirect
      login_tokens:
      cache_tokens_salt: ${{ env "DECK_TOKEN_SALT" }}

Make the following request:

curl -i -X POST http://localhost:8001/plugins/ \
    --header "Accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "openid-connect",
      "config": {
        "issuer": "'$ISSUER'",
        "client_id": [
          "'$CLIENT_ID'"
        ],
        "client_secret": [
          "'$CLIENT_SECRET'"
        ],
        "client_auth": [
          "client_secret_post"
        ],
        "auth_methods": [
          "authorization_code",
          "session"
        ],
        "response_mode": "form_post",
        "preserve_query_args": true,
        "login_action": "redirect",
        "login_tokens": null,
        "cache_tokens_salt": "'$TOKEN_SALT'"
      }
    }
    '

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Make the following request:

curl -X POST https://{region}.api.konghq.com/v2/control-planes/{controlPlaneId}/core-entities/plugins/ \
    --header "accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --header "Authorization: Bearer $KONNECT_TOKEN" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "openid-connect",
      "config": {
        "issuer": "'$ISSUER'",
        "client_id": [
          "'$CLIENT_ID'"
        ],
        "client_secret": [
          "'$CLIENT_SECRET'"
        ],
        "client_auth": [
          "client_secret_post"
        ],
        "auth_methods": [
          "authorization_code",
          "session"
        ],
        "response_mode": "form_post",
        "preserve_query_args": true,
        "login_action": "redirect",
        "login_tokens": null,
        "cache_tokens_salt": "'$TOKEN_SALT'"
      }
    }
    '

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Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

region: Geographic region where your Kong Konnect is hosted and operates.
KONNECT_TOKEN: Your Personal Access Token (PAT) associated with your Konnect account.
controlPlaneId: The id of the control plane.

See the Konnect Control Planes Config API reference to learn about region-specific URLs and personal access tokens.

echo "
apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongClusterPlugin
metadata:
  name: openid-connect
  namespace: kong
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong
  labels:
    global: 'true'
config:
  issuer: '$ISSUER'
  client_id:
  - '$CLIENT_ID'
  client_secret:
  - '$CLIENT_SECRET'
  client_auth:
  - client_secret_post
  auth_methods:
  - authorization_code
  - session
  response_mode: form_post
  preserve_query_args: true
  login_action: redirect
  login_tokens:
  cache_tokens_salt: '$TOKEN_SALT'
plugin: openid-connect
" | kubectl apply -f -

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Prerequisite: Configure your Personal Access Token

terraform {
  required_providers {
    konnect = {
      source  = "kong/konnect"
    }
  }
}

provider "konnect" {
  personal_access_token = "$KONNECT_TOKEN"
  server_url            = "https://us.api.konghq.com/"
}

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Add the following to your Terraform configuration to create a Konnect Gateway Plugin:

resource "konnect_gateway_plugin_openid_connect" "my_openid_connect" {
  enabled = true

  config = {
    issuer = var.issuer
    client_id = [var.client_id]
    client_secret = [var.client_secret]
    client_auth = ["client_secret_post"]
    auth_methods = ["authorization_code", "session"]
    response_mode = "form_post"
    preserve_query_args = true
    login_action = "redirect"
    login_tokens = 
    cache_tokens_salt = var.token_salt
  }

  control_plane_id = konnect_gateway_control_plane.my_konnect_cp.id
}

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This example requires the following variables to be added to your manifest. You can specify values at runtime by setting TF_VAR_name=value.

variable "issuer" {
  type = string
}
variable "client_id" {
  type = string
}
variable "client_secret" {
  type = string
}
variable "token_salt" {
  type = string
}

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Add this section to your kong.yaml configuration file:

decK

kong.yaml

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_format_version: "3.0"
plugins:
  - name: openid-connect
    service: serviceName|Id
    config:
      issuer: ${{ env "DECK_ISSUER" }}
      client_id:
      - ${{ env "DECK_CLIENT_ID" }}
      client_secret:
      - ${{ env "DECK_CLIENT_SECRET" }}
      client_auth:
      - client_secret_post
      auth_methods:
      - authorization_code
      - session
      response_mode: form_post
      preserve_query_args: true
      login_action: redirect
      login_tokens:
      cache_tokens_salt: ${{ env "DECK_TOKEN_SALT" }}

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

serviceName|Id: The id or name of the service the plugin configuration will target.

