🔑 OAuth Client Registration & Integration

Overview

OAuth clients enable secure third-party integrations with ARPIA applications and platforms. When you register an OAuth client, you're creating a trusted credential pair that allows external systems—such as Microsoft Copilot Studio, Power Automate, or custom applications—to authenticate and access ARPIA resources on behalf of your organization without sharing passwords.

Use Cases

Create an OAuth client when:

🔗 Integrating Microsoft Copilot Studio or Power Automate with ARPIA
💻 Building custom applications that need programmatic access to ARPIA APIs
👤 Enabling third-party services to authenticate users via ARPIA's identity system
🛡️ Connecting external governance or compliance tools to ARPIA

Setup Steps

1. Navigate to OAuth Clients

In ARPIA Apps Demos, select the OAuth Clients section. If no clients exist, you'll see an empty state with a Create button.

2. Enter Client Details

Client Name

Human-readable label shown to users during consent.
Example: Acme Corp — Copilot Studio

Redirect URI

The exact URL where users return after authentication.
Must match precisely (including protocol and trailing characters).
Common pattern: https://global.consent.azure-apim.net/redirect/new-5frame-5f... for Microsoft connectors.

3. Choose Authentication Method

Three authentication options are available, each suited to different deployment contexts:

Method	Use Case	Security Characteristics
Confidential (client_secret_post)	Server-to-server integrations, Microsoft Copilot Studio, Power Automate	Secret transmitted via POST body. Suitable when backend server is trusted environment.
Confidential (client_secret_basic)	Server-to-server integrations requiring HTTP Basic authentication header	Secret transmitted via Authorization header using Base64 encoding. Legacy OAuth 2.0 pattern.
Public (PKCE required)	Browser-based single-page applications (SPAs) and native mobile apps	No secret stored. Uses PKCE (Proof Key for Code Exchange) to prevent authorization code interception.

⚠️ Security Note: For Confidential methods, keep your client secret secure. Never commit it to version control or expose it in client-side code. Rotate secrets periodically per your organization's credential management policy.

4. Configure Scopes

Scopes define the permissions granted to the OAuth client. These are space-separated values. Standard defaults:

read write openid profile email

read — Permission to read user data and resources
write — Permission to create and modify resources
openid — OpenID Connect scope; enables identity verification
profile — Access to user profile information
email — Access to user email address

Governance & Audit

Each OAuth client registration is a security boundary and must be tracked:

Client Name should clearly identify the integrating system and owner for audit trails
Redirect URIs must be validated to prevent authorization code interception attacks
Authentication method selection should align with deployment topology (server vs. browser)
Scope grants should follow the principle of least privilege—request only necessary permissions

For integrations involving sensitive data or critical systems, document the rationale for scope grants and obtain approval from security governance prior to deployment.

Troubleshooting

Redirect URI Mismatch Errors

Ensure the Redirect URI registered exactly matches the one provided by your integration platform (Microsoft, custom app). Check:

Protocol (https vs. http)
Domain
Path
Any query parameters

Authentication Method Compatibility

Microsoft Copilot Studio and Power Automate require Confidential (client_secret_post) method
Browser-based apps require Public (PKCE) method

Selecting an incompatible method will cause authentication to fail. Refer to the authentication method table above to verify alignment with your deployment topology.