Authelia is an open-source identity and access management (IAM) solution that acts as a reverse proxy companion to enforce authentication and authorization policies for web applications. It is designed for DevOps teams, SREs, and security engineers who need to secure internal services—like dashboards, portals, and APIs—with multi-factor authentication (MFA) and single sign-on (SSO) without modifying application code. Authelia integrates with existing infrastructure via popular reverse proxies like Traefik, Nginx, and Apache, and supports enterprise identity sources such as LDAP, Active Directory, and SQL databases.
Built in Go and React, Authelia deploys as a lightweight container (under 20MB) and scales horizontally on Kubernetes or Docker. It is OpenID Certified™, supports OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect 1.0, and includes built-in security features like login rate limiting, password reset workflows, and identity validation via email. Its policy engine allows granular access control based on users, groups, and domains.
What You Get
- OpenID Connect 1.0 Provider - Authelia is OpenID Certified™, enabling seamless SSO integration with any OpenID Connect-compliant application like Nextcloud, Grafana, or custom web apps.
- WebAuthn & Passkey Support - Enables passwordless authentication using FIDO2 security keys like YubiKey or built-in platform authenticators (Windows Hello, Touch ID).
- Time-Based One-Time Password (TOTP) - Supports RFC 6238-compliant TOTP via Google Authenticator, Authy, or any standard authenticator app.
- Mobile Push Notifications - Delivers one-click MFA approvals via push notifications to mobile devices using Authelia’s built-in push service.
- Granular Authorization Policies - Define access rules per domain, user, group, or network source using YAML-based policy files with support for IP whitelisting and session duration controls.
- LDAP & Active Directory Integration - Authenticate users against existing enterprise directories without requiring user synchronization or password storage.
- Login Rate Limiting & Account Lockout - Automatically blocks brute force attacks by limiting login attempts and locking accounts temporarily after threshold breaches.
- Email-Based Password Reset & Identity Validation - Users can reset passwords via email with validation tokens, and unverified users must confirm identity before full access is granted.
- Lightweight Container Deployment - Single binary under 20MB, memory usage under 30MB, and optimized for Docker, Kubernetes, and static binaries on Linux/FreeBSD.
- Helm Chart Support - Official Helm chart for Kubernetes deployments with ingress controller integration for Traefik, Nginx, and other proxies.
Common Use Cases
- Securing internal dashboards - A DevOps team uses Authelia with Traefik to protect Grafana, Portainer, and Prometheus with MFA and SSO, ensuring only authorized personnel can access monitoring tools.
- Enabling passwordless access for developers - A startup deploys Authelia with WebAuthn to let engineers log in to their CI/CD portal using YubiKeys or Face ID, eliminating password fatigue.
- Centralizing SSO for legacy apps - An enterprise integrates Authelia with Nginx to add SSO to older web apps that don’t support OAuth, using Trusted Headers to pass authenticated user identity.
- Complying with security policies in regulated environments - A healthcare provider uses Authelia’s LDAP integration and MFA to meet HIPAA requirements for accessing patient records via web interfaces.
Under The Hood
Architecture
- Modular Go-based design with clear separation between configuration, HTTP routing, and authentication logic using constructor-based dependency injection
- Service layer pattern with pluggable interfaces for identity providers, session management, and storage backends, enabling flexible and decoupled implementations
- Multi-layered request pipeline with middleware chains for authentication, authorization, and security headers, decoupling routing from business logic
- Configuration-driven behavior via YAML and environment variables with runtime validation and schema enforcement through struct tags and custom validators
- Clean separation of frontend and backend with well-defined API contracts, backend primarily Go-based with no Express or Next.js in core server
- Comprehensive tooling integrated into CI/CD for linting, formatting, and consistency checks
Tech Stack
- Go 1.25+ backend with native OAuth2/OpenID Connect support, no external frameworks like Express
- Multi-architecture builds using goreleaser with static linking and custom CGO flags for glibc, musl, and FreeBSD
- Docker-based deployment with multi-stage images, health checks, and entrypoint scripts for production readiness
- CI/CD pipeline with pre-commit hooks, vulnerability scanning, and test coverage tracking
- Frontend built with Next.js and i18next for internationalization, served alongside a minimal JavaScript footprint
- Infrastructure-as-code via YAML, systemd unit files, and automated package generation for multiple distributions
Code Quality
- Extensive test coverage with unit, integration, and end-to-end scenarios using testify and gomock for robust validation
- Clear separation of concerns through well-structured packages and dependency injection with interfaces and mocks
- Strong type safety with custom types encapsulating validation logic to prevent invalid states at compile time
- Consistent, descriptive naming conventions across code and tests with actionable, context-rich error messages
- Comprehensive error handling with structured logging and contextual details to aid observability and debugging
- Automated testing patterns integrated into CI/CD, leveraging table-driven tests and mocks for reliability across configurations
What Makes It Unique
- Native WebAuthn implementation with precise browser error mapping for user-friendly feedback without external dependencies
- Unified authentication gateway combining MFA, passkeys, and session management into a single extensible platform
- Dynamic OpenAPI-driven UI generation with CSP nonce injection to keep documentation and client interfaces synchronized
- Session elevation and one-time code revocation system with server-enforced expiration and client-state sync
- Decoupled frontend service layer with typed API clients to enforce contract integrity and reduce runtime errors
- Built-in translation-aware UI components that auto-localize workflows without per-feature i18n configuration