M2M apps scoped to organizations

This feature is available on the Kinde Plus and Kinde Scale plans

You can create machine-to-machine (M2M) applications in Kinde that are scoped to a specific organization. These applications are used to issue access tokens that are automatically restricted to that organization’s context, ensuring strong tenant isolation when calling Kinde’s APIs or your own.

Org-scoped apps use the same client credentials flow as other M2M apps, but the tokens they generate include the org_code claim.

When to use an org-scoped M2M application

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Use an org-scoped app when:

• You’re building automation or AI tools that act on behalf of a specific customer or tenant
• You want to issue per-organization API access keys with enforced access boundaries
• You need to simplify your API logic by trusting org_code directly from the token
• You want tighter auditability and control across multiple customer environments

Token structure

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Tokens issued to an org-scoped app include trusted claims such as:

• org_code: the organization the token is scoped to
• scope: the permissions granted to the token

{
  "org_code": "org_123",
  "scope": "read:users write:flags"
}

These claims are enforced at token issuance time and cannot be modified by the caller.

Create an org-scoped M2M app

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1. In Kinde, go to Organizations, then view an organization.
2. Select M2M apps.
3. Enter a name for the application.
4. Select M2M application as the type.
5. Select Save.

Kinde generates a client_id and client_secret tied to the selected organization. Use the credentials in a standard client credentials flow to request a token.

Use the credentials to authenticate using the client credentials flow. The resulting token will include the organization context automatically.

These claims can be used by your backend services to authorize access to specific APIs or resources.

Org-scoped vs global M2M applications

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Feature	Global M2M app	Org-scoped M2M app
Org context in token	No	Yes
Tenant data isolation	Manual	Enforced
Use case	Admin scripts, internal automation	Per-tenant agents, scoped APIs
Token restrictions	None	Scoped to one org
Token claims	Basic	Includes org_code

Best practices for org-scoped M2M apps

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• Use separate M2M apps for different scopes or services.
• Limit the scopes assigned to each M2M app to the minimum required for its function.
• Rotate client secrets periodically using the UI.
• Audit token usage by tracking client_id and org_code in logs.
• Avoid including any personally identifiable information (PII) in token claims.