---
title: "Default"
description: "Default request adapter to parse HTTP headers and cookies, configurable for secure identifier retrieval. (Gitana 4.0)"
product: "Gitana"
version: "4.0"
url: "/documentation/gitana/4.0/developers/app-server/authentication/adapters/default"
---

# Default

The default request adapter parses simple header and cookie information. It is a generic adapter that can be used to interrogate the most common elements in an HTTP request.

## Configuration

Here are all of the properties that may be configured:

```
{
    "adapters": {
        "{adapterId}": {
            "type": "default",
            "config": {
                "header": "{headerName}",
                "cookie": "{cookieName}",
                "trusted": false
            }
        }
    }
}
```

The value `{adapterId}` can be any unique ID across the adapters. This is the ID that you reference from within your strategy configuration.

The following configuration properties are supported:

- `header` - the name of the HTTP header whose value serves as user identifying information
- `cookie` - the name of the HTTP cookie whose value serves as user identifying information
- `trusted` - whether the identifying information is trusted

## Usage

To grab the identifier from a header named `SSO_TOKEN`, you might do:

```
{
    "adapters": {
        "{adapterId}": {
            "type": "default",
            "config": {
                "header": "SSO_TOKEN"
            }
        }
    }
}
```

To grab the identifier from a cookie named `USER`:

```
{
    "adapters": {
        "{adapterId}": {
            "type": "default",
            "config": {
                "cookie": "USER"
            }
        }
    }
}
```

By default, the value acquired is assumed to be untrusted meaning that it needs to be passed back to the authentication provider to verify it's real. If you're in a secure architecture where the only way the request information is supplied is via a trusted source or something that you control and you're over HTTPS and you're a really smart dude, then you can force trust on like this:

```
{
    "adapters": {
        "{adapterId}": {
            "type": "default",
            "config": {
                "cookie": "USER",
                "trusted": true
            }
        }
    }
}
```

In general, it's best to stick with the defaults and leave it untrusted. There's a lot of bad people out there.