Explore the Microsoft identity platform
The Microsoft identity platform helps you build applications your users and customers can sign in to using their Microsoft identities or social accounts, and provide authorized access to your own APIs or Microsoft APIs like Microsoft Graph.
There are several components that make up the Microsoft identity platform:
OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect standard-compliant authentication service enabling developers to authenticate several identity types, including:
- Work or school accounts, provisioned through Microsoft Entra ID
- Personal Microsoft account, like Skype, Xbox, and Outlook.com
- Social or local accounts, by using Azure Active Directory B2C
- Social or local customer accounts, by using Microsoft Entra External ID
Open-source libraries: Microsoft Authentication Libraries (MSAL) and support for other standards-compliant libraries
Microsoft identity platform endpoint: Works with the Microsoft Authentication Libraries (MSAL) or any other standards-compliant library. It implements human readable scopes, in accordance with industry standards.
Application management portal: A registration and configuration experience in the Azure portal, along with the other Azure management capabilities.
Application configuration API and PowerShell: Programmatic configuration of your applications through the Microsoft Graph API and PowerShell so you can automate your DevOps tasks.
For developers, the Microsoft identity platform offers integration of modern innovations in the identity and security space like passwordless authentication, step-up authentication, and Conditional Access. You don’t need to implement such functionality yourself: applications integrated with the Microsoft identity platform natively take advantage of such innovations.