|
| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +title: moq-authentication |
| 3 | +description: Authentication for the moq-relay |
| 4 | +--- |
| 5 | + |
| 6 | +# MoQ authentication |
| 7 | + |
| 8 | +The MoQ Relay authenticates via JWT-based tokens. Generally there are two different approaches you can choose from: |
| 9 | +- asymmetric keys: using a public and private key to separate signing and verifying keys for more security |
| 10 | +- symmetric key: using a single secret key for signing and verifying, less secure |
| 11 | + |
| 12 | +## Symmetric key |
| 13 | + |
| 14 | +1. Generate a secret key: |
| 15 | +```bash |
| 16 | +moq-token --key root.jwk generate --algorithm HS256 |
| 17 | +``` |
| 18 | +:::details You can also choose a different algorithm |
| 19 | +- HS256 |
| 20 | +- HS384 |
| 21 | +- HS512 |
| 22 | +::: |
| 23 | + |
| 24 | +2. Configure relay: |
| 25 | +:::code-group |
| 26 | +```toml [relay.toml] |
| 27 | +[auth] |
| 28 | +# public = "anon" # Optional: allow anonymous access to anon/** |
| 29 | +key = "root.jwk" # JWT key for authenticated paths |
| 30 | +``` |
| 31 | +::: |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +3. Generate tokens: |
| 34 | +```bash |
| 35 | +moq-token --key root.jwk sign \ |
| 36 | + --root "rooms/123" \ |
| 37 | + --publish "alice" \ |
| 38 | + --subscribe "" \ |
| 39 | + --expires 1735689600 > alice.jwt |
| 40 | +``` |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | +## Asymmetric keys |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +Generally asymmetric keys can be more secure because you don't need to distribute the signing key to every relay instance, the relays only need to verifying (public) key. |
| 45 | + |
| 46 | +1. Generate a public and private key: |
| 47 | +```bash |
| 48 | +moq-token --key private.jwk generate --public public.jwk --algorithm RS256 |
| 49 | +``` |
| 50 | +:::details You can also choose a different algorithm |
| 51 | +- RS256 |
| 52 | +- RS384 |
| 53 | +- RS512 |
| 54 | +- PS256 |
| 55 | +- PS384 |
| 56 | +- PS512 |
| 57 | +- EC256 |
| 58 | +- EC384 |
| 59 | +- EdDSA |
| 60 | +::: |
| 61 | + |
| 62 | +2. Now the relay only requires the public key: |
| 63 | +:::code-group |
| 64 | +```toml [relay.toml] |
| 65 | +[auth] |
| 66 | +# public = "anon" # Optional: allow anonymous access to anon/** |
| 67 | +key = "public.jwk" # JWT key for authenticated paths |
| 68 | +``` |
| 69 | +::: |
| 70 | + |
| 71 | +3. Generate tokens using the private key: |
| 72 | +```bash |
| 73 | +moq-token --key private.jwk sign \ |
| 74 | + --root "rooms/123" \ |
| 75 | + --publish "alice" \ |
| 76 | + --subscribe "" \ |
| 77 | + --expires 1735689600 > alice.jwt |
| 78 | +``` |
| 79 | + |
| 80 | +## JWK set authentication |
| 81 | + |
| 82 | +Instead of storing a public key locally in a file, it may also be retrieved from a server hosting a JWK set. This can be a simple static site serving a JSON file, or a fully OIDC compliant Identity Provider. That way you can easily implement automatic key rotation. |
| 83 | + |
| 84 | +::: info |
| 85 | +This approach only works with asymmetric authentication. |
| 86 | +::: |
| 87 | + |
| 88 | +To set this up, you need to have an HTTPS server hosting a JWK set that looks like this: |
| 89 | +```json |
| 90 | +{ |
| 91 | + "keys": [ |
| 92 | + { |
| 93 | + "kid": "2026-01-01", |
| 94 | + "alg": "RS256", |
| 95 | + "key_ops": [ |
| 96 | + "verify" |
| 97 | + ], |
| 98 | + "kty": "RSA", |
| 99 | + "n": "zMsjX1oDV2SMQKZFTx4_qCaD3iIek9s1lvVaymr8bEGzO4pe6syCwBwLmFwaixRv7MMsuZ0nIpoR3Slpo-ZVyRxOc8yc3DcBZx49S_UQcM76E4MYbH6oInrEP8QL2bsstHrYTqTyPPjGwQJVp_sZdkjKlF5N-v5ohpn36sI8PXELvfRY3O3bad-RmSZ8ZOG8CYnJvMj_g2lYtGMMThnddnJ49560ahUNqAbH6ru---sHtdYHcjTIaWX4HYP6Y_KjA6siDZTGTThpaEW45LKcDQWM9sYvx_eAstaC-1rz8Z_6fDgKFWr7qcP5U2NmJ0c-IGSu_8OkftgRH4--Z5mzBQ", |
| 100 | + "e": "AQAB" |
| 101 | + }, |
| 102 | + { |
| 103 | + "kid": "2025-12-01", |
| 104 | + "alg": "EdDSA", |
| 105 | + "key_ops": [ |
| 106 | + "verify" |
| 107 | + ], |
| 108 | + "kty": "OKP", |
| 109 | + "crv": "Ed25519", |
| 110 | + "x": "2FSK2q_o_d5ernBmNQLNMFxiA4-ypBSa4LsN30ZjUeU" |
| 111 | + } |
| 112 | + ] |
| 113 | +} |
| 114 | +``` |
| 115 | + |
| 116 | +:::tip The following must be considered: |
| 117 | +- Every JWK MUST be public and contain no private key information |
| 118 | +- If your JWK set contains more than one key: |
| 119 | + 1. Every JWK MUST have a `kid` so they can be identified on verification |
| 120 | + 2. Your JWT tokens MUST contain a `kid` in their header |
| 121 | + 3. `kid` can be an arbitrary string |
| 122 | +::: |
| 123 | + |
| 124 | +Configure the relay: |
| 125 | +:::code-group |
| 126 | +```toml [relay.toml] |
| 127 | +[auth] |
| 128 | +# public = "anon" # Optional: allow anonymous access to anon/** |
| 129 | + |
| 130 | +key = "https://auth.example.com/keys.json" # JWK set URL for authenticated paths |
| 131 | +refresh_interval = 86400 # Optional: refresh the JWK set every N seconds, no refreshing if omitted |
| 132 | +``` |
| 133 | +::: |
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