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Integrate with WriteFreely

Support level: Community

What is WriteFreely?​

An open source platform for building a writing space on the web.

-- https://writefreely.org/

Preparation​

The following placeholders are used in this guide:

  • writefreely.company is the FQDN of the WriteFreely installation.
  • authentik.company is the FQDN of the authentik installation.
info

This documentation lists only the settings that you need to change from their default values. Be aware that any changes other than those explicitly mentioned in this guide could cause issues accessing your application.

authentik configuration​

Redirect URI changes in authentik 2026.5

In authentik versions earlier than 2026.5, all Redirect URIs are automatically treated as Authorization type. If you are using one of these older authentik versions, add only the Authorization URL to your Redirect URIs and do not configure a Post Logout URI.

To support the integration of WriteFreely with authentik, you need to create an application/provider pair in authentik.

Create an application and provider​

  1. Log in to authentik as an administrator and open the authentik Admin interface.
  2. Navigate to Applications > Applications and click New Application to open the application wizard.
    • Application: provide a descriptive name, an optional group for the type of application, the policy engine mode, and optional UI settings.
    • Choose a Provider type: select OAuth2/OpenID Connect as the provider type.
    • Configure the Provider: provide a name (or accept the auto-provided name), the authorization flow to use for this provider, and the following required configurations.
      • Note the Client ID and Client Secret values because they will be required later.
      • Add a Redirect URI of type Strict Authorization as https://writefreely.company/oauth/callback/generic.
      • Select any available signing key.
    • Configure Bindings (optional): you can create a binding (policy, group, or user) to manage the listing and access to applications on a user's Application Dashboard page.
  3. Click Submit to save the new application and provider.

WriteFreely configuration​

Configure WriteFreely by editing config.ini. WriteFreely looks for this file in the current directory unless it is started with the -c flag.

config.ini
[oauth.generic]
client_id          = <Client ID from authentik>
client_secret      = <Client Secret from authentik>
host               = https://authentik.company
display_name       = authentik
token_endpoint     = /application/o/token/
inspect_endpoint   = /application/o/userinfo/
auth_endpoint      = /application/o/authorize/
scope              = openid profile email
map_user_id        = sub
map_username       = preferred_username
map_display_name   = name
map_email          = email

Restart WriteFreely for the changes to take effect.

Configure registration (optional)​

To disable local username and password authentication after you have tested OAuth sign-in, set disable_password_auth to true in the [app] section.

config.ini
[app]
disable_password_auth = true

WriteFreely uses the open_registration setting for both local registration and first-time OAuth sign-ins. If open_registration is set to false, users must already have a linked WriteFreely account or sign in through a valid invite.

To link an existing local account with authentik, log in to WriteFreely with local credentials before disabling password authentication. Then navigate to Customize > Account Settings. In the Link External Accounts section, click Link authentik.

Configuration verification​

To confirm that authentik is properly configured with WriteFreely, open WriteFreely and select the Log in with authentik option. A successful authentication redirects you to authentik and then returns you to WriteFreely as a signed-in user.

Resources​