Documentation for setting up authentication for server & dashboard

Author: sfmskywalkerCreated Jan 20, 2022Updated Sep 20, 2026

Labelsdocumentationprio lowtriaged

We need to document how to configure the workflow server (ASP.NET Core) with authentication middleware and securing the Elsa API controllers and how to configure the dashboard with a plugin to send access tokens to the backend.

The documentation should be created as a guide and should describe the following:

Identity Provider

As an example, setup Azure B2C that acts as the identity provider. Or any other identity provider is fine also, ideally one that has a free tier or at least a free trial.

ASP.NET Core

Configure Authentication Middleware (Open ID Connect as an example).
Protect Elsa API controllers.

Dashboard

Create a dashboard plugin that adds Axios middleware to attach an access token.

Some sample snippets that can be used as input for the documentation:

In startup:

// ConfigureServices:
services
    .AddAuthentication(JwtBearerDefaults.AuthenticationScheme)
    .AddJwtBearer(JwtBearerDefaults.AuthenticationScheme, options => { ... });

services.AddAuthorization();

...

// Configure:

app
    .UseAuthentication()
    .UseAuthorization()
    .UseEndpoints(endpoints =>
    {
            endpoints
               .MapControllers()
                  .RequireAuthorization(); // Protects all controllers, including Elsa's API controllers. It's like adding `[AuthorizeAttribute]` to all controllers
    });

In the front-end, the following plugin can be created to read an access token from a locally stored cookie:

javascript

function AuthPlugin(elsaStudio) {
    const {eventBus} = elsaStudio;

    const getAccessToken = async () => {
        const httpClient = axios.create({
            baseURL: window.location.origin
        });

        try {
            const response = await httpClient.get('.auth/me');
            return response.data[0].id_token;
        } catch (e) {
            console.warn(e.response);
            return null;
        }
    };

    const configureAuthMiddleware = async (e) => {
        const token = await getAccessToken();

        if (!token)
            return;

        e.register({
            onRequest(request) {
                request.headers = {'Authorization': `Bearer ${token}`};
                return request;
            }
        });
    };

    // Handle the "http-client-created" event so we con configure the http client. 
    eventBus.on('http-client-created', configureAuthMiddleware);
}

To register a plugin, see: https://elsa-workflows.github.io/elsa-core/docs/next/extensibility/extensibility-designer-plugins#custom-plugins.

Source: elsa-workflows/elsa-core

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