Enable Application Registration

Application Registration allows registered developers on the Kong Dev Portal to authenticate with supported Authentication plugins against a Service on Kong. Either Kong Gateway or external identity provider admins can selectively admit access to Services using Kong Manager.

Prerequisites

Dev Portal is enabled on the same Workspace as the Service.
The Service is created and enabled with HTTPS.
Authentication is enabled on the Dev Portal.
Logged in as an admin with read and write roles on applications, services, and developers.
The portal_app_auth configuration option is configured for your OAuth provider and strategy (kong-oauth2 default or external-oauth2). See Configure the Authorization Provider Strategy for the Portal Application Registration plugin.
Authorization provider configured if using a supported third-party identity provider with the OIDC plugin:
- For example instructions using Okta as an identity provider, refer to the Okta example.
- For example instructions using Azure AD as an identity provider, refer to the Azure example.

Enable Application Registration on a Service using Kong Manager

To use Application Registration on a Service, the Portal Application Registration Plugin must be enabled on a Service.

In Kong Manager, access the Service for which you want to enable Application Registration:

From your Workspace, in the left navigation pane, go to API Gateway > Services.
On the Services page, select the Service and click View.
In the Plugins pane in the Services page, click Add a Plugin.
On the Add New Plugin page in the Authentication section, find the Portal Application Registration Plugin and click Enable.
Enter the configuration settings. Use the parameters in the next section, Application Registration Configuration Parameters, to complete the fields.

Important: Exposing the Issuer URL is essential for the Authorization Code Flow workflow configured for third-party identity providers.
Click Create.

Application Registration Configuration Parameters

Form Parameter	Description
`Service`	The Service that this plugin configuration will target. Required.
`Tags`	A set of strings for grouping and filtering, separated by commas. Optional.
`Auto Approve`	If enabled, all new Service contract requests are automatically approved. Otherwise, Dev Portal admins must manually approve requests. Default: `false`.
`Description`	Description displayed in the information about a Service in the Dev Portal. Optional.
`Display Name`	Unique name displayed in the information about a Service in the Dev Portal. Required.
`Show Issuer`	Displays the Issuer URL in the Service Details page. Default: `false`. Important: Exposing the Issuer URL is essential for the Authorization Code Flow workflow configured for third-party identity providers.

Next steps

Kong OAuth2 strategy:

If using the Kong-managed authorization strategy (kong-oauth2) with the OAuth2 plugin, configure the Kong OAuth2 plugin as appropriate for your authorization requirements. You can use either the Kong Manager GUI or cURL commands as documented on the Plugin Hub. The OAuth2 plugin cannot be used in hybrid mode.
If using the Kong-managed authorization strategy (kong-oauth2) with key authentication, configure the Kong Key Auth plugin as appropriate for your authorization requirements. You can use either the Kong Manager GUI or cURL commands as documented on the Plugin Hub. The Key Auth plugin cannot be used in hybrid mode.

External OAuth2 strategy:

If using the third-party authorization strategy (external-oauth2), configure the OIDC plugin. You can use the Kong Manager GUI or cURL commands as documented on the Plugin Hub. When your deployment is hybrid mode, the OIDC plugin must be configured to handle authentication for the Portal Application Registration plugin.