Technical

Identity And Access Management

by David Simpson · Published 2026-08-21

Created with Inkfluence AI

40 chapters 20,141 words ~81 min read English

Principles and implementation of identity and access management

1. POST /v1/auth/login
2. POST /v1/auth/logout
3. POST /v1/auth/refresh
4. POST /v1/auth/mfa/verify
5. POST /v1/auth/mfa/challenge
6. POST /v1/auth/password/reset
7. POST /v1/auth/password/confirm
8. POST /v1/auth/sso/authorize
9. POST /v1/auth/sso/callback
10. POST /v1/auth/oidc/token
11. POST /v1/auth/api-keys
12. GET /v1/auth/api-keys
13. PATCH /v1/auth/api-keys/{keyId}
14. DELETE /v1/auth/api-keys/{keyId}
15. POST /v1/users
16. GET /v1/users/{userId}
17. PATCH /v1/users/{userId}
18. DELETE /v1/users/{userId}
19. POST /v1/roles
20. GET /v1/roles/{roleId}
21. PATCH /v1/roles/{roleId}
22. DELETE /v1/roles/{roleId}
23. POST /v1/permissions
24. GET /v1/permissions
25. PATCH /v1/permissions/{permissionId}
26. POST /v1/groups
27. POST /v1/groups/{groupId}/members
28. DELETE /v1/groups/{groupId}/members/{userId}
29. POST /v1/role-assignments
30. DELETE /v1/role-assignments/{assignmentId}
31. POST /v1/policies
32. POST /v1/policies/evaluate
33. POST /v1/audit/events
34. GET /v1/audit/events?filters
35. POST /v1/webhooks
36. POST /v1/webhooks/{webhookId}/deliveries
37. POST /v1/sessions/revoke
38. POST /v1/tokens/introspect
39. POST /v1/auth/verify-jwt
40. GET /v1/errors/troubleshoot

Preview: POST /v1/auth/login

A short excerpt from “POST /v1/auth/login”. The full book contains 40 chapters and 20,141 words.

Overview

What should an API return when a valid password authenticates a user but a disabled account does not? This chapter defines `POST /v1/auth/login`, the credential submission contract, and the success and failure responses used by clients. Use this endpoint when an application needs to exchange a user identifier and password for an authenticated session or token.

Quick Reference

Item	Value
Endpoint	`POST /v1/auth/login`
Method	`POST`
Content type	`application/json`
Authentication	None; credentials are submitted in the request body
Success	`200 OK` with access and refresh tokens
Invalid credentials	`401 Unauthorized`
Validation failure	`400 Bad Request`
Account unavailable	`403 Forbidden`
Rate limited	`429 Too Many Requests`

The Credential Ladder Method separates processing into three checks: validate the request shape, verify the credential pair, then evaluate account status and issue tokens.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`identifier`	string	Yes	User login identifier, typically an email address or username.
`password`	string	Yes	Plain-text password transmitted over TLS and verified server-side against a password hash.
`remember`	boolean	No	Extends refresh-token lifetime when `true`. Defaults to `false`.
`device_name`	string	No	Client-provided label for session management. Defaults to `null`.

The server should reject unknown fields if strict request validation is enabled. It must not return the submitted password in logs or responses.

Code Example

bash

# Credentials must be sent over HTTPS.
curl -X POST "https://api.example.com/v1/auth/login" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "identifier": "dev@example.com",
    "password": "correct-horse-battery-staple",
    "remember": true,
    "device_name": "web-browser"
  }'

A client should store the access token according to its platform security model, attach it to subsequent protected requests, and use the refresh token only at the token-refresh endpoint.

Response Format

A successful response contains bearer credentials and basic authenticated-user data:

json

{
  "access_token": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...",
  "token_type": "Bearer",
  "expires_in": 900,
  "refresh_token": "rt_01J8Q7Y6K2...",
  "user": {
    "id": "usr_01J8Q6Z4M9",
    "identifier": "dev@example.com",
    "status": "active"
  }
}

Field	Type	Description
`access_token`	string	Short-lived token for protected API requests.
`token_type`	string	Authorization scheme; currently `Bearer`.
`expires_in`	integer	Access-token lifetime in seconds.
`refresh_token`	string	Credential used to obtain a new access token.
`user`	object	Minimal authenticated-user representation.

Failure responses should use a stable error envelope:

json

{
  "error": {
    "code": "invalid_credentials",
    "message": "The identifier or password is incorrect.",
    "request_id": "req_01J8Q8A2P4"
  }
}

Notes & Best Practices

Return the same `401` response for an unknown identifier and an incorrect password to reduce account enumeration.
Apply per-IP and per-identifier rate limits; return `429` with `Retry-After` when limits are exceeded.
Use constant-time password-hash verification and never log passwords, raw tokens, or full authentication payloads.
Revoke refresh tokens on logout, password reset, or suspicious-session detection; treat `403` account-status errors separately from invalid credentials.

A predictable login contract makes token handling, failure recovery, and later authorization decisions consistent across clients.

About this book

"Identity And Access Management" is a technical book by David Simpson with 40 chapters and approximately 20,141 words. Principles and implementation of identity and access management.

This book was created using Inkfluence AI, an AI-powered book generation platform that helps authors write, design, and publish complete books. It was made with the AI Documentation Generator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is "Identity And Access Management" about?

Principles and implementation of identity and access management

How many chapters are in "Identity And Access Management"?

The book contains 40 chapters and approximately 20,141 words. Topics covered include POST /v1/auth/login, POST /v1/auth/logout, POST /v1/auth/refresh, POST /v1/auth/mfa/verify, and more.

Who wrote "Identity And Access Management"?

This book was written by David Simpson and created using Inkfluence AI, an AI book generation platform that helps authors write, design, and publish books.

How can I create a similar technical book?

You can create your own technical book using Inkfluence AI. Describe your idea, choose your style, and the AI writes the full book for you. It's free to start.