diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index c5080af5..21fe403d 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -4404,6 +4404,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "diesel_json",
  "diesel_migrations",
  "futures",
+ "futures-util",
  "indexmap 2.2.6",
  "secrecy",
  "serde",
diff --git a/crates/client/src/api.rs b/crates/client/src/api.rs
index 8b600a96..2947dbc8 100644
--- a/crates/client/src/api.rs
+++ b/crates/client/src/api.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ use anyhow::{anyhow, Result};
 use bytes::Bytes;
 use futures_util::{future::ready, stream::once, Stream, StreamExt, TryStreamExt};
 use indexmap::IndexMap;
+use reqwest::header::AUTHORIZATION;
 use reqwest::{
     header::{HeaderMap, HeaderValue},
     Body, IntoUrl, Method, RequestBuilder, Response, StatusCode,
@@ -206,9 +207,19 @@ impl Client {
     /// Creates a new API client with the given URL.
     pub fn new(url: impl IntoUrl, auth_token: Option<Secret<String>>) -> Result<Self> {
         let url = RegistryUrl::new(url)?;
+        let mut headers = HeaderMap::new();
+        if let Some(token) = &auth_token {
+            headers.append(
+                AUTHORIZATION,
+                format!("Bearer {}", token.expose_secret()).parse()?,
+            );
+        }
+        let client = reqwest::Client::builder()
+            .default_headers(headers)
+            .build()?;
         Ok(Self {
             url,
-            client: reqwest::Client::new(),
+            client,
             warg_registry_header: None,
             auth_token,
         })
diff --git a/crates/server/Cargo.toml b/crates/server/Cargo.toml
index f12fb42d..4a290651 100644
--- a/crates/server/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/server/Cargo.toml
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ diesel_migrations = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 diesel-derive-enum = { workspace = true, optional = true, features = ["postgres"] }
 serde_json = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 chrono = { workspace = true, optional = true }
+futures-util = { workspace = true }
 
 [features]
 default = []
diff --git a/crates/server/README.md b/crates/server/README.md
index 02709fd0..44198ea8 100644
--- a/crates/server/README.md
+++ b/crates/server/README.md
@@ -63,3 +63,14 @@ WARG_NAMESPACE=example WARG_DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:password@localhost/
 The `--data-store postgres` flag starts the server with PostgreSQL data storage.
 
 The server may now be restarted and will continue to use the same database.
+
+### Authorization
+
+By default, the server is publicly accessible with authorization
+managed by the operator logs and key IDs.
+
+It is possible to secure all endpoints in the registry with a global bearer
+token by env, with `WARG_GLOBAL_AUTH_TOKEN=<secret>`, or by CLI arg with
+`--global-auth-token <secret>`.
+If this is set, then requests to the server must contain the `Authorization`
+header with the `Bearer <secret>` token.
diff --git a/crates/server/src/api/auth_layer.rs b/crates/server/src/api/auth_layer.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5d26df42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/server/src/api/auth_layer.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+//! An authentication layer to secure endpoints with a bearer token.
+use axum::{
+    http::{Request, StatusCode},
+    response::Response,
+};
+use futures::future::BoxFuture;
+use std::{
+    sync::Arc,
+    task::{Context, Poll},
+};
+use tower::Layer;
+
+#[derive(Clone)]
+pub struct AuthLayer {
+    secret: Arc<String>,
+}
+
+impl AuthLayer {
+    pub fn new<S: Into<String>>(secret: S) -> Self {
+        AuthLayer {
+            secret: Arc::new(secret.into()),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<S> Layer<S> for AuthLayer {
+    type Service = AuthService<S>;
+
+    fn layer(&self, inner: S) -> Self::Service {
+        AuthService {
+            inner,
+
+            secret: self.secret.clone(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Clone)]
+pub struct AuthService<S> {
+    inner: S,
+
+    secret: Arc<String>,
+}
+
+impl<S, B> tower::Service<Request<B>> for AuthService<S>
+where
+    S: tower::Service<Request<B>, Response = Response> + Send + 'static,
+
+    S::Future: Send + 'static,
+
+    B: Send + 'static,
+{
+    type Response = Response;
+
+    type Error = S::Error;
+
+    type Future = BoxFuture<'static, Result<Self::Response, Self::Error>>;
+
+    fn poll_ready(&mut self, cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Result<(), Self::Error>> {
+        self.inner.poll_ready(cx)
+    }
+
+    fn call(&mut self, req: Request<B>) -> Self::Future {
+        let secret = self.secret.clone();
+        let expected = format!("Bearer {}", secret);
+        let header_value_opt = req
+            .headers()
+            .get("authorization")
+            .and_then(|h| h.to_str().ok());
+        if let Some(header_value) = header_value_opt {
+            if header_value == expected {
+                // The header is correct, forward the request.
+                return Box::pin(self.inner.call(req));
+            }
+        }
+        // The header is incorrect, return an Unauthorized response.
+        Box::pin(async move {
+            Ok(Response::builder()
+                .status(StatusCode::UNAUTHORIZED)
+                .body("Unauthorized".into())
+                .unwrap())
+        })
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/server/src/api/mod.rs b/crates/server/src/api/mod.rs
index 72e779fb..67c2f1af 100644
--- a/crates/server/src/api/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/server/src/api/mod.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+use crate::api::auth_layer::AuthLayer;
 use crate::{
     policy::{content::ContentPolicy, record::RecordPolicy},
     services::CoreService,
@@ -14,6 +15,7 @@ use tower_http::{
 use tracing::{Level, Span};
 use url::Url;
 
