nextcloud-mcp-server/docs/authentication.md

Authentication

The Nextcloud MCP server supports two authentication modes for connecting to your Nextcloud instance.

Authentication Modes Comparison

Mode	Status	Security	Use Case
OAuth2/OIDC	✅ Recommended	🔒 High	Production deployments, multi-user scenarios
Basic Auth	⚠️ Legacy	⚠️ Lower	Development, backward compatibility

OAuth2/OIDC (Recommended)

OAuth2/OIDC authentication provides secure, token-based authentication following modern security standards.

Required Nextcloud Apps

OAuth authentication requires two Nextcloud apps to work together:

1. oidc - OIDC Identity Provider

Purpose: Makes Nextcloud an OAuth2/OIDC authorization server

Provides:

• OAuth2 authorization endpoint (/apps/oidc/authorize)
• Token endpoint (/apps/oidc/token)
• User info endpoint (/apps/oidc/userinfo)
• JWKS endpoint for token validation (/apps/oidc/jwks)
• Dynamic client registration endpoint (/apps/oidc/register)

Installation: Available in Nextcloud App Store under "Security"

2. user_oidc - OpenID Connect User Backend

Purpose: Authenticates users and validates Bearer tokens

Provides:

• Bearer token validation against the OIDC provider
• User authentication via OIDC
• Session management for authenticated users

Installation: Available in Nextcloud App Store under "Security"

Important: The user_oidc app requires a patch for Bearer token support on non-OCS endpoints (like Notes API). See oauth2-bearer-token-session-issue.md for details.

Benefits

• Zero-config deployment via dynamic client registration
• No credential storage in environment variables
• Per-user authentication with access tokens
• Automatic token validation via Nextcloud OIDC
• Secure by design following OAuth 2.0 standards

Current Implementation Limitations

Important

Tested Configuration:

• ✅ Nextcloud oidc app (OIDC Identity Provider) + user_oidc app (OIDC User Backend)
• ✅ Nextcloud acting as its own identity provider (self-hosted OIDC)

Not Tested:

• ❌ External identity providers (Azure AD, Keycloak, Okta, etc.)
• ❌ Using user_oidc with external OIDC providers

Known Requirements:

• 🔧 The user_oidc app requires a patch for Bearer token support on non-OCS endpoints (see oauth2-bearer-token-session-issue.md)
• ⏱️ Dynamic client registration credentials expire (default: 1 hour) - use pre-configured clients for production

How OAuth Works

When a client connects to the MCP server with OAuth enabled:

1. Client receives OAuth authorization URL from the MCP server
2. User authenticates via browser to Nextcloud
3. Nextcloud redirects back with authorization code
4. Client exchanges code for access token
5. Client uses token to access MCP server

All API requests to Nextcloud use the user's OAuth token, ensuring proper permissions and audit trails.

See Also

• OAuth Setup Guide - Step-by-step setup instructions
• Configuration - Environment variables
• Troubleshooting - Common OAuth issues

Basic Authentication (Legacy)

Basic Authentication uses username and password credentials directly.

Benefits

• Simple setup with username/password
• Single-user server instances
• Quick for development and testing

Limitations

• Credentials in environment (less secure)
• Single user only - all requests use the same account
• No audit trail - all actions appear from the same user
• Maintained for compatibility - will be deprecated in future versions

Warning

Security Notice: Basic Authentication stores credentials in environment variables and is less secure than OAuth. It's maintained for backward compatibility only and may be deprecated in future versions. Use OAuth for production deployments.

See Also

• Configuration - BasicAuth environment variables
• Running the Server - BasicAuth examples

Mode Detection

The server automatically detects the authentication mode:

• OAuth mode: When NEXTCLOUD_USERNAME and NEXTCLOUD_PASSWORD are NOT set
• BasicAuth mode: When both username and password are provided

You can also force a specific mode using CLI flags:

# Force OAuth mode
uv run nextcloud-mcp-server --oauth

# Force BasicAuth mode
uv run nextcloud-mcp-server --no-oauth

Switching Between Modes

See Troubleshooting: Switching Between OAuth and BasicAuth for instructions.