Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service Authentication

generated: '2026-09-02'
method: probed
source: >-
  https://efile.aphis.usda.gov/.well-known/openid-configuration (HTTP 200),
  https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/.well-known/openid-configuration (HTTP 200),
  https://aphis.my.site.com/.well-known/openid-configuration (HTTP 200),
  plus https://www.aphis.usda.gov/efile/help (USDA eAuthentication requirement)
specification: API Commons Authentication
specificationVersion: '0.1'
provider: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
providerId: animal-and-plant-health-inspection-service
docs: https://www.eauth.usda.gov/eauth/b/usda/faq
summary: >-
  APHIS publishes no developer API with its own key-issuance flow. Every APHIS digital
  service that carries an identity boundary authenticates through USDA eAuthentication,
  federated into the Salesforce Experience Cloud tenants that host APHIS eFile, ACIR and
  the Animal Care Public Search Tool. Each of those three hosts serves a live OpenID
  Connect Discovery 1.0 document whose issuer is the APHIS host itself, so an OIDC/OAuth 2.0
  authorization-code surface is measurably present - but it is a platform sign-in surface
  for the web applications, not a documented developer API. The one genuinely anonymous
  machine-readable surface APHIS operates, the USDA-MRP ArcGIS REST feature services,
  requires no authentication at all for read/query.
schemes:
  - id: oidc-efile
    type: openIdConnect
    applies_to: APHIS eFile Permitting System
    openIdConnectUrl: https://efile.aphis.usda.gov/.well-known/openid-configuration
    issuer: https://efile.aphis.usda.gov
    authorization_endpoint: https://efile.aphis.usda.gov/services/oauth2/authorize
    token_endpoint: https://efile.aphis.usda.gov/services/oauth2/token
    userinfo_endpoint: https://efile.aphis.usda.gov/services/oauth2/userinfo
    jwks_uri: https://efile.aphis.usda.gov/id/keys
    revocation_endpoint: https://efile.aphis.usda.gov/services/oauth2/revoke
    introspection_endpoint: https://efile.aphis.usda.gov/services/oauth2/introspect
    registration_endpoint: https://efile.aphis.usda.gov/services/oauth2/register
    end_session_endpoint: https://efile.aphis.usda.gov/services/auth/idp/oidc/logout
    grant_types:
      - authorization_code
      - implicit
    response_types_supported:
      - code
      - token
      - token id_token
    token_endpoint_auth_methods_supported:
      - client_secret_post
      - client_secret_basic
      - private_key_jwt
    id_token_signing_alg_values_supported:
      - RS256
    dpop_signing_alg_values_supported:
      - RS256
      - RS384
      - RS512
      - ES256
      - ES384
      - ES512
      - EdDSA
    subject_types_supported:
      - public
    scope_count: 36
    note: >-
      Client registration is not open. USDA eAuthentication account required; the
      registration_endpoint is the Salesforce platform default and is not documented by
      APHIS as a public onboarding path.
  - id: oidc-acir
    type: openIdConnect
    applies_to: Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements (ACIR)
    openIdConnectUrl: https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/.well-known/openid-configuration
    issuer: https://acir.aphis.usda.gov
    authorization_endpoint: https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/services/oauth2/authorize
    token_endpoint: https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/services/oauth2/token
    jwks_uri: https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/id/keys
    scope_count: 36
    note: ACIR search itself is browsable without sign-in; the OIDC surface backs authenticated features.
  - id: oidc-public-search
    type: openIdConnect
    applies_to: APHIS Public Search Tool (Animal Care)
    openIdConnectUrl: https://aphis.my.site.com/.well-known/openid-configuration
    issuer: https://aphis.my.site.com
    authorization_endpoint: https://aphis.my.site.com/services/oauth2/authorize
    token_endpoint: https://aphis.my.site.com/services/oauth2/token
    jwks_uri: https://aphis.my.site.com/id/keys
    scope_count: 36
  - id: anonymous-arcgis
    type: none
    applies_to: USDA-MRP ArcGIS REST Feature Services
    note: >-
      The 93 public feature services under
      https://services7.arcgis.com/2C1NQ7u6M6SXoa8p/arcgis/rest/services answer
      unauthenticated GET/query. No token, key, or referrer restriction was observed on
      probe. Services declare capabilities Query (a few also Extract) - read-only.
    probed: '2026-09-02'
    probe_status: 200
identity_provider:
  name: USDA eAuthentication
  url: https://www.eauth.usda.gov/home
  registration: https://www.eauth.usda.gov/eauth/b/usda/registration
  faq: https://www.eauth.usda.gov/eauth/b/usda/faq
  note: >-
    Level 2 verified eAuthentication account is the prerequisite for APHIS eFile, VSPS,
    VEHCS and PCIT. Identity proofing is a government process, not a self-service developer
    signup.
gaps:
  - No developer-facing API key issuance or client-credentials flow is documented anywhere on aphis.usda.gov.
  - No documented scope reference; the 36 scopes on the discovery documents are Salesforce platform defaults, not an APHIS-authored permission model.
  - No machine-readable contract (OpenAPI/GraphQL/WSDL/gRPC) exists to bind these schemes to operations.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: info@apievangelist.com