TL;DR: This post outlines a practical hybrid approach for authentication: use OAuth SSO (like Google/GitHub/LinkedIn) only for login, and issue your own secure access/refresh tokens to manage sessions within your microservices. Best of both worlds—ease of OAuth with the control of custom token logic. 💡

When it comes to user authentication, developers are often caught between two choices: relying entirely on third-party auth providers like Auth0, or building and managing their own token systems. But what if you could combine both worlds—leveraging OAuth for identity, and still maintain full control over session and token management?

This post dives into a hybrid approach that uses OAuth SSO for login operations only, and then switches to custom-built token handling for managing authenticated sessions.

Why Not Just Use Auth0 or Okta for Everything?

Third-party auth providers are great:

• ✅ They save time.
• 🔐 Handle token rotation, expiry, and revocation.
• 📜 Provide built-in user management and security compliance.

However, they also come with limitations:

• 💸 Cost can skyrocket with scale.
• 🧩 Limited flexibility around custom token logic.
• 🔍 You're handing off a critical part of your security stack to someone else.

The Case for a Hybrid Approach

Let’s say you want to support:

• 🧑 Traditional username/password login
• 🌐 Google, GitHub, and LinkedIn login via OAuth

You still want to issue your own tokens for:

• 🔁 Tight control over session lifecycle
• 🔐 Integrating your role/permission models