Cloud|

Identity and access

Separate credential, route, and resource decisions in an application.

2 min read Updated 2026-08-12 #identity#authentication#authorization

Cloud owns accounts, sessions, credentials, roles, groups, and permission primitives so every installed application receives the same caller model. Your application remains the authority for its own resources and domain operations.

That split matters most for independently deployed applications: they can trust Cloud to establish an identity without giving Cloud enough information to decide whether that identity may read or change an app-owned resource.

Keep three boundaries separate on every request:

Boundary Question Owner
Authentication Is the credential valid, and who acted? Cloud authentication
Route policy May this kind of caller enter the route? Application middleware
Resource authorization May this caller perform this operation on this resource now? Application service

A valid login does not grant access to every resource. A route role does not replace a resource permission check. Every entry point that reaches the same domain operation—HTTP, SSR, capability, CLI, or background work—should converge on the same permission-aware application service.

Continue by task

Task Page
Understand the actor and access subject Request identity
Assign local Linux attributes and backfill existing accounts alongside FreeIPA Linux identities
Decide who may enter a route Route policies
Check access to one domain resource Resource authorization
Create a credential for one resource Resource API keys
Integrate an OAuth client OAuth
Allow a route without a session Public access

OAuth and API keys change how Cloud establishes the actor; they do not create a second authorization model. Public access likewise opens only the route and resources the application explicitly makes public.

Connect a coding agent

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CLI command
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For exact, current details, also connect the MCP server through one of the agent tabs.

Installation uses the open-source Vercel Skills CLI.

The skill and MCP complement each other: the skill describes workflows, while MCP supplies current documentation.