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This feature is available on Ultimate site plans.
Authenticated access allows you to publish your content while requiring authentication from any visitors who want to view it. When enabled, GitBook lets your authentication provider handle who has access to the content.

Use cases

Common use cases for authenticated access include:
  • Publishing sensitive product documentation that should only be accessible to paying customers, sales prospects or partners
  • Publishing internal knowledge base content that should only be accessible to employees of your company

How it works

There are two methods you can choose from when setting up authenticated access:
  1. Installing one of our authentication integrations — we currently support Okta, Azure, Auth0, AWS Cognito, and OIDC. We highly recommend this option if you’re using an authentication provider we support.
  2. Create and host your own server to handle the authentication. Many different technologies can be used, but it’s up to you to code and maintain the solution you choose.

Enable authenticated access

1

Configure audience settings

Head to your site’s settings, and choose Authenticated access from your site’s audience settings. Once selected, you’ll see a few options you’ll need to continue configuring your site.You’ll also see a generated “Private key”, which you’ll need at a later point in the authenticated access setup.
2

Choose an authentication method

Depending on your setup, we have integrations and guides on setting up authenticated access for different tools.

Supported authentication methods

Choose the authentication method that fits your setup:

Auth0

Set up authenticated access using Auth0

Azure AD

Set up authenticated access using Azure AD

Okta

Set up authenticated access using Okta

AWS Cognito

Set up authenticated access using AWS Cognito

OIDC

Set up authenticated access using OpenID Connect

Custom backend

Set up authenticated access with a custom backend

Integration with adaptive content

Authenticated access is slightly different from adaptive content, although they can work together. While authenticated access allows you to protect your docs through a login, adaptive content customizes published material based on various authentication methods.
Authenticated access can be combined with adaptive content to deliver personalized documentation experiences based on who is viewing your content.

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