When you connect Quickbase to a pipeline, you choose how its Quickbase steps authenticate: with simplified authentication or with a user token. Both methods are supported. Choose based on which apps the pipeline needs to reach and who will manage access over time, not on the method alone.
How each method works
Simplified authentication uses your realm default account. You don't create or manage a user token. Access is based on the pipeline owner's permissions. If the owner's permissions change, the apps the pipeline can reach change too.
Compare the methods
Simplified authentication | User token | |
|---|---|---|
Setup | No token to create or store | Create a token, assign it to apps, and store it securely |
App access | Apps the pipeline owner can access | Only the apps assigned to the token, within its owner's permissions |
Turning off access | Change the pipeline owner's permissions | Unassign the token from an app, or deactivate or delete it |
Visibility | You can't view or edit the realm default account in Pipelines settings | Realm admins can see each token's owner, assigned apps, status, and last use in the Admin Console |
Changing the credential | No token to replace | Using a different token requires a new Quickbase connection. Reconnect doesn't work for user-token accounts. |
If an admin deactivates a user token, the token's owner can reactivate it.
When to use each method
Use simplified authentication when:
The pipeline owner can access only the apps the pipeline needs.
You want a quick setup without a token to store.
You're building a prototype. Before it goes live, check which apps the owner can access.
Use a user token when:
The pipeline works with sensitive data and needs a strict boundary around which apps it can reach.
The pipeline owner can access many apps the pipeline doesn't need. Alternatively, use simplified authentication with an owner who has narrower access.
Your security policy requires a credential you can turn off separately from the user.
Compare actual access, not the method name. A token assigned to many apps under an admin user can reach more than simplified authentication under an owner with limited access.
Pipelines that a team manages
Have a service account own pipelines that a team maintains. Then choose the method based on the apps the pipeline needs. Learn more in Use service accounts to manage pipelines.
Existing pipelines
Pipelines that already use a user token keep using it unless you change it. You don't need to switch.