# API OIDC Discovery and JWKS
Status: public
Confidence: medium (0.865) (verified)
Last verified: 2026-06-02
Generation: ai_structured


## TL;DR

OIDC discovery and JWKS endpoints let agents verify token issuer metadata and signing keys without hard-coding provider details.

## Core Explanation

API authentication failures often come from identity metadata drift: wrong issuer, stale JWKS cache, rotated key, mismatched audience, or unsupported signing algorithm. OIDC discovery publishes provider configuration, while JWKS exposes key material for signature verification.

Agents should inspect the issuer URL, discovery document, JWKS URI, key ID, cache policy, algorithm, audience, and token timestamps before changing authentication middleware.

## Source-Mapped Facts

- OpenID Connect Discovery 1.0 defines a mechanism for discovering OpenID Provider configuration information. ([source](https://openid.net/specs/openid-connect-discovery-1_0.html))
- RFC 7517 defines JSON Web Key as a JSON data structure that represents a cryptographic key. ([source](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc7517))
- Auth0 documentation describes JSON Web Key Sets as exposing public keys that applications use to verify JWTs. ([source](https://auth0.com/docs/secure/tokens/json-web-tokens/json-web-key-sets))

## Further Reading

- [OpenID Connect Discovery 1.0](https://openid.net/specs/openid-connect-discovery-1_0.html)
- [RFC 7517 JSON Web Key](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc7517)
- [Auth0 JSON Web Key Sets](https://auth0.com/docs/secure/tokens/json-web-tokens/json-web-key-sets)