---
title: "Choose an authentication method for the Quickbase channel"
slug: "choose-an-authentication-method-for-the-quickbase-channel"
updated: 2026-10-15T17:40:15Z
published: 2026-10-15T17:40:15Z
canonical: "help.quickbase.com/choose-an-authentication-method-for-the-quickbase-channel"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.quickbase.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Choose an authentication method for the Quickbase channel

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](https://help.quickbase.com/docs/using-service-accounts-to-manage-pipelines#best-practices-for-using-service-accounts-with-pipelines).

## Existing pipelines

Pipelines that already use a user token keep using it unless you change it. You don't need to switch.