401Go Authentication

generated: '2026-08-02'
method: searched
source: openapi/401go-openapi-original.json
docs: https://developer.401go.com/docs/authentication
additional_sources:
- https://developer.401go.com/docs/client-credentials-flow
- https://developer.401go.com/docs/single-sign-on-sso-with-openid-connect-oidc
- https://developer.401go.com/docs/api-endpoint-and-method-access
- https://app.401go.com/api/o/.well-known/openid-configuration
note: >-
  Upgraded from derived to searched. The published OpenAPI understates the auth model: it
  declares the OAuth surface as a bare http/bearer scheme with no flows, URLs or scopes, so a
  spec-only derivation loses the entire authorization-code/client-credentials/OIDC picture and
  all 12 scopes. Those are recovered here from the docs and the live authorization-server
  metadata.

summary:
  types: [oauth2, openIdConnect, apiKey]
  primary: oauth2
  oauth2_flows: [authorizationCode, clientCredentials, refreshToken]
  api_key_in: [header]
  mtls: false
  spec_declared_types: [apiKey, http]

schemes:
- name: oauth2
  type: oauth2
  preferred: true
  spec_declaration:
    type: http
    scheme: bearer
    description: >-
      OAuth 2.0 Bearer based with an existing token. Enter a token retrieved via the regular
      OAuth flow elsewhere.
    note: declared as http/bearer in the spec; the real model is full OAuth 2.0
  header: 'Authorization: Bearer <access_token>'
  issuer: https://app.401go.com/api/o
  endpoints:
    authorization: https://app.401go.com/api/o/authorize
    token: https://app.401go.com/api/o/token
    userinfo: https://app.401go.com/api/o/userinfo
    jwks: https://app.401go.com/api/o/.well-known/jwks.json
    discovery: https://app.401go.com/api/o/.well-known/openid-configuration
  flows:
  - flow: authorizationCode
    preferred: true
    parameters: [response_type=code, client_id, redirect_uri, scope, state]
    exchange_parameters: [grant_type=authorization_code, code, redirect_uri, client_id, client_secret]
    pkce: true
    code_challenge_methods: [plain, S256]
    docs: https://developer.401go.com/docs/authentication
    note: >-
      If a user has multiple accounts (participant, company, advisor) they must select which
      account to grant access to before the code is issued.
  - flow: clientCredentials
    restricted: true
    restriction: approved partners only; credentials distributed by secure email
    client_auth: 'Authorization: Basic base64(client_id:client_secret)'
    content_type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
    parameters: [grant_type=client_credentials, scope]
    docs: https://developer.401go.com/docs/client-credentials-flow
    note: >-
      Entities the client credentials may access are fixed during onboarding; expanding them
      requires a request to 401GO.
  - flow: refreshToken
    parameters: [grant_type=refresh_token, refresh_token, client_id, client_secret]
    token_endpoint: https://app.401go.com/api/o/token
  token_endpoint_auth_methods: [client_secret_post, client_secret_basic]
  access_token_lifetime_seconds: 3600
  refresh_token_lifetime_seconds: 2592000
  sources: [https://developer.401go.com/docs/authentication, https://app.401go.com/api/o/.well-known/openid-configuration]
- name: openIdConnect
  type: openIdConnect
  openIdConnectUrl: https://app.401go.com/api/o/.well-known/openid-configuration
  scope: openid
  id_token_signing_algs: [RS256, HS256]
  subject_types: [public]
  claims_supported: [sub]
  userinfo_claims_observed: [sub, role, name, company_name, dob, email, phone_number]
  roles: [participant, company_admin]
  note: >-
    The openid scope alone grants employee (participant) access. SSO for a company admin
    requires openid plus company:read. company_name is populated only for company_admin; dob
    only for participant.
  docs: https://developer.401go.com/docs/single-sign-on-sso-with-openid-connect-oidc
  sources: [https://app.401go.com/api/o/.well-known/openid-configuration]
- name: knoxApiToken
  type: apiKey
  in: header
  parameter: Authorization
  format: 'Token <token>'
  description: Token-based authentication with required prefix "Token" (Django REST Knox).
  declared_on_operations: 50
  documented_in_docs: false
  note: >-
    Declared in the OpenAPI on 50 of 72 operations but never mentioned in the developer
    documentation. It appears to serve 401GO's own first-party clients rather than partners;
    partner integrations should use OAuth 2.0.
  sources: [openapi/401go-openapi-original.json]

layered_authorization:
  model: endpoint + HTTP-method allow list
  enforced_in_addition_to: [oauth scopes]
  behavior: >-
    Each API client is explicitly granted permission for specific endpoint + HTTP-method
    combinations. A request to a combination not on the client's allow list returns 403
    Forbidden even with a valid, correctly scoped token. Permissions are per combination, not
    per endpoint — GET on a path may be allowed while POST on the same path is not.
  granted_at: partner onboarding
  expand_via: https://forms.gle/KQm63UQyytqTdVDe8
  docs: https://developer.401go.com/docs/api-endpoint-and-method-access

scopes:
  count: 12
  file: scopes/401go-scopes.yml
  source: https://app.401go.com/api/o/.well-known/openid-configuration

security_application:
  global_security_declared: false
  note: >-
    The spec declares no root-level security object; security is applied per operation. All 72
    operations require oauth2; 50 also accept knoxApiToken.
  operations_requiring_oauth2: 72
  operations_accepting_knox: 50

gaps:
- The OpenAPI declares oauth2 as http/bearer, so no flows, endpoints or scopes are machine-readable from the spec.
- No root-level security object in the spec.
- Authorization-server metadata is not at the RFC 8414 well-known root path.
- knoxApiToken is declared in the spec but undocumented.
- No mTLS, private_key_jwt, or FAPI-grade client authentication.