Unified Authentication for OAuth2 and API Keys via Edge Token Normalization

The article addresses the gap in OAuth2 for long-running, fully automated, user-delegated access without human interaction or a browser. Existing flows like client credentials (no user identity) and Device Authorization Grant (eventual human re-auth) fall short, so the author implements API keys alongside OAuth2 with edge token normalization to unify authentication. This pattern reflects a deliberate choice seen across major developer platforms that maintain long-lived, user-scoped credentials alongside standard OAuth flows.