# Set Up Authentication

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/llms.txt). Component-specific: [agentic-data-plane-full.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/agentic-data-plane-full.txt)

---
title: Set Up Authentication
latest-operator-version: v26.1.5
latest-console-tag: v3.7.4
latest-connect-version: 4.96.1
latest-redpanda-tag: v26.1.10
docname: authentication
page-component-name: agentic-data-plane
page-version: master
page-component-version: master
page-component-title: Agentic Data Plane
page-relative-src-path: authentication.adoc
page-edit-url: https://github.com/redpanda-data/adp-docs/edit/main/modules/connect/pages/authentication.adoc
description: Configure OAuth providers, user-delegated OAuth, and client connections so agents and tools authenticate securely.
page-git-created-date: "2026-06-01"
page-git-modified-date: "2026-06-01"
---

<!-- Source: https://docs.redpanda.com/agentic-data-plane/connect/authentication.md -->

Agents and tools authenticate through OAuth. Configure an OAuth provider, enable user-delegated access so agents act as the signed-in user, and connect remote MCP clients.

-   [Configure an OAuth Provider](https://docs.redpanda.com/agentic-data-plane/connect/oauth-providers/)

    Register an OAuth provider in ADP so MCP servers can authenticate users (or service accounts) against an upstream system like Slack, Jira, GitHub, or Salesforce.

-   [Configure User-Delegated OAuth](https://docs.redpanda.com/agentic-data-plane/connect/user-delegated-oauth/)

    Have each end-user authenticate against the MCP server's upstream system with their own credentials. Redpanda stores their token in the vault and injects it at call time.

-   [Set Up GitHub OAuth Provider and MCP Server](https://docs.redpanda.com/agentic-data-plane/connect/github-oauth-tutorial/)

    Complete walkthrough for configuring GitHub as an OAuth provider and creating a user-delegated GitHub MCP server.

-   [Connect Remote MCP Clients](https://docs.redpanda.com/agentic-data-plane/connect/remote-mcp-clients/)

    Connect external MCP clients (Claude Desktop, ChatGPT desktop, Gemini Apps) to MCP servers hosted in AI Gateway. Covers the architecture (MCP server, OAuth Provider, OAuth Client) and the OAuth flow that runs end-to-end.