Machine-to-machine (M2M) authentication

M2M authentication secures interactions between software systems that operate without human intervention. This authentication method enables AI agents, apps, automation tools, and workflows to interact securely with your API, enhancing productivity, reducing costs, and improving accuracy.

Your API provides essential data for machine-to-machine interactions. External systems require secure authentication to access this data through your application's API.

Common M2M use cases include:

• API integration with third-party services (CRM systems, analytics platforms, payment providers)
• Scheduled services that automatically sync data with your API
• Automated workflows that update external systems

Scalekit provides an authentication layer for your API, requiring all downstream machines (AI agents, third-party services) to authenticate before consuming your API.

How M2M authentication works

The following example demonstrates how to implement M2M authentication for a tasks API that enables customer Slack automations to post weekly reminders:

M2M authentication secures machine-to-machine interactions with your API

1. Authenticate with the Scalekit API using your API credentials from your Scalekit environment.
2. Create a client ID and client secret to identify API consumers through your customer interface.
3. Your customer's application authenticates with your Scalekit environment using these credentials to obtain an access token.
4. The customer's application uses this token to request data from your tasks API.
5. Your application verifies the access token using your Scalekit environment's JSON Web Key Set (JWKS) before processing the request.

Benefits of M2M authentication

M2M authentication offers several advantages for your API ecosystem:

• Security: Ensures only authorized machines access your API
• Auditability: Tracks which systems access your API and when
• Scalability: Supports high-volume automated interactions
• Granular control: Enables fine-grained permissions for different machine clients