feat(lightspeed): add DCR authentication support for MCP servers

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

Author: maysunfaisal

workspaces/lightspeed/.changeset/famous-vans-collect.md

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+'@red-hat-developer-hub/backstage-plugin-lightspeed-backend': minor
+'@red-hat-developer-hub/backstage-plugin-lightspeed': minor
+---
+
+Add DCR (Dynamic Client Registration) authentication support for Backstage-internal MCP servers, allowing the Lightspeed backend to mint per-user plugin request tokens instead of requiring static tokens.

workspaces/lightspeed/.prettierignore

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 dist
+dist-dynamic
 dist-types
 coverage
 .vscode

workspaces/lightspeed/app-config.yaml

@@ -18,6 +18,27 @@ organization:
 
 # Disable AI Notebooks feature by default
 lightspeed:
+  # MCP Servers available to the Lightspeed assistant via LCORE.
+  # Names must match the 'name' field in lightspeed-stack.yaml mcp_servers.
+  #
+  # Authentication modes per server:
+  #   auth: dcr   — Backstage mints a per-user token automatically (for
+  #                  Backstage-internal MCP servers with DCR enabled).
+  #                  The corresponding lightspeed-stack.yaml entry should use
+  #                  authorization_headers: { Authorization: "client" }.
+  #                  Any static 'token' field is ignored when auth: dcr is set.
+  #
+  #   (no auth)   — Static-token mode (legacy).  Uses the 'token' field from
+  #                  this config, or the user's personal token set in the UI.
+  #                  The corresponding lightspeed-stack.yaml entry should use
+  #                  authorization_headers: { Authorization: "client" }.
+  #
+  # Example:
+  # mcpServers:
+  #   - name: mcp-integration-tools
+  #     auth: dcr
+  #   - name: test-mcp-server
+  #     token: ${MCP_TOKEN_1}
   notebooks:
     enabled: ${NOTEBOOKS_ENABLED:-false}
     queryDefaults:
@@ -31,6 +52,16 @@ backend:
   # auth:
   #   keys:
   #     - secret: ${BACKEND_SECRET}
+  #
+  # To expose MCP tools locally, uncomment the following.  pluginSources lists
+  # the pluginIds whose actions are exposed as MCP tools.  Requires
+  # @backstage/plugin-mcp-actions-backend and the mcp-extras plugins in index.ts.
+  # In production RHDH the overlay renames these to 'software-catalog-mcp-tool' etc.
+  # actions:
+  #   pluginSources:
+  #     - 'software-catalog-mcp-extras'
+  #     - 'techdocs-mcp-extras'
+  #     - 'scaffolder-mcp-extras'
   baseUrl: http://localhost:7007
   listen:
     port: 7007
@@ -63,6 +94,12 @@ backend:
     #   password: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
   # workingDirectory: /tmp # Use this to configure a working directory for the scaffolder, defaults to the OS temp-dir
 
+# Disable dotted tool names (e.g. "software-catalog-mcp-extras.query-catalog-entities")
+# so they pass OpenAI's strict tool name pattern ^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$ (dots are rejected).
+# In production RHDH, add this under the backstage appConfig in values.yaml.
+# mcpActions:
+#   namespacedToolNames: false
+
 integrations:
   github:
     - host: github.com
@@ -95,6 +132,14 @@ techdocs:
 auth:
   # see https://backstage.io/docs/auth/ to learn about auth providers
   environment: development
+  # Enable Dynamic Client Registration (DCR) for MCP.
+  # This allows MCP clients (e.g. Cursor, VS Code) to register OAuth2 clients
+  # dynamically and obtain per-user tokens via the Backstage auth system.
+  # Requires @backstage/plugin-auth (frontend) and @backstage/plugin-mcp-actions-backend.
+  # experimentalDynamicClientRegistration:
+  #   enabled: true
+  #   allowedRedirectUriPatterns:
+  #     - '*'
   providers:
     # See https://backstage.io/docs/auth/guest/provider
     guest: {}
@@ -110,6 +155,19 @@ auth:
     # # Since we do not have a User entity, for local development, uncomment the following line to allow sign-in without a user in the catalog
     #           dangerouslyAllowSignInWithoutUserInCatalog: true
 
+# RBAC permission configuration.
+# Enables fine-grained role-based access control for Lightspeed and catalog.
+# Requires @backstage/plugin-permission-backend and @backstage-community/plugin-rbac-backend
+# in packages/backend/src/index.ts, plus an rbac-policy.csv file.
+# permission:
+#   enabled: true
+#   rbac:
+#     policies-csv-file: ../../rbac-policy.csv
+#     policyFileReload: true
+#     admin:
+#       superUsers:
+#         - name: user:default/breanna.davison
+
 scaffolder: {}
   # see https://backstage.io/docs/features/software-templates/configuration for software template options
 

workspaces/lightspeed/package.json

@@ -76,7 +76,8 @@
     "@backstage/frontend-plugin-api": "0.15.1",
     "infinispan": "0.13.0",
     "@protobufjs/inquire": "1.1.0",
-    "langsmith": "^0.6.0"
+    "langsmith": "^0.6.0",
+    "@patternfly/react-core": "6.4.3"
   },
   "prettier": "@spotify/prettier-config",
   "lint-staged": {

