Key Auth Configuration

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Configuration

This plugin is partially compatible with DB-less mode.

Consumers and Credentials can be created with declarative configuration.

Admin API endpoints that do POST, PUT, PATCH, or DELETE on Credentials are not available on DB-less mode.

Compatible protocols

The Key Auth plugin is compatible with the following protocols:

grpc, grpcs, http, https, ws, wss

Parameters

Here's a list of all the parameters which can be used in this plugin's configuration:

• name or plugin

  string required

  The name of the plugin, in this case key-auth.

  • If using the Kong Admin API, Konnect API, declarative configuration, or decK files, the field is name.
  • If using the KongPlugin object in Kubernetes, the field is plugin.

• instance_name

  string

  An optional custom name to identify an instance of the plugin, for example key-auth_my-service.

  The instance name shows up in Kong Manager and in Konnect, so it's useful when running the same plugin in multiple contexts, for example, on multiple services. You can also use it to access a specific plugin instance via the Kong Admin API.

  An instance name must be unique within the following context:

  • Within a workspace for Kong Gateway Enterprise
  • Within a control plane or control plane group for Konnect
  • Globally for Kong Gateway (OSS)

• service.name or service.id

  string

  The name or ID of the service the plugin targets. Set one of these parameters if adding the plugin to a service through the top-level /plugins endpoint. Not required if using /services/{serviceName|Id}/plugins.

• route.name or route.id

  string

  The name or ID of the route the plugin targets. Set one of these parameters if adding the plugin to a route through the top-level /plugins endpoint. Not required if using /routes/{routeName|Id}/plugins.

• enabled

  boolean default: true

  Whether this plugin will be applied.

• config

  record required
  • key_names

    array of type string required default: apikey

    Describes an array of parameter names where the plugin will look for a key. The client must send the authentication key in one of those key names, and the plugin will try to read the credential from a header, request body, or query string parameter with the same name.
    Note: The key names may only contain [a-z], [A-Z], [0-9], [_] underscore, and [-] hyphen.

  • hide_credentials

    boolean required default: false

    An optional boolean value telling the plugin to show or hide the credential from the upstream service. If true, the plugin strips the credential from the request (i.e., the header, query string, or request body containing the key) before proxying it.

  • anonymous

    string

    An optional string (consumer UUID or username) value to use as an “anonymous” consumer if authentication fails. If empty (default null), the request will fail with an authentication failure 4xx. Note that this value must refer to the consumer id or username attribute, and not its custom_id.

  • key_in_header

    boolean required default: true

    If enabled (default), the plugin reads the request header and tries to find the key in it.

  • key_in_query

    boolean required default: true

    If enabled (default), the plugin reads the query parameter in the request and tries to find the key in it.

  • key_in_body

    boolean required default: false

    If enabled, the plugin reads the request body (if said request has one and its MIME type is supported) and tries to find the key in it. Supported MIME types: application/www-form-urlencoded, application/json, and multipart/form-data.

  • run_on_preflight

    boolean required default: true

    A boolean value that indicates whether the plugin should run (and try to authenticate) on OPTIONS preflight requests. If set to false, then OPTIONS requests are always allowed.