# dexidp/dex

OpenID Connect (OIDC) identity and OAuth 2.0 provider with pluggable connectors

Repository: https://github.com/dexidp/dex
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/dex
Homepage: https://dexidp.io
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: oidc, kubernetes, idp, identity-provider, hacktoberfest
Last push: 2026-08-24T04:04:36+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 86/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 61, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4034, "days_push": 9, "days_rel": 183, "gap_med": 54, "n_releases_24m": 8}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 11062, forks 1974 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:45.993413+00:00)

## What it is
Dex is a federated OpenID Connect (OIDC) and OAuth 2.0 identity provider that issues signed ID tokens (JWTs) for applications. It acts as an authentication portal that proxies to upstream identity providers such as LDAP, SAML, GitHub, Google, Microsoft, and GitLab through pluggable connectors, so client apps only need to speak OIDC.

## Use cases
- set up single sign-on for kubernetes dashboard and kubectl
- federate authentication across LDAP, SAML, GitHub and Google identity providers
- issue OIDC ID tokens for microservices to use as service-to-service credentials
- add a central OIDC endpoint in front of existing identity providers without changing app code
- self-host an open-source identity provider for SSO
- authenticate internal tools against Active Directory or LDAP via OpenID Connect

## When to choose
- you need one OIDC layer in front of multiple upstream identity providers (LDAP, SAML, GitHub, Google, Microsoft)
- you want Kubernetes SSO for dashboards, kubectl, and internal tooling
- you want apps to write auth logic once against OIDC while Dex handles backend protocols
- you need a lightweight, CNCF-backed, production-audited identity service deployable via Helm

## When to avoid
- you need a full identity management product with user enrollment, self-service password reset, and admin UI
- you want a hosted managed identity service rather than self-operated infrastructure
- your only requirement is simple username/password auth with no federation
- you need fine-grained application-level authorization policies rather than authentication and group claims

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: stable
- function: auth, authorization, http-server, middleware
- domain: security, cloud-computing, self-hosted
- platform: self-hosted, go, cloud
- tags: oidc, oauth2, identity-provider, sso, federated-identity, jwt, ldap, saml, cncf, single-sign-on, authentication, identity, kubernetes, devops, linux, docker

## Member repositories
- dexidp/dex (main) score 86

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:45.993413+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 2026-08-29T17:16:49.828364+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/dexidp/dex (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:45.993413+00:00, sha 49e85b86b728)
  - homepage: https://dexidp.io (fetched 2026-08-29T08:15:42.475832+00:00, sha e43add2d291b)
  - site_page: https://dexidp.io/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T08:15:42.485602+00:00, sha 9fcafc1ee69b)
  - site_page: https://dexidp.io/docs/getting-started (fetched 2026-08-29T08:15:42.487651+00:00, sha 0be0ff98a8fe)
  - site_page: https://dexidp.io/docs/connectors/github (fetched 2026-08-29T08:15:42.509316+00:00, sha 0ca94d7bb115)
  - site_page: https://dexidp.io/docs/connectors/google (fetched 2026-08-29T08:15:42.511776+00:00, sha b92f8ee005b6)
  - site_page: https://dexidp.io/docs/connectors/microsoft (fetched 2026-08-29T08:15:42.517633+00:00, sha deadf53a4d4c)
  - site_page: https://dexidp.io/docs/connectors/gitlab (fetched 2026-08-29T08:15:42.520265+00:00, sha 1381d8737b75)
  - site_page: https://dexidp.io/docs/connectors/linkedin (fetched 2026-08-29T08:15:42.522325+00:00, sha 76cc71d6c6ae)
  - site_page: https://dexidp.io/docs/connectors/atlassian-crowd (fetched 2026-08-29T08:15:42.524020+00:00, sha 7e2c0d6feffb)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.