+mod auth_layer;
 pub mod v1;
 
 #[cfg(feature = "debug")]
@@ -27,11 +29,12 @@ pub fn create_router(
     files_dir: PathBuf,
     content_policy: Option<Arc<dyn ContentPolicy>>,
     record_policy: Option<Arc<dyn RecordPolicy>>,
+    global_auth_token: Option<String>,
 ) -> Router {
     let router = Router::new();
     #[cfg(feature = "debug")]
     let router = router.nest("/debug", debug::Config::new(core.clone()).into_router());
-    router
+    let mut router = router
         .nest(
             "/v1",
             v1::create_router(
@@ -67,5 +70,9 @@ pub fn create_router(
                             axum::http::header::ACCEPT,
                         ]),
                 ),
-        )
+        );
+    if let Some(token) = global_auth_token {
+        router = router.layer(AuthLayer::new(token));
+    }
+    router
 }
diff --git a/crates/server/src/bin/warg-server.rs b/crates/server/src/bin/warg-server.rs
index 3a092986..50d4e698 100644
--- a/crates/server/src/bin/warg-server.rs
+++ b/crates/server/src/bin/warg-server.rs
@@ -35,6 +35,11 @@ struct Args {
     #[arg(long, env = "WARG_CONTENT_BASE_URL")]
     content_base_url: Option<Url>,
 
+    /// An optional bearer auth token that, if set, will be required on
+    /// all requests to the registry under the authorization header.
+    #[arg(long, env = "WARG_GLOBAL_AUTH_TOKEN")]
+    global_auth_token: Option<String>,
+
     /// The data store to use for the server.
     #[arg(long, env = "WARG_DATA_STORE", default_value = "memory")]
     data_store: DataStoreKind,
@@ -112,6 +117,10 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
         config = config.with_content_base_url(url);
     }
 
+    if let Some(global_auth_token) = args.global_auth_token {
+        config = config.with_global_auth_token(Some(global_auth_token));
+    }
+
     if let Some(path) = args.authorized_keys_file {
         let authorized_keys_data = std::fs::read_to_string(&path)
             .with_context(|| format!("failed to read authorized keys from {path:?}"))?;
diff --git a/crates/server/src/lib.rs b/crates/server/src/lib.rs
index b574ea38..2104a4d8 100644
--- a/crates/server/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/server/src/lib.rs
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ pub struct Config {
     addr: Option<SocketAddr>,
     data_store: Option<Box<dyn DataStore>>,
     content_dir: PathBuf,
+    global_auth_token: Option<String>,
     content_base_url: Option<Url>,
     shutdown: Option<ShutdownFut>,
     checkpoint_interval: Option<Duration>,
@@ -74,6 +75,7 @@ impl Config {
             addr: None,
             data_store: None,
             content_dir,
+            global_auth_token: None,
             content_base_url: None,
             shutdown: None,
             checkpoint_interval: None,
@@ -140,6 +142,12 @@ impl Config {
         self.record_policy = Some(Arc::new(policy));
         self
     }
+
+    /// Sets the optional global auth token.
+    pub fn with_global_auth_token(mut self, global_auth_token: Option<String>) -> Self {
+        self.global_auth_token = global_auth_token;
+        self
+    }
 }
 
 /// Represents the warg registry server.
@@ -225,6 +233,7 @@ impl Server {
             files_dir,
             self.config.content_policy,
             self.config.record_policy,
+            self.config.global_auth_token,
         );
 
         Ok(InitializedServer {