Make the following request:

curl -i -X POST http://localhost:8001/services/{serviceName|Id}/plugins/ \
    --header "Accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "openid-connect",
      "config": {
        "issuer": "'$ISSUER'",
        "client_id": [
          "'$CLIENT_ID'"
        ],
        "client_secret": [
          "'$CLIENT_SECRET'"
        ],
        "client_auth": [
          "client_secret_post"
        ],
        "auth_methods": [
          "authorization_code",
          "session"
        ],
        "response_mode": "form_post",
        "preserve_query_args": true,
        "login_action": "redirect",
        "login_tokens": null,
        "cache_tokens_salt": "'$TOKEN_SALT'"
      }
    }
    '

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Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

serviceName|Id: The id or name of the service the plugin configuration will target.

Make the following request:

curl -X POST https://{region}.api.konghq.com/v2/control-planes/{controlPlaneId}/core-entities/services/{serviceId}/plugins/ \
    --header "accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --header "Authorization: Bearer $KONNECT_TOKEN" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "openid-connect",
      "config": {
        "issuer": "'$ISSUER'",
        "client_id": [
          "'$CLIENT_ID'"
        ],
        "client_secret": [
          "'$CLIENT_SECRET'"
        ],
        "client_auth": [
          "client_secret_post"
        ],
        "auth_methods": [
          "authorization_code",
          "session"
        ],
        "response_mode": "form_post",
        "preserve_query_args": true,
        "login_action": "redirect",
        "login_tokens": null,
        "cache_tokens_salt": "'$TOKEN_SALT'"
      }
    }
    '

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Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

region: Geographic region where your Kong Konnect is hosted and operates.
KONNECT_TOKEN: Your Personal Access Token (PAT) associated with your Konnect account.
controlPlaneId: The id of the control plane.
serviceId: The id of the service the plugin configuration will target.

See the Konnect Control Planes Config API reference to learn about region-specific URLs and personal access tokens.

echo "
apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongPlugin
metadata:
  name: openid-connect
  namespace: kong
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong
config:
  issuer: '$ISSUER'
  client_id:
  - '$CLIENT_ID'
  client_secret:
  - '$CLIENT_SECRET'
  client_auth:
  - client_secret_post
  auth_methods:
  - authorization_code
  - session
  response_mode: form_post
  preserve_query_args: true
  login_action: redirect
  login_tokens:
  cache_tokens_salt: '$TOKEN_SALT'
plugin: openid-connect
" | kubectl apply -f -

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Next, apply the KongPlugin resource by annotating the service resource:

kubectl annotate -n kong service SERVICE_NAME konghq.com/plugins=openid-connect

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Prerequisite: Configure your Personal Access Token

terraform {
  required_providers {
    konnect = {
      source  = "kong/konnect"
    }
  }
}

provider "konnect" {
  personal_access_token = "$KONNECT_TOKEN"
  server_url            = "https://us.api.konghq.com/"
}

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Add the following to your Terraform configuration to create a Konnect Gateway Plugin:

resource "konnect_gateway_plugin_openid_connect" "my_openid_connect" {
  enabled = true

  config = {
    issuer = var.issuer
    client_id = [var.client_id]
    client_secret = [var.client_secret]
    client_auth = ["client_secret_post"]
    auth_methods = ["authorization_code", "session"]
    response_mode = "form_post"
    preserve_query_args = true
    login_action = "redirect"
    login_tokens = 
    cache_tokens_salt = var.token_salt
  }

  control_plane_id = konnect_gateway_control_plane.my_konnect_cp.id
  service = {
    id = konnect_gateway_service.my_service.id
  }
}

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This example requires the following variables to be added to your manifest. You can specify values at runtime by setting TF_VAR_name=value.

variable "issuer" {
  type = string
}
variable "client_id" {
  type = string
}
variable "client_secret" {
  type = string
}
variable "token_salt" {
  type = string
}

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Add this section to your kong.yaml configuration file:

decK

kong.yaml

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_format_version: "3.0"
plugins:
  - name: openid-connect
    route: routeName|Id
    config:
      issuer: ${{ env "DECK_ISSUER" }}
      client_id:
      - ${{ env "DECK_CLIENT_ID" }}
      client_secret:
      - ${{ env "DECK_CLIENT_SECRET" }}
      client_auth:
      - client_secret_post
      auth_methods:
      - authorization_code
      - session
      response_mode: form_post
      preserve_query_args: true
      login_action: redirect
      login_tokens:
      cache_tokens_salt: ${{ env "DECK_TOKEN_SALT" }}

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

routeName|Id: The id or name of the route the plugin configuration will target.

