graphql-engine/docs/graphql/manual/auth/authentication/unauthenticated-access.rst

.. meta::
   :description: Manage unauthenticated access in Hasura
   :keywords: hasura, docs, authentication, auth, unauthenticated access

.. _unauthenticated_access:

Unauthenticated access
======================

.. contents:: Table of contents
  :backlinks: none
  :depth: 1
  :local:

Use case
--------

It is a common requirement to have requests which are accessible to all users without the need for any authentication
(logging in). For example, to display a public feed of events.

You can configure Hasura GraphQL engine to allow access to unauthenticated users by defining a specific role
which will be set for all unauthenticated requests.

Configuring unauthenticated access
----------------------------------

You can use the env variable ``HASURA_GRAPHQL_UNAUTHORIZED_ROLE`` or ``--unauthorized-role`` flag to set a role
for unauthenticated (non-logged in) users. See :ref:`server_flag_reference` for more details
on setting this flag/env var.

This role can then be used to define the permissions for unauthenticated users as described in :ref:`authorization`.
A guide on setting up unauthenticated user permissions can be found :ref:`here <anonymous_users_example>`.

How it works
------------

Once you have configured authentication, by default Hasura GraphQL engine will reject any unauthenticated request it
receives.

Based on your authentication setup, an unauthenticated request is any request:

- for which the webhook returns a ``401 Unauthorized`` response in case of :ref:`webhook authentication <auth_webhooks>`.
- which does not contain a JWT token in case of :ref:`JWT authentication <auth_jwt>`.

Once an unauthenticated role is configured, unaunthenticated requests will not be rejected and instead the request will
be made with the configured role.