Prefactor: MCP Auth, Agent Identity, and the Future of Authentication
Jun 17, 2025
2 mins
Matt (Co-Founder and CEO)
TL;DR:
Prefactor is building the authentication infrastructure for AI-native platforms. We enable secure, scoped, and auditable access for autonomous agents — starting with MCP (Model Context Protocol) support, but pushing beyond it.
MCP is a meaningful step, not the endgame. Our vision is a world where agents hold portable, verifiable identities that move seamlessly across systems — like passports for machines, with the simplicity of an API.
🤖 The Problem: Authentication Was Built for Humans
Authentication today assumes a human user. MFA, CAPTCHAs, login UIs — everything is built around someone typing, clicking, or proving they’re real. That’s fine for people. But it breaks down fast when the actor isn’t human.
AI agents are becoming first-class citizens in software:
They write and send emails
They trigger workflows in your SaaS
They call your APIs and impersonate users
These agents don’t have fingers. They can’t click “log in.” They don’t do password resets. But they do need access — secure, scoped, and governed.
This is the core challenge of agent identity. And legacy auth systems don’t solve it.
🔑 MCP: A Stepping Stone to True Agent Identity
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an emerging spec designed to support non-human access to APIs and systems. It introduces critical primitives:
Token-based agent access
Delegation from a human or system to an agent
Scoped permissions and expiration
Stateless validation with auditability
This is a welcome evolution — but it’s not the whole story.
MCP doesn’t solve agent identity as a lifecycle. It doesn’t support:
Cross-organization identity for agents
Persistent, portable credentials
Complex delegation chains or multi-system authority
Identity resolution or reputation for agents over time
MCP is a starting point — not the standard that will define the agent-native future.
We believe agent identity should work like a passport for machines — persistent, portable, and programmable.
And it should be as easy to integrate as an API call.
🧭 Our Mission: Infrastructure for Agent Identity
At Prefactor, we’re building the auth infrastructure layer for the agent era — starting where it hurts most: MCP authentication and scoped delegated access.
Our mission is to make agent-first authentication:
Secure
Scalable
Developer-friendly
Composable with modern CI/CD pipelines
We don’t believe in reinventing identity UIs or shipping black-box SDKs. We believe in infra-as-code that integrates directly into your stack — and gives you control over every permission and delegation an agent is granted.
⚙️ What We’ve Built
We’re building a platform that gives teams everything they need to support agent access today — and scale into the future:
✅ MCP-compliant token generation and validation
✅ Agent-scoped identity and delegated authority
✅ Policy-as-code access control
✅ Audit-ready logging for non-human actors
✅ Hosted infrastructure with CI/CD integration
✅ White-glove implementation support tailored to your stack
Whether you're building an AI-native product or fielding RFPs asking for agent login, Prefactor makes it possible to say: "Yes — we support that."
🧠 Our Long-Term Vision: Agent Identity as a Primitive
Our roadmap doesn’t stop at delegation and token validation.
We’re working toward a world where:
Agents have persistent identity across systems and vendors
Delegation is dynamic and traceable
Agent access is governed like infra, not like user accounts
Cross-platform interoperability is built in from day one
And autonomous software can safely authenticate and act in complex environments
This is where agent-native identity infrastructure needs to go — and we’re building it.
🚀 Join the Teams Adopting MCP the Right Way
MCP is here. Agent login is becoming a requirement. Don’t duct tape it together with user impersonation or service accounts.
With Prefactor, you can:
Support agent authentication in hours, not weeks
Handle delegation, scoping, and audit cleanly
Future-proof your platform for autonomous software