--- schema_version: "1" id: 5599a510d4a6611463529306f1524a82dde643d0886c0797fb1e4a9029b3c4ae title: Connected Apps in Anypoint Platform collection: mulesoft version: current locale: en-us portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/mulesoft/current/en-us/access-management/connected-apps-overview.md canonical_url: https://docs.mulesoft.com/access-management/connected-apps-overview source_site: docs.mulesoft.com content_type: documentation content_hash: 6e05c70289f97822c68ed6beb8c076d581a95bb51204f57f39120d309fde3046 description: MuleSoft Documentation Site latest: true --- --- product: Access Management version: master --- # Connected Apps in Anypoint Platform > For the full documentation index, see: https://docs.mulesoft.com/llms.txt Connected apps provide OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect–based integration for external applications with restricted access to your Anypoint Platform organization. They enforce least‑privilege and provide administrative control over each app’s permissions and data exposure. Connected apps: - Establish a trusted relationship with the external application. - Manage and enforce the specific permissions granted to the external application. - Provide secure and temporary access to your Anypoint Platform resources without exposing sensitive information. Actions taken by connected apps are audited, and you can revoke access at any time. ## Authentication and Authorization Anypoint Platform supports OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect to authorize apps to access data within Anypoint Platform. OAuth (Open Authorization) is an open protocol that provides secure API authorization from applications in a simple and standardized way. OAuth can authorize access to resources without revealing user credentials to apps. OpenID Connect identifies the end user and obtains information to pass to OAuth 2.0 connected apps. For more information, see [OAuth 2.0](https://oauth.net/2/) and [OpenID Connect](https://openid.net/developers/how-connect-works/). ## Access and Authorization Use connected apps to create a seamless authentication experience for end users. Connected apps address use cases for these types of users: - An [organization administrator](https://docs.mulesoft.com/access-management/connected-apps-org-admin) can control how their organization’s data is used by allowlisting apps, revoking access, and disabling this feature for the entire organization. - An [organization administrator who is developing a connected app](https://docs.mulesoft.com/access-management/connected-apps-developers#developers) can register new (and manage existing) apps at the root organization or business group level. - An [end user](https://docs.mulesoft.com/access-management/connected-apps-end-users#end-users) can authorize apps to access particular information, such as viewing assets in Anypoint Exchange. There are two types of connected apps, each supporting different grant types:
TypeDescriptionSupported grant typesExample use cases

App that acts on behalf of a user

Authorized by a user to act on their behalf

  • Authorization Code

  • Password

  • JWT Bearer

Productizing additional third-party applications on top of Anypoint Platform.

App that acts on its own behalf

Acts on its own behalf without impersonating a user. The app can be used only in the organization where it’s created.

Client Credentials

Automation scenarios such as building or accessing CI/CD pipelines without user intervention.

## How Connected Apps Work When you register an external application with Anypoint Platform, it receives a unique client identity. You then specify exactly which APIs and data the app has permission to access. When the external app requests access, Anypoint Platform verifies its identity and issues a temporary OAuth 2.0 token. This token grants access only to the permitted resources for a limited time, without exposing user credentials. ## See Also - [Anypoint Platform Connected Apps for Organization Administrators](https://docs.mulesoft.com/access-management/connected-apps-org-admin) - [Anypoint Platform Connected Apps for Developers](https://docs.mulesoft.com/access-management/connected-apps-developers) - [Anypoint Platform Connected Apps for End Users](https://docs.mulesoft.com/access-management/connected-apps-end-users)