---
title: Handling Authentication
description: Learn how to authenticate with the AI SDK.
url: "https://ai-sdk.dev/docs/ai-sdk-rsc/authentication"
docs_index: /llms.txt
---

> For an index of all documentation, see [/llms.txt](/llms.txt).

AI SDK RSC is currently experimental. We recommend using [AI SDK
UI](/docs/ai-sdk-ui/overview) for production. For guidance on migrating from
RSC to UI, see our [migration guide](/docs/ai-sdk-rsc/migrating-to-ui).

The RSC API makes extensive use of [`Server Actions`](https://nextjs.org/docs/app/building-your-application/data-fetching/server-actions-and-mutations) to power streaming values and UI from the server.

Server Actions are exposed as public, unprotected endpoints. As a result, you should treat Server Actions as you would public-facing API endpoints and ensure that the user is authorized to perform the action before returning any data.

```tsx title="app/actions.tsx"
'use server';

import { cookies } from 'next/headers';
import { createStreamableUI } from '@ai-sdk/rsc';
import { validateToken } from '../utils/auth';

export const getWeather = async () => {
  const token = cookies().get('token');

  if (!token || !validateToken(token)) {
    return {
      error: 'This action requires authentication',
    };
  }
  const streamableDisplay = createStreamableUI(null);

  streamableDisplay.update(<Skeleton />);
  streamableDisplay.done(<Weather />);

  return {
    display: streamableDisplay.value,
  };
};
```

---

For a semantic overview of all documentation, see [/sitemap.md](/sitemap.md)

For an index of all available documentation, see [/llms.txt](/llms.txt)

For agent-facing discovery, including API and MCP surfaces, see [/agents.md](/agents.md)