# keratin/authn-server

Authentication service that keeps you in control without forcing you to be an expert in web security.

Repository: https://github.com/keratin/authn-server
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/authn-server
Homepage: https://keratin.github.io
Language: Go
License: LGPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: authentication-backend, service, api-service, authn, jwt-authentication
Last push: 2024-08-09T21:14:02+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3358, "days_push": 754, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1284, forks 109 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:14.502489+00:00)

## What it is
Keratin AuthN is a standalone Go authentication microservice that manages user accounts, passwords, OAuth logins, and JWT-based sessions via secured HTTP endpoints. It isolates sensitive authentication logic from your application, with client libraries for Ruby, Go, Node.js backends and JavaScript frontends.

## Use cases
- add username/password signup and login to my web app without building it myself
- self-host an authentication backend service
- add OAuth login with Google, Facebook, or GitHub
- implement passwordless email link login
- manage user sessions with JWTs across apps and APIs
- implement single sign-on across multiple domains
- handle password resets and forced password changes securely
- lock, archive, or moderate user accounts from my backend

## When to choose
- you want authentication isolated in a dedicated microservice rather than an in-app library
- you need a language-agnostic auth backend with client libraries for multiple stacks
- you want hardened password handling, session revocation, and account moderation out of the box
- you prefer self-hosting your auth infrastructure

## When to avoid
- you want a full identity provider with SAML, MFA, or enterprise SSO features
- you prefer an in-process auth library tightly coupled to your framework
- you need a managed auth-as-a-service with a hosted dashboard
- you require an MIT/Apache license, since this is LGPL-3.0

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: maintenance
- function: auth, http-server, api-framework, security
- domain: security, web-development, backend, apis, self-hosted
- platform: self-hosted, go
- tags: authentication, jwt, oauth, passwordless, single-sign-on, microservice, session-management, user-accounts, linux, macos, docker, web-server

## Member repositories
- keratin/authn-server (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:14.502489+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:56:45.065384+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/keratin/authn-server (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:14.502489+00:00, sha 9f257b508e85)
  - homepage: https://keratin.github.io (fetched 2026-08-29T12:12:27.154627+00:00, sha 47662faf61df)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.