# auth.md — Airbyte agent registration

This document describes how AI agents obtain credentials for **Airbyte Cloud API** access. The marketing site (`https://airbyte.com`) is informational; tokens are issued by `https://api.airbyte.com`.

## Audience

- Automation agents integrating with Airbyte Cloud
- MCP clients using the Airbyte MCP server

## Registration

1. Create an Airbyte Cloud organization: https://cloud.airbyte.com/signup
2. In **Settings → Applications**, create an application to receive `client_id` and `client_secret`.
3. Exchange credentials at the token endpoint (client credentials grant).

## Token endpoint

`POST https://api.airbyte.com/v1/applications/token`

```json
{
  "client_id": "<CLIENT_ID>",
  "client_secret": "<CLIENT_SECRET>",
  "grant-type": "client_credentials"
}
```

Access tokens expire in 15 minutes. Request a new token when expired.

## OAuth discovery

- Protected resource metadata: `https://airbyte.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource`
- Authorization server metadata: `https://airbyte.com/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server`
- API catalog: `https://airbyte.com/.well-known/api-catalog`

## Documentation

- https://docs.airbyte.com/developers/api-documentation

## Anonymous

Browsing public marketing content does not require authentication. See `https://airbyte.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource` for API scopes.

## Verified email

Human signup and SSO are handled in Airbyte Cloud. Use organization administrator provisioning for production API applications.