diff --git a/cmd/thv-operator/pkg/controllerutil/authserver.go b/cmd/thv-operator/pkg/controllerutil/authserver.go
index e735e691e3..10b967dfef 100644
--- a/cmd/thv-operator/pkg/controllerutil/authserver.go
+++ b/cmd/thv-operator/pkg/controllerutil/authserver.go
@@ -750,6 +750,14 @@ func buildUpstreamRunConfig(
 				return nil, err
 			}
 			config.OAuth2Config = oauth2
+			if provider.OAuth2Config.IdentityFromToken != nil {
+				ift := provider.OAuth2Config.IdentityFromToken
+				config.OAuth2Config.IdentityFromToken = &authserver.IdentityFromTokenRunConfig{
+					SubjectPath: ift.SubjectPath,
+					NamePath:    ift.NamePath,
+					EmailPath:   ift.EmailPath,
+				}
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/cmd/thv-operator/pkg/controllerutil/authserver_test.go b/cmd/thv-operator/pkg/controllerutil/authserver_test.go
index c8cda64f38..fcb0bd6379 100644
--- a/cmd/thv-operator/pkg/controllerutil/authserver_test.go
+++ b/cmd/thv-operator/pkg/controllerutil/authserver_test.go
@@ -1423,6 +1423,121 @@ func TestBuildAuthServerRunConfig(t *testing.T) {
 					"DCRConfig should remain nil when only ClientID is set")
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name:        "OAuth2 upstream with identityFromToken all fields set",
+			resourceURL: defaultResourceURL,
+			authConfig: &mcpv1beta1.EmbeddedAuthServerConfig{
+				Issuer: "https://auth.example.com",
+				SigningKeySecretRefs: []mcpv1beta1.SecretKeyRef{
+					{Name: "signing-key", Key: "private.pem"},
+				},
+				HMACSecretRefs: []mcpv1beta1.SecretKeyRef{
+					{Name: "hmac-secret", Key: "hmac"},
+				},
+				UpstreamProviders: []mcpv1beta1.UpstreamProviderConfig{
+					{
+						Name: "snowflake",
+						Type: mcpv1beta1.UpstreamProviderTypeOAuth2,
+						OAuth2Config: &mcpv1beta1.OAuth2UpstreamConfig{
+							AuthorizationEndpoint: "https://account.snowflakecomputing.com/oauth/authorize",
+							TokenEndpoint:         "https://account.snowflakecomputing.com/oauth/token-request",
+							ClientID:              "sf-client-id",
+							IdentityFromToken: &mcpv1beta1.IdentityFromTokenConfig{
+								SubjectPath: "username",
+								NamePath:    "display_name",
+								EmailPath:   "email",
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			allowedAudiences: defaultAudiences,
+			scopesSupported:  defaultScopes,
+			checkFunc: func(t *testing.T, config *authserver.RunConfig) {
+				t.Helper()
+				require.Len(t, config.Upstreams, 1)
+				upstream := config.Upstreams[0]
+				require.NotNil(t, upstream.OAuth2Config)
+				require.NotNil(t, upstream.OAuth2Config.IdentityFromToken)
+				assert.Equal(t, "username", upstream.OAuth2Config.IdentityFromToken.SubjectPath)
+				assert.Equal(t, "display_name", upstream.OAuth2Config.IdentityFromToken.NamePath)
+				assert.Equal(t, "email", upstream.OAuth2Config.IdentityFromToken.EmailPath)
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "OAuth2 upstream with identityFromToken only subjectPath set",
+			resourceURL: defaultResourceURL,
+			authConfig: &mcpv1beta1.EmbeddedAuthServerConfig{
+				Issuer: "https://auth.example.com",
+				SigningKeySecretRefs: []mcpv1beta1.SecretKeyRef{
+					{Name: "signing-key", Key: "private.pem"},
+				},
+				HMACSecretRefs: []mcpv1beta1.SecretKeyRef{
+					{Name: "hmac-secret", Key: "hmac"},
+				},
+				UpstreamProviders: []mcpv1beta1.UpstreamProviderConfig{
+					{
+						Name: "slack",
+						Type: mcpv1beta1.UpstreamProviderTypeOAuth2,
+						OAuth2Config: &mcpv1beta1.OAuth2UpstreamConfig{
+							AuthorizationEndpoint: "https://slack.com/oauth/v2/authorize",
+							TokenEndpoint:         "https://slack.com/api/oauth.v2.access",
+							ClientID:              "slack-client-id",
+							IdentityFromToken: &mcpv1beta1.IdentityFromTokenConfig{
+								SubjectPath: "authed_user.id",
