---
description: New AI Gateways require authentication. Existing gateways can turn it on, but authentication cannot be turned off once it is on.
title: New AI Gateways require authentication
image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/changelog/post/2026-11-03-required-authentication/og.png?v=b39ba96004ad0565
---

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November 3, 2026

## New AI Gateways require authentication

[AI Gateway](https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-gateway/)

Copy as Markdown| [View as Markdown](https://developers.cloudflare.com/changelog/post/2026-11-03-required-authentication/index.md)| [Agent setup](https://developers.cloudflare.com/agent-setup/)

New AI Gateways now require authentication to prevent unauthorized requests. Once authentication is on, you cannot turn it off through the dashboard or API.

When you create a new AI Gateway through the API, authentication is on by default. You can leave out the `authentication` field or set it to `true`. If you set it to `false`, the API returns HTTP `400`.

When you update an existing gateway, leaving out `authentication` keeps its current setting. If you try to turn off authentication after it is on, the API returns HTTP `400`.

Existing gateways with authentication turned off can continue without it. You can turn it on in your gateway settings or include `authentication: true` in a [gateway update request](https://developers.cloudflare.com/api/resources/ai_gateway/methods/update/):

```json
{
	"authentication": true
}
```

Before turning authentication on, configure HTTP clients to send a valid Cloudflare API token. Requests through Workers bindings remain pre-authenticated.

For setup instructions and supported authorization headers, refer to [AI Gateway authentication](https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-gateway/configuration/authentication/).

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