| Internet-Draft | OAuth Tokens in HTTP Header | November 2025 |
| Chalk | Expires 19 May 2026 | [Page] |
This specification extends OAuth 2.0 [RFC6749] by defining a mechanism for resource servers or authorisation servers to convey inline token updates and related metadata to clients using the Authentication-Info HTTP header.¶
This note is to be removed before publishing as an RFC.¶
The latest revision of this draft can be found at https://OllieJC.github.io/draft-chalk-oauth-tokens-in-header/draft-chalk-oauth-tokens-in-header.html. Status information for this document may be found at https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-chalk-oauth-tokens-in-header/.¶
Discussion of this document takes place on the Web Authorization Protocol Working Group mailing list (mailto:oauth@ietf.org), which is archived at https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/oauth/. Subscribe at https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/oauth/.¶
Source for this draft and an issue tracker can be found at https://github.com/OllieJC/draft-chalk-oauth-tokens-in-header.¶
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OAuth deployments range from simple bearer‑only configurations to complex ecosystems with distinct authorisation and resource servers. In some scenarios a resource server holds enough contextual information to advise the client of a refreshed or more suitable token for future use. Existing OAuth flows, however, obligate the client to perform a separate interaction with the authorisation server to obtain such updates, and certain deployments may lack an authorisation server altogether.¶
This document defines a lightweight mechanism that leverages the Authentication‑Info header (originally specified in [RFC7615] and incorporated into [RFC9110]) to convey inline token updates and associated metadata within a normal HTTP response. The header can be processed transparently by HTTP implementations, potentially even at a proxy or edge service, and does not alter the client's request semantics. Recipients treat the conveyed values as hints - they may adopt the suggested token but are not required to do so - thereby preserving compatibility with existing OAuth behaviour while offering an optional optimisation for efficiency and flexibility.¶
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here.¶
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