---
title: Descope 🤝 FastMCP
sidebarTitle: Descope
description: Secure your FastMCP server with Descope
icon: shield-check
tag: NEW
---

import { VersionBadge } from "/snippets/version-badge.mdx";

<VersionBadge version="2.12.4" />

This guide shows you how to secure your FastMCP server using [**Descope**](https://www.descope.com), a complete authentication and user management solution. This integration uses the [**Remote OAuth**](/v2/servers/auth/remote-oauth) pattern, where Descope handles user login and your FastMCP server validates the tokens.

## Configuration

### Prerequisites

Before you begin, you will need:

1. To [sign up](https://www.descope.com/sign-up) for a Free Forever Descope account
2. Your FastMCP server's URL (can be localhost for development, e.g., `http://localhost:3000`)

### Step 1: Configure Descope

<Steps>
<Step title="Create an MCP Server">
    1. Go to the [MCP Servers page](https://app.descope.com/mcp-servers) of the Descope Console, and create a new MCP Server.
    2. Give the MCP server a name and description.
    3. Ensure that **Dynamic Client Registration (DCR)** is enabled. Then click **Create**.
    4. Once you've created the MCP Server, note your Well-Known URL.
    
    
    <Warning>
    DCR is required for FastMCP clients to automatically register with your authentication server.
    </Warning>
</Step>

<Step title="Note Your Well-Known URL">
    Save your Well-Known URL from [MCP Server Settings](https://app.descope.com/mcp-servers):
    ```
    Well-Known URL: https://.../v1/apps/agentic/P.../M.../.well-known/openid-configuration
    ```
</Step>
</Steps>

### Step 2: Environment Setup

Create a `.env` file with your Descope configuration:

```bash
DESCOPE_CONFIG_URL=https://.../v1/apps/agentic/P.../M.../.well-known/openid-configuration     # Your Descope Well-Known URL
SERVER_URL=http://localhost:3000     # Your server's base URL
```

### Step 3: FastMCP Configuration

Create your FastMCP server file and use the DescopeProvider to handle all the OAuth integration automatically:

```python server.py
from fastmcp import FastMCP
from fastmcp.server.auth.providers.descope import DescopeProvider

# The DescopeProvider automatically discovers Descope endpoints
# and configures JWT token validation
auth_provider = DescopeProvider(
    config_url="https://.../.well-known/openid-configuration",  # Your MCP Server .well-known URL
    base_url=SERVER_URL,                                        # Your server's public URL
)

# Create FastMCP server with auth
mcp = FastMCP(name="My Descope Protected Server", auth=auth_provider)

```

## Testing

To test your server, you can use the `fastmcp` CLI to run it locally. Assuming you've saved the above code to `server.py` (after replacing the environment variables with your actual values!), you can run the following command:

```bash
fastmcp run server.py --transport http --port 8000
```

Now, you can use a FastMCP client to test that you can reach your server after authenticating:

```python
from fastmcp import Client
import asyncio

async def main():
    async with Client("http://localhost:8000/mcp", auth="oauth") as client:
        assert await client.ping()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())
```

## Environment Variables

For production deployments, use environment variables instead of hardcoding credentials.

### Provider Selection

Setting this environment variable allows the Descope provider to be used automatically without explicitly instantiating it in code.

<Card>
  <ParamField path="FASTMCP_SERVER_AUTH" default="Not set">
    Set to `fastmcp.server.auth.providers.descope.DescopeProvider` to use
    Descope authentication.
  </ParamField>
</Card>

### Descope-Specific Configuration

These environment variables provide default values for the Descope provider, whether it's instantiated manually or configured via `FASTMCP_SERVER_AUTH`.

<Card>
<ParamField path="FASTMCP_SERVER_AUTH_DESCOPEPROVIDER_CONFIG_URL" required>
Your Well-Known URL from the [Descope Console](https://app.descope.com/mcp-servers)
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="FASTMCP_SERVER_AUTH_DESCOPEPROVIDER_BASE_URL" required>
  Public URL of your FastMCP server (e.g., `https://your-server.com` or
  `http://localhost:8000` for development)
</ParamField>
</Card>

Example `.env` file:

```bash
# Use the Descope provider
FASTMCP_SERVER_AUTH=fastmcp.server.auth.providers.descope.DescopeProvider

# Descope configuration
FASTMCP_SERVER_AUTH_DESCOPEPROVIDER_CONFIG_URL=https://.../v1/apps/agentic/P.../M.../.well-known/openid-configuration
FASTMCP_SERVER_AUTH_DESCOPEPROVIDER_BASE_URL=https://your-server.com
```

With environment variables set, your server code simplifies to:

```python server.py
from fastmcp import FastMCP

# Authentication is automatically configured from environment
mcp = FastMCP(name="My Descope Protected Server")
```
