Licensing Clarification – Client ID Count with Token Broker Pattern (Business Edition)

[gemita-ae]

We are currently using Duende IdentityServer Business Edition, which includes support for up to 15 client IDs, and we would like to confirm our understanding of how client IDs are counted under this licensing model.

In our architecture:

• Each of our external clients is assigned a unique client ID and client secret, and these are registered in IdentityServer.
• However, these external clients do not connect to IdentityServer directly.
• Instead, they call a central internal API (token broker), which forwards the client ID and secret to IdentityServer to request tokens on their behalf.

To clarify with an example:
If we had, say, 10 external clients, each with their own registered client ID and secret, but all requests are routed through a single internal service that communicates with IdentityServer — would this setup be counted as:

• 10 client IDs (since 10 are registered and used), or
• 1 client ID (since only one internal service interacts with IdentityServer)?

Additionally, we would like to ask:
If we were to register more than 15 client IDs (e.g., 16 or more), how would the license enforcement behave? Would IdentityServer block the additional clients, or is this something we would need to monitor and manage on our side?

We want to ensure we remain fully compliant and configure our system accordingly.

[maartenba]

Hi @gemita-ae - good questions!

• The client ID count depends on the number of clients registered. If your broker uses one client ID to retrieve tokens from IdentityServer, that would be 1 client ID indeed. If it uses a separate client ID per client app that connects to the broker, that would be multiple client IDs.
• When using more than the number allowed in the license, you will start seeing log messages. IdentityServer will never block or stop working, but will try to let you know in logs that your license is no longer sufficient.

Feel free to reach out to our sales folks via https://duendesoftware.com/contact/sales if you want to discuss in more detail.