Authentication

What authentication protects

CopilotKit authentication covers two boundaries:

1. Your Angular app sends its current session token to Copilot Runtime.
2. Copilot Runtime validates that token before a run starts and forwards only the approved identity or tenant context to the selected agent.

Keep model credentials and service-to-service agent tokens on the server. Browser headers prove the end user's session; they are not a safe place for backend secrets.

Send the current session

Set initial headers in provideCopilotKit:

import { ApplicationConfig } from "@angular/core";
import { provideCopilotKit } from "@copilotkit/angular";

export const appConfig: ApplicationConfig = {
  providers: [
    provideCopilotKit({
      runtimeUrl: "/api/copilotkit",
      headers: {
        Authorization: `Bearer ${readSessionToken()}`,
      },
    }),
  ],
};

When sign-in state changes after bootstrap, update the runtime connection through the CopilotKit service:

import { inject } from "@angular/core";
import { CopilotKit } from "@copilotkit/angular";

const copilotKit = inject(CopilotKit);

copilotKit.updateRuntime({
  headers: sessionToken
    ? { Authorization: `Bearer ${sessionToken}` }
    : {},
});

The runnable Angular Showcase uses the same header shape:

Validate every runtime request

Use the runtime adapter's request hook to reject missing, expired, or unauthorized sessions before CopilotKit discovers or runs an agent:

const handler = createCopilotExpressHandler({
  runtime,
  basePath: "/api/copilotkit",
  hooks: {
    onRequest: async ({ request }) => {
      const token = request.headers
        .get("authorization")
        ?.replace(/^Bearer\s+/i, "");
      const session = token ? await verifySession(token) : null;

      if (!session) {
        throw new Response("Unauthorized", { status: 401 });
      }
    },
  },
});

Apply authorization as well as authentication. A valid user token does not automatically grant access to every agent, tenant, or thread.

Forward identity deliberately

Copilot Runtime forwards authorization and eligible x-* headers to a self-hosted agent, subject to its denylist. Prefer a small allowlist when your agent needs only specific context:

const runtime = new CopilotRuntime({
  agents: { default: myAgent },
  forwardHeaders: {
    allow: ["authorization", "x-tenant-id"],
  },
});

Server-configured agent headers win over forwarded browser headers. Use that separation for service credentials, and never allow a browser-supplied header to override a backend token.

Production checklist

• Validate /info, run, connect, stop, thread, and memory requests—not just chat sends.
• Derive user and tenant identifiers from the verified session instead of trusting arbitrary browser values.
• Scope thread operations to the authenticated user and project.
• Clear frontend headers on sign-out with updateRuntime({ headers: {} }).
• Configure CORS for the deployed Angular origin.
• Log authorization failures without logging bearer tokens.

Next steps

• Copilot Runtime
• Runtime HTTP endpoints
• Deploy to any runtime
• Angular API: CopilotKit