Make the following request:

curl -i -X POST http://localhost:8001/routes/{routeName|Id}/plugins/ \
    --header "Accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "openid-connect",
      "config": {
        "issuer": "'$ISSUER'",
        "client_id": [
          "'$CLIENT_ID'"
        ],
        "client_secret": [
          "'$CLIENT_SECRET'"
        ],
        "client_auth": [
          "client_secret_post"
        ],
        "auth_methods": [
          "authorization_code",
          "session"
        ],
        "response_mode": "form_post",
        "preserve_query_args": true,
        "login_action": "redirect",
        "login_tokens": null,
        "cache_tokens_salt": "'$TOKEN_SALT'"
      }
    }
    '

Copied!

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

routeName|Id: The id or name of the route the plugin configuration will target.

Make the following request:

curl -X POST https://{region}.api.konghq.com/v2/control-planes/{controlPlaneId}/core-entities/routes/{routeId}/plugins/ \
    --header "accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --header "Authorization: Bearer $KONNECT_TOKEN" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "openid-connect",
      "config": {
        "issuer": "'$ISSUER'",
        "client_id": [
          "'$CLIENT_ID'"
        ],
        "client_secret": [
          "'$CLIENT_SECRET'"
        ],
        "client_auth": [
          "client_secret_post"
        ],
        "auth_methods": [
          "authorization_code",
          "session"
        ],
        "response_mode": "form_post",
        "preserve_query_args": true,
        "login_action": "redirect",
        "login_tokens": null,
        "cache_tokens_salt": "'$TOKEN_SALT'"
      }
    }
    '

Copied!

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

region: Geographic region where your Kong Konnect is hosted and operates.
KONNECT_TOKEN: Your Personal Access Token (PAT) associated with your Konnect account.
controlPlaneId: The id of the control plane.
routeId: The id of the route the plugin configuration will target.

See the Konnect Control Planes Config API reference to learn about region-specific URLs and personal access tokens.

echo "
apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongPlugin
metadata:
  name: openid-connect
  namespace: kong
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong
config:
  issuer: '$ISSUER'
  client_id:
  - '$CLIENT_ID'
  client_secret:
  - '$CLIENT_SECRET'
  client_auth:
  - client_secret_post
  auth_methods:
  - authorization_code
  - session
  response_mode: form_post
  preserve_query_args: true
  login_action: redirect
  login_tokens:
  cache_tokens_salt: '$TOKEN_SALT'
plugin: openid-connect
" | kubectl apply -f -

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Next, apply the KongPlugin resource by annotating the httproute or ingress resource:

kubectl annotate -n kong httproute  konghq.com/plugins=openid-connect

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kubectl annotate -n kong ingress  konghq.com/plugins=openid-connect

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Prerequisite: Configure your Personal Access Token

terraform {
  required_providers {
    konnect = {
      source  = "kong/konnect"
    }
  }
}

provider "konnect" {
  personal_access_token = "$KONNECT_TOKEN"
  server_url            = "https://us.api.konghq.com/"
}

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Add the following to your Terraform configuration to create a Konnect Gateway Plugin:

resource "konnect_gateway_plugin_openid_connect" "my_openid_connect" {
  enabled = true

  config = {
    issuer = var.issuer
    client_id = [var.client_id]
    client_secret = [var.client_secret]
    client_auth = ["client_secret_post"]
    auth_methods = ["authorization_code", "session"]
    response_mode = "form_post"
    preserve_query_args = true
    login_action = "redirect"
    login_tokens = 
    cache_tokens_salt = var.token_salt
  }

  control_plane_id = konnect_gateway_control_plane.my_konnect_cp.id
  route = {
    id = konnect_gateway_route.my_route.id
  }
}

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This example requires the following variables to be added to your manifest. You can specify values at runtime by setting TF_VAR_name=value.

variable "issuer" {
  type = string
}
variable "client_id" {
  type = string
}
variable "client_secret" {
  type = string
}
variable "token_salt" {
  type = string
}

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OpenID Connect

Authorization code flowv1.0+

Prerequisites

Environment variables

Set up the plugin

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