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			allowedAudiences: defaultAudiences,
+			scopesSupported:  defaultScopes,
+			checkFunc: func(t *testing.T, config *authserver.RunConfig) {
+				t.Helper()
+				require.Len(t, config.Upstreams, 1)
+				upstream := config.Upstreams[0]
+				require.NotNil(t, upstream.OAuth2Config)
+				require.NotNil(t, upstream.OAuth2Config.IdentityFromToken)
+				assert.Equal(t, "authed_user.id", upstream.OAuth2Config.IdentityFromToken.SubjectPath)
+				assert.Empty(t, upstream.OAuth2Config.IdentityFromToken.NamePath)
+				assert.Empty(t, upstream.OAuth2Config.IdentityFromToken.EmailPath)
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "OAuth2 upstream with no identityFromToken produces nil",
+			resourceURL: defaultResourceURL,
+			authConfig: &mcpv1beta1.EmbeddedAuthServerConfig{
+				Issuer: "https://auth.example.com",
+				SigningKeySecretRefs: []mcpv1beta1.SecretKeyRef{
+					{Name: "signing-key", Key: "private.pem"},
+				},
+				HMACSecretRefs: []mcpv1beta1.SecretKeyRef{
+					{Name: "hmac-secret", Key: "hmac"},
+				},
+				UpstreamProviders: []mcpv1beta1.UpstreamProviderConfig{
+					{
+						Name: "github-no-ift",
+						Type: mcpv1beta1.UpstreamProviderTypeOAuth2,
+						OAuth2Config: &mcpv1beta1.OAuth2UpstreamConfig{
+							AuthorizationEndpoint: "https://github.com/login/oauth/authorize",
+							TokenEndpoint:         "https://github.com/login/oauth/access_token",
+							UserInfo:              &mcpv1beta1.UserInfoConfig{EndpointURL: "https://api.github.com/user"},
+							ClientID:              "client-id",
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			allowedAudiences: defaultAudiences,
+			scopesSupported:  defaultScopes,
+			checkFunc: func(t *testing.T, config *authserver.RunConfig) {
+				t.Helper()
+				require.Len(t, config.Upstreams, 1)
+				upstream := config.Upstreams[0]
+				require.NotNil(t, upstream.OAuth2Config)
+				assert.Nil(t, upstream.OAuth2Config.IdentityFromToken,
+					"IdentityFromToken must be nil when not configured")
+			},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
diff --git a/pkg/authserver/config.go b/pkg/authserver/config.go
index 5a57047b7e..40cb89c67b 100644
--- a/pkg/authserver/config.go
+++ b/pkg/authserver/config.go
@@ -280,6 +280,14 @@ type OAuth2UpstreamRunConfig struct {
 	//nolint:lll // field tags require full JSON+YAML names
 	TokenResponseMapping *TokenResponseMappingRunConfig `json:"token_response_mapping,omitempty" yaml:"token_response_mapping,omitempty"`
 
+	// IdentityFromToken extracts user identity (subject, name, email) directly from the
+	// OAuth2 token-endpoint response body using gjson dot-notation paths. When set, the
+	// embedded auth server skips the userinfo HTTP call entirely. Mirrors the CRD type
+	// (cmd/thv-operator/api/v1beta1.IdentityFromTokenConfig) — the authoritative
+	// trust-model and uniqueness documentation lives there.
+	//nolint:lll // field tags require full JSON+YAML names
+	IdentityFromToken *IdentityFromTokenRunConfig `json:"identity_from_token,omitempty" yaml:"identity_from_token,omitempty"`
+
 	// AdditionalAuthorizationParams are extra query parameters to include in
 	// authorization requests. Useful for provider-specific parameters like
 	// Google's access_type=offline.
@@ -383,6 +391,21 @@ type TokenResponseMappingRunConfig struct {
 	ExpiresInPath string `json:"expires_in_path,omitempty" yaml:"expires_in_path,omitempty"`
 }
 
+// IdentityFromTokenRunConfig configures extracting user identity claims directly from
+// the token-endpoint response body. Mirrors the CRD type
+// (cmd/thv-operator/api/v1beta1.IdentityFromTokenConfig) — the authoritative
+// trust-model and uniqueness documentation lives there.
+type IdentityFromTokenRunConfig struct {
+	// SubjectPath is the dot-notation path to the subject (user ID) field.
