# Authentication overview (/authentication)



By default an assistant is open to anyone who can reach the page it lives on. When
you need to know who is on the other side of the conversation, you can connect your
identity provider and require people to sign in before they chat. This lets the
assistant confirm who someone is, adapt to their role, and personalize answers with
details from their profile.

You set this up per assistant. Open an assistant, then select **Authentication**.

## What connecting an identity provider gives you [#what-connecting-an-identity-provider-gives-you]

* **Sign in before chat.** Visitors see a **Connect Your Account** card in the
  widget and continue only after they sign in with your identity provider.
* **Roles and groups.** The groups a person belongs to can flow into the
  conversation, so a [flow](/flows/building-a-flow) can treat a member differently
  from an anonymous visitor.
* **Personalized answers.** Profile details such as a name become available to the
  assistant, so replies can address the person directly.

<Callout title="Single sign-on, one connection">
  The connection uses OpenID Connect, the standard behind most single sign-on
  setups. Once your identity provider is connected, people sign in with the account
  they already use, and no separate password is created for the assistant.
</Callout>

## Two related settings [#two-related-settings]

* **Authentication** connects the identity provider that gates the chat. This is
  what the guides in this section walk through.
* **User data** lets you import per-person details so the assistant can fill them
  into replies, mail-merge style. Use it when you want answers that reference
  someone's own information.

## Guides [#guides]

<Cards>
  <Card title="Connect Microsoft Entra ID" href="/authentication/microsoft-entra-id" description="Register an application in Microsoft Entra and require sign in before chat." />
</Cards>

## After you connect [#after-you-connect]

* Open the widget preview and confirm the **Connect Your Account** card appears.
* Sign in with a test account and check that the conversation continues.
* If you rely on roles, confirm a [flow](/flows/building-a-flow) that checks user
  role behaves as you expect for signed-in people.