# OAuth Clearly Explained

DevFeed: [OAuth Clearly Explained](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/oauth-clearly-explained-18034.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://blog.levelupcoding.com/p/oauth-clearly-explained>)

Author: Nikki Siapno

Published: 2026-05-01T05:56:21Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [Level Up Coding System Design Newsletter](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/level-up-coding-system-design-newsletter.md>)

Topics: [OAuth](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/oauth.md>), [Authorization](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/authorization.md>), [API](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/api.md>), [Security](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/security.md>)

Tags: [apis](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/apis.md>), [flow](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/flow.md>), [oauth](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/oauth.md>), [resource](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/resource.md>), [security](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/security.md>), [tokens](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tokens.md>)

## AI overview

An explanation of OAuth as a permission and delegated-access system rather than a login mechanism. It describes the roles in an OAuth transaction, the authorization-code flow, and the distinct purposes of access and refresh tokens, while highlighting security risks from poor token handling and confusing authorization with identity.

## Source excerpt

(4 min read) | OAuth flow, three different tokens, three different jobs, what OAuth actually solves, where OAuth systems usually break, and more