# MCP OAuth — per-user authorization for MCP servers

Turnstone supports **per-(user, MCP server) OAuth 2.1 + PKCE** delegation so each Turnstone user authorizes a remote MCP server with their own identity, rather than sharing a single bearer token across the deployment. This is the right shape for MCP servers that expose user-specific data (a personal CRM, an email inbox, a calendar) and for MCP servers that want per-user audit attribution.

Per-user OAuth is opt-in per `mcp_servers` row. Local-auth Turnstone installs with no `oauth_user` rows exercise zero new code paths — the entire feature is dark by default.

> **Note**: This is a separate authorization layer from Turnstone's own user authentication. A user who logs into Turnstone with a local username + password can still authorize a per-server OAuth MCP server. OIDC SSO and per-server OAuth are orthogonal.

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## When to use which `auth_type`

The MCP server admin form exposes three authorization modes ("Multitenant Authorization"):

| `auth_type` | What it means | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| `none` | No headers attached. Open MCP server (or one gated by network policy only). | Internal MCP servers on a trusted network. |
| `static` | One static bearer token, configured per server, sent on every request from every user. | Service-to-service MCP servers where per-user attribution doesn't matter, or single-tenant deployments. |
| `oauth_user` *(recommended for user-data servers)* | Each user authorizes separately via OAuth 2.1 + PKCE; Turnstone stores per-user tokens encrypted at rest. | MCP servers that expose user-specific data or that want per-user audit attribution. |

Switching `auth_type` away from `oauth_user` orphans existing per-user tokens. Use the admin **bulk-revoke** affordance on the server row (Phase 9) to clear them, or let them expire naturally — they're inert without the matching `auth_type` value.

---

## Prerequisites for `auth_type=oauth_user`

1. **Encryption key**. Tokens are stored encrypted with Fernet. Set `[security] mcp_token_encryption_key` in `config.toml` (Turnstone won't start with an `oauth_user` row configured but no key installed). Rotate via `MultiFernet` — add the new key first, then later remove the old one once all rows have been re-encrypted.

2. **MCP server publishes RFC 9728 PRM and RFC 8414 AS metadata** *or* you configure the AS URL override on the server row. PKCE S256 is mandatory; Turnstone refuses to connect to authorization servers that don't advertise `code_challenge_methods_supported: ["S256"]`.

3. **OAuth client registration**. Two paths:
   - **Pre-registered** (most common): you create an OAuth client at the authorization server (manually, via admin console, or via Terraform), then paste the `client_id` / `client_secret` into the Turnstone admin form.
   - **Dynamic client registration** (RFC 7591): if the AS supports it and you select that mode in the admin form, Turnstone registers a client at first use and persists the `client_id` automatically.

4. **Redirect URI** registered at the authorization server: `https://your-turnstone-host/v1/api/mcp/oauth/callback`.

---

## Configuration

### Per-server fields (admin UI)

| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Server URL | Yes | The MCP server's `streamable-http` base URL. |
| Multitenant Authorization | Yes | `none` / `static` / `oauth_user` (recommended). |
| Authorization Server URL | No | Override for RFC 9728 PRM discovery. Set when your AS endpoint differs from the MCP server URL (e.g., corporate AS protecting a third-party MCP). When unset, Turnstone falls back to PRM discovery against the MCP server itself. |
| Client Registration | Yes (oauth_user) | `preregistered` or `dynamic`. |
| Client ID | Yes (preregistered) | OAuth 2.0 client ID. Stored unencrypted. |
| Client Secret | Optional (write-only) | OAuth 2.0 client secret (confidential client). Encrypted at rest. Written but never re-read by the API; field stays masked. |
| Scopes | No | Space-separated default scope set requested at the authorize endpoint. Per-tool step-up may union additional scopes from a server's `insufficient_scope` response. |
| Audience | No | RFC 8707 `resource=` parameter sent on every authorize and token request. Defaults to the MCP server URL when unset. Validate against the `aud` claim in returned JWT tokens. |

### Encryption key

```toml
[security]
mcp_token_encryption_key = "base64-fernet-key"
# For rotation, list the keys in priority order — first is used for new
# writes, all are tried for reads.
# mcp_token_encryption_keys = ["new-key", "old-key"]
```

Keep this in `config.toml` rather than environment variables. An in-process LLM with shell-tool access can read the server's environment via `env` / `os.environ` and exfiltrate any secret stored there; secrets in `config.toml` are only loaded into the server at startup and never re-read on a tool-driven path, so a prompt-injection attack against the agent cannot reach them.

