Security / Auth

OAuth

A standard that lets users log in through another service ('Sign in with Google') without handing you their password.

OAuth is like a valet key: it grants a limited, revocable pass to your account without giving away the master key (your password). When you ask an AI for 'Sign in with Google/GitHub,' it's implementing OAuth — which means you'll need to register your app with that provider to get a client ID and client secret, and configure exact redirect URLs (a mismatch here is the single most common thing that breaks it). It saves you from storing passwords at all, which is a big security win.