Identity-Aware Proxy with OpenID Connect (OIDC)

The firewall wasn’t enough. The network perimeter was gone. And now, every request to your application must prove who it is—before a single byte is allowed through.

Identity-Aware Proxy with OpenID Connect (OIDC) is the direct answer to this challenge. It sits between users and your service, authenticating and authorizing each request based on identity, not location or network. Instead of trusting an IP range or a VPN session, it trusts the signed claims in an OIDC token.

An Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP) intercepts the request, checks the identity against your configured OpenID Connect provider, and passes only verified traffic downstream. Tokens are issued through the OIDC standard, using OAuth 2.0 flows like Authorization Code or Client Credentials. Every token contains claims—such as sub for user ID, exp for expiration, and custom roles—that the proxy can enforce.

This architecture eliminates implicit trust. Applications never see unauthenticated requests. Session management, refresh tokens, and continuous validation happen within the proxy layer. Failures are rejected early, reducing the attack surface. With an OIDC-backed IAP, you gain centralized authentication across all services, manageable via standard protocols and provider APIs.

Implementing it starts with selecting an OIDC provider—Auth0, Okta, Azure AD, Google, or self-hosted solutions. Configure your proxy to validate JWTs issued by that provider. Set issuer and audience values to match your application’s trust boundaries. Define access policies in the proxy: role-based, scope-based, or attribute-based access control.

Use HTTPS everywhere. Keep your signing keys secure. Rotate secrets regularly. Monitor logs from both your proxy and OIDC issuer. If keys are compromised, revoke them instantly. The value of OIDC lies in its interoperability—any service speaking the standard will work with your Identity-Aware Proxy without custom auth code.

The result: simple integration, strong security, and consistent identity enforcement across microservices, APIs, and web apps.

You can try a fully functional Identity-Aware Proxy using OpenID Connect without complex setup. Visit hoop.dev and see it live in