---

## Lifecycle

1. **First tool call** for a user against an `oauth_user` MCP server: pool dispatch finds no stored token, returns `mcp_consent_required` to the agent. Dashboard renders an inline "Connect" action card.

2. **User clicks Connect**: opens `/v1/api/mcp/oauth/start?server=<name>` in a popup. Browser redirects through the AS authorize endpoint, user grants consent, AS redirects back to `/v1/api/mcp/oauth/callback`. Turnstone exchanges code → tokens via PKCE, validates audience, encrypts, persists in `mcp_user_tokens`, redirects user back to the originating URL.

3. **Subsequent tool calls** by the same user against the same server reuse the persisted token via the per-(user, server) session pool. Tokens auto-refresh via the refresh-token grant when expired; failed refresh emits `mcp_consent_required` to drive re-consent.

4. **Step-up scope**: when a tool call hits `403` with `WWW-Authenticate: error="insufficient_scope"`, Turnstone emits `mcp_insufficient_scope` with the parsed scope set; the dashboard offers a "Connect with additional scopes" affordance that opens `/v1/api/mcp/oauth/start?server=<name>&scopes=<extra>` so the union of original + new scopes flows into the AS authorize request.

5. **User revoke** (settings modal): `DELETE /v1/api/mcp/oauth/connections/{server_name}` runs the authoritative local delete + best-effort RFC 7009 upstream revoke (fire-and-forget, capped at 256 concurrent in-flight tasks).

6. **Admin bulk-revoke** (Phase 9): `POST /v1/api/admin/mcp-servers/{name}/bulk-revoke` drops every user's token for the server. Upstream RFC 7009 revoke is intentionally **not** attempted in bulk (avoids N upstream HTTP calls per admin click); tokens at the AS expire naturally. Use the per-user revoke endpoint if you need guaranteed upstream invalidation.

---

## Admin status indicators

The MCP Servers admin tab shows per-server status pills (Phase 9):

- **Consented users count** — distinct users with a non-expired token for this server. Surfaced as a `bulk-revoke (N)` button when ≥1; clicking it opens a confirmation dialog. Hidden when 0.
- **Last refresh** — timestamp + outcome (`ok` / `error:ClassName`) of the most recent manual or auto-reconnect refresh. Per node. Absent until at least one refresh has occurred (renders as "never" in the admin UI).

Additional indicators (circuit-breaker state, encryption-key mismatch) are exposed via `get_server_status` on the API but do not yet have a dedicated admin pill — operators see them today via the per-server status text + error tooltip and in audit logs. A future phase may surface these as discrete pills.

---

## Auth-type transitions

| From | To | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| `none` / `static` → `oauth_user` | — | New code path activates for this server. Existing static headers (if any) are no longer sent. Users must authorize on first use. |
| `oauth_user` → `none` / `static` | — | Existing `mcp_user_tokens` rows are **orphaned** — inert without a matching `auth_type`. Use admin bulk-revoke to drop them, or let them expire. Switching back to `oauth_user` later re-activates the orphaned rows if they haven't been deleted. |
| OAuth `client_id` or `client_secret` rotated | — | Existing tokens may stop refreshing if the AS treats them as bound to the previous client. Bulk-revoke after rotation. |

The orphan-by-default behavior is chosen so switching back to `oauth_user` is non-destructive. Bulk-revoke is the explicit cleanup path.

---

## Troubleshooting

| Symptom | Likely cause | Action |
|---|---|---|
| `mcp_consent_required` even after consenting | Token persistence failed, or refresh-token rejected by AS | Check audit log for `mcp_server.oauth.persist_failed` or `mcp_server.oauth.token_revoked`. Re-consent via settings modal. |
| `mcp_token_undecryptable_key_unknown` | Encryption key rotated without keeping the previous key in the keyring | Add the previous key back to `mcp_token_encryption_keys` until all rows have been re-encrypted, then drop. |
| `mcp_oauth_url_insecure` | MCP server URL is `http://` (not `https://`) on a non-loopback host | Use `https://`. Per-user bearers must not transit cleartext. |
| Tools fail in scheduled / Discord / Slack runs | OAuth-MCP requires browser-based consent | Users must pre-consent via the web UI. Phase 9 dashboard badge surfaces deferred consents from these runs on next login. |
| Circuit breaker open repeatedly | Transport-level errors on the MCP server (DNS, TLS, 5xx) | Check the per-server error pill; auth errors do not trip the breaker. |

See also: `docs/operations/mcp-oauth-headless.md` for the cron / channel-driven run caveat.