workspaces/lightspeed/packages/app/package.json

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
     "@backstage/frontend-plugin-api": "^0.15.1",
     "@backstage/integration-react": "^1.2.16",
     "@backstage/plugin-app-react": "^0.2.1",
+    "@backstage/plugin-auth": "^0.1.7",
     "@backstage/plugin-catalog": "^2.0.1",
     "@backstage/plugin-scaffolder": "^1.36.1",
     "@backstage/plugin-search": "^1.7.0",

workspaces/lightspeed/packages/app/src/App.tsx

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
  */
 
 import { createApp } from '@backstage/frontend-defaults';
+import authPlugin from '@backstage/plugin-auth';
 import { appDrawerModule } from '@red-hat-developer-hub/backstage-plugin-app-react/alpha';
 import {
   lightspeedFABModule,
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ import { signInModule } from './modules/signIn';
 
 export default createApp({
   features: [
+    authPlugin,
     appDrawerModule,
     lightspeedFABModule,
     lightspeedTranslationsModule,

workspaces/lightspeed/packages/backend/src/index.ts

@@ -38,7 +38,9 @@ backend.add(
 // See https://backstage.io/docs/features/software-catalog/configuration#subscribing-to-catalog-errors
 backend.add(import('@backstage/plugin-catalog-backend-module-logs'));
 
-// RBAC backend (registers as "permission" and provides /rbac; do not add plugin-permission-backend separately)
+// permission plugin — RBAC backend v7+ no longer bundles this internally
+// (breaking change from v5/v6 where it self-registered as the permission provider).
+backend.add(import('@backstage/plugin-permission-backend'));
 backend.add(import('@backstage-community/plugin-rbac-backend'));
 
 // search plugin

workspaces/lightspeed/plugins/lightspeed-backend/config.d.ts

@@ -48,6 +48,13 @@ export interface Config {
        * @visibility secret
        */
       token?: string;
+      /**
+       * Authentication mode for this MCP server.
+       * Set to 'dcr' for Dynamic Client Registration (user-bound tokens minted per-request).
+       * When omitted, falls back to static-token mode.
+       * @visibility backend
+       */
+      auth?: string;
     }>;
     /**
      * Configuration for AI Notebooks (Developer Preview)

workspaces/lightspeed/plugins/lightspeed-backend/report.api.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 > Do not edit this file. It is a report generated by [API Extractor](https://api-extractor.com/).
 
 ```ts
-
+import type { AuthService } from '@backstage/backend-plugin-api';
 import { BackendFeature } from '@backstage/backend-plugin-api';
 import type { Config } from '@backstage/config';
 import type { DatabaseService } from '@backstage/backend-plugin-api';
@@ -22,55 +22,56 @@ export default lightspeedPlugin;
 
 // @public
 export interface McpServerResponse {
-    // (undocumented)
-    enabled: boolean;
-    // (undocumented)
-    hasToken: boolean;
-    // (undocumented)
-    hasUserToken: boolean;
-    // (undocumented)
-    name: string;
-    // (undocumented)
-    status: McpServerStatus;
-    // (undocumented)
-    toolCount: number;
-    // (undocumented)
-    url?: string;
+  auth?: string;
+  // (undocumented)
+  enabled: boolean;
+  // (undocumented)
+  hasToken: boolean;
+  // (undocumented)
+  hasUserToken: boolean;
+  // (undocumented)
+  name: string;
+  // (undocumented)
+  status: McpServerStatus;
+  // (undocumented)
+  toolCount: number;
+  // (undocumented)
+  url?: string;
 }
 
 // @public (undocumented)
 export type McpServerStatus = 'connected' | 'error' | 'unknown';
 
 // @public (undocumented)
 export interface McpToolInfo {
-    // (undocumented)
-    description: string;
-    // (undocumented)
-    name: string;
+  // (undocumented)
+  description: string;
+  // (undocumented)
+  name: string;
 }
 
 // @public (undocumented)
 export interface McpValidationResult {
-    // (undocumented)
-    error?: string;
-    // (undocumented)
-    toolCount: number;
-    // (undocumented)
-    tools: McpToolInfo[];
-    // (undocumented)
-    valid: boolean;
+  // (undocumented)
+  error?: string;
+  // (undocumented)
+  toolCount: number;
+  // (undocumented)
+  tools: McpToolInfo[];
+  // (undocumented)
+  valid: boolean;
 }
 
 // @public
 export type RouterOptions = {
-    logger: LoggerService;
-    config: Config;
-    database: DatabaseService;
-    httpAuth: HttpAuthService;
-    userInfo: UserInfoService;
-    permissions: PermissionsService;
+  logger: LoggerService;
+  config: Config;
+  database: DatabaseService;
+  httpAuth: HttpAuthService;
+  userInfo: UserInfoService;
+  permissions: PermissionsService;
+  auth: AuthService;
 };
 
 // (No @packageDocumentation comment for this package)
-
 ```

workspaces/lightspeed/plugins/lightspeed-backend/src/plugin.ts

@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ export const lightspeedPlugin = createBackendPlugin({
         config: coreServices.rootConfig,
         http: coreServices.httpRouter,
         httpAuth: coreServices.httpAuth,
+        auth: coreServices.auth,
         userInfo: coreServices.userInfo,
         permissions: coreServices.permissions,
         database: coreServices.database,
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ export const lightspeedPlugin = createBackendPlugin({
         config,
         http,
         httpAuth,
+        auth,
         userInfo,
         permissions,
         database,
@@ -57,6 +59,7 @@ export const lightspeedPlugin = createBackendPlugin({
             logger,
             database,
             httpAuth,
+            auth,
             userInfo,
             permissions,
           }),