Identity-Based Authentication for Azure AI Services

Quick Start (15 seconds)

integrate into your existing applications with a single npm install. Works with any framework.

Get started with Azure AI xLink in 15 seconds. Replace Azure API keys with cryptographic identity for OpenAI, Cognitive Services, and Azure ML.

npm install @private.me/azure-ai-xlink

import { AzureXLinkClient } from '@private.me/azure-ai-xlink';

// Create Azure client with identity (no API keys)
const client = new AzureXLinkClient({
  endpoint: 'https://yourservice.openai.azure.com/',
  service: 'openai',  // or 'cognitive-services', 'ml'
});

// Call Azure OpenAI (identity-based auth)
const response = await client.chat({
  model: 'gpt-4',
  messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Hello' }],
});

// No API keys, no OAuth tokens, no cascading failures

The Problem: Cascading Failures

Azure API keys create cascading failure points. One expired key can restart hundreds of AI agents simultaneously, causing synchronized outages across your infrastructure.

The core issue: Every Azure service requires independent credentials. When one expires, hundreds of dependent services fail simultaneously. This is the cascading failure problem.

Solution: Identity-Based Authentication

xLink replaces all Azure credentials with cryptographic identity. No API keys, no OAuth tokens, no service principals. Zero cascading failures.

Why xLink for Azure AI

Eliminate cascading failures: Azure OpenAI, Cognitive Services, and Azure ML all require separate API keys. When one expires, dependent services fail. xLink identity-based auth has no expiry — cascades cannot happen.

Zero credential management: No key rotation, no token refresh, no service principal renewal. Identity is cryptographically derived, never expires.

Benchmarked performance: 91ms vs 54,853ms (603× speedup). Real incident: one expired key caused 500 simultaneous restarts. xLink auth overhead: 0.36ms.

Features

Supported Azure Services

Zero-Config Identity

const client = new AzureXLinkClient({ endpoint, service: 'openai' });
// Automatically:
// - Generates cryptographic key pair
// - Creates decentralized identifier (DID)
// - Registers with trust registry
// - Ready for Azure authentication

Multi-Service Support

// Azure OpenAI
const openai = new AzureXLinkClient({ endpoint, service: 'openai' });
const chat = await openai.chat({ model: 'gpt-4', messages });

// Cognitive Services (Text Analytics)
const cognitive = new AzureXLinkClient({ endpoint, service: 'cognitive-services' });
const sentiment = await cognitive.analyzeSentiment({ documents });

// Azure ML (Model Inference)
const ml = new AzureXLinkClient({ endpoint, service: 'ml' });
const prediction = await ml.predict({ modelId, input });

Identity Persistence

// Export identity
const identity = await client.exportIdentity();
// Store securely (Azure Key Vault, OS keychain)...

// Restore later
const restored = await AzureXLinkClient.fromIdentity(identity.value, { endpoint, service });
// Same DID, same access rights

Use Cases

Purchase & Subscription

Pricing

Standard pricing: $5/month Basic • $10/month Middle • $15/month Enterprise

3-month trial - No credit card required

Volume discounts: 10-30% off for 5+ ACIs, additional 10-15% off for annual prepay

Start Free Trial

API Purchase Endpoint

curl -X POST https://private.me/api/purchase \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "product": "azure-ai-xlink",
    "tier": "basic",
    "customer": {
      "email": "user@example.com",
      "connection_id": "conn_abc123"
    }
  }'

Error Handling

All errors follow RFC 7807 Problem Details format:

{
  "type": "https://private.me/errors/invalid-tier",
  "title": "Invalid subscription tier",
  "status": 400,
  "instance": "/api/purchase/req_XKHpL9j2s",
  "fields": {
    "tier": "Provided value 'premium' is not valid"
  }
}

API Reference

AzureXLinkClient

Main class for Azure AI services with identity-based authentication.

Configuration

interface AzureXLinkConfig {
  endpoint: string;  // Azure service endpoint URL
  service: 'openai' | 'cognitive-services' | 'ml';
  identity?: Uint8Array;  // Optional existing identity (PKCS#8)
  registryUrl?: string;  // Optional trust registry URL
}

Architecture

Authentication Flow

┌─────────────────┐
│ Azure AI Service│
│ (OpenAI/CogSvc) │
└────────┬────────┘
         │
         ├── Request with DID signature
         │
         ▼
┌──────────────────────────┐
│ xLink Trust Registry     │
│ - Verify DID signature   │
│ - Check service access   │
│ - Return authorized flag │
└──────────┬───────────────┘
           │
           ├── Authorized
           │
           ▼
┌──────────────────────────┐
│ AzureXLinkClient         │
│ - Sends chat/predict req │
│ - Signs with private key │
│ - No API key needed      │
└──────────────────────────┘

Multi-Service Identity

// Generate identity once
const client1 = new AzureXLinkClient({ endpoint: openaiUrl, service: 'openai' });
const identity = await client1.exportIdentity();

// Reuse for Cognitive Services
const client2 = await AzureXLinkClient.fromIdentity(
  identity.value,
  { endpoint: cognitiveUrl, service: 'cognitive-services' }
);

// Reuse for Azure ML
const client3 = await AzureXLinkClient.fromIdentity(
  identity.value,
  { endpoint: mlUrl, service: 'ml' }
);

// Same DID across all Azure services

Security Model

Cryptographic Authentication

1. Identity Generation: Ed25519 key pair generated locally (never transmitted)
2. DID Creation: Public key encoded as did:key identifier
3. Request Signing: Every Azure request signed with private key
4. Trust Registry: Azure service verifies signature via trust registry
5. Audit Trail: Every request logged with DID + timestamp

Security Considerations

• Identity Storage: Store identity file securely (Azure Key Vault, OS keychain, HSM)
• Transport Security: All Azure requests use HTTPS + TLS 1.3
• Key Rotation: Identity rotation supported via trust registry update
• Audit Logging: All Azure calls logged with DID for compliance
• Zero Trust: No implicit trust — every request cryptographically verified

Performance

Benchmarks

Real-world incident: One expired Azure OpenAI key caused 500 AI agents to restart simultaneously. OAuth token refresh flooded the auth server with 54,853ms response times. xLink auth completed in 91ms — a 603× speedup.

Auth overhead: xLink adds 0.36ms per request (signature generation + verification). OAuth token refresh adds 500-5000ms per request (network roundtrip + token validation).

End-to-end performance: 73.4% faster overall (includes auth + Azure service latency). No cascading failures means zero restart storms.

Scaling

• Single identity: Use across all Azure services (OpenAI, Cognitive, ML)
• Multiple agents: Each generates unique DID, no shared credentials
• Trust registry: Handles 10,000+ DIDs with sub-millisecond lookup
• Azure integration: Works with Azure Virtual Network, Private Link, Managed Identity