+	SubjectPath string `json:"subject_path,omitempty" yaml:"subject_path,omitempty"`
+
+	// NamePath is the dot-notation path to the display name field.
+	NamePath string `json:"name_path,omitempty" yaml:"name_path,omitempty"`
+
+	// EmailPath is the dot-notation path to the email address field.
+	EmailPath string `json:"email_path,omitempty" yaml:"email_path,omitempty"`
+}
+
 // UserInfoRunConfig contains UserInfo endpoint configuration.
 // This supports both standard OIDC UserInfo endpoints and custom provider-specific endpoints.
 type UserInfoRunConfig struct {
diff --git a/pkg/authserver/runner/embeddedauthserver.go b/pkg/authserver/runner/embeddedauthserver.go
index b8eb04f99d..19dedb1b74 100644
--- a/pkg/authserver/runner/embeddedauthserver.go
+++ b/pkg/authserver/runner/embeddedauthserver.go
@@ -62,6 +62,10 @@ func NewEmbeddedAuthServer(ctx context.Context, cfg *authserver.RunConfig) (*Emb
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("config is required")
 	}
 
+	// Register gjson modifiers used by IdentityFromToken configs (e.g. @upstreamjwt).
+	// Without this, modifier-bearing paths silently fail to resolve.
+	upstream.RegisterModifiers()
+
 	// Fail loudly on operator-supplied misconfiguration (e.g. a baseline
 	// scope absent from scopes_supported) BEFORE touching storage or any
 	// other side-effecting work, so a bad config never reaches the network
@@ -569,6 +573,14 @@ func buildPureOAuth2Config(rc *authserver.UpstreamRunConfig) (*upstream.OAuth2Co
 		}
 	}
 
+	if oauth2.IdentityFromToken != nil {
+		cfg.IdentityFromToken = &upstream.IdentityFromTokenConfig{
+			SubjectPath: oauth2.IdentityFromToken.SubjectPath,
+			NamePath:    oauth2.IdentityFromToken.NamePath,
+			EmailPath:   oauth2.IdentityFromToken.EmailPath,
+		}
+	}
+
 	return cfg, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/authserver/runner/embeddedauthserver_test.go b/pkg/authserver/runner/embeddedauthserver_test.go
index 14259b955e..f9d9030d43 100644
--- a/pkg/authserver/runner/embeddedauthserver_test.go
+++ b/pkg/authserver/runner/embeddedauthserver_test.go
@@ -623,6 +623,73 @@ func TestBuildPureOAuth2ConfigWithEnvVar(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestBuildPureOAuth2ConfigIdentityFromToken(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	baseRC := func() *authserver.UpstreamRunConfig {
+		return &authserver.UpstreamRunConfig{
+			Type: authserver.UpstreamProviderTypeOAuth2,
+			OAuth2Config: &authserver.OAuth2UpstreamRunConfig{
+				AuthorizationEndpoint: "https://example.com/authorize",
+				TokenEndpoint:         "https://example.com/token",
+				ClientID:              "my-client-id",
+				RedirectURI:           "https://my-app.com/callback",
+			},
+		}
+	}
+
+	t.Run("nil IdentityFromToken produces nil in runtime config", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		rc := baseRC()
+		// IdentityFromToken is not set
+
+		cfg, err := buildPureOAuth2Config(rc)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.NotNil(t, cfg)
+
+		assert.Nil(t, cfg.IdentityFromToken, "IdentityFromToken must be nil when not configured")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("all three paths round-trip correctly", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		rc := baseRC()
+		rc.OAuth2Config.IdentityFromToken = &authserver.IdentityFromTokenRunConfig{
+			SubjectPath: "username",
+			NamePath:    "display_name",
+			EmailPath:   "email",
+		}
+
+		cfg, err := buildPureOAuth2Config(rc)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.NotNil(t, cfg)
+
+		require.NotNil(t, cfg.IdentityFromToken)
+		assert.Equal(t, "username", cfg.IdentityFromToken.SubjectPath)
+		assert.Equal(t, "display_name", cfg.IdentityFromToken.NamePath)
+		assert.Equal(t, "email", cfg.IdentityFromToken.EmailPath)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("only SubjectPath set, name and email empty", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		rc := baseRC()
+		rc.OAuth2Config.IdentityFromToken = &authserver.IdentityFromTokenRunConfig{
+			SubjectPath: "authed_user.id",
+		}
+
+		cfg, err := buildPureOAuth2Config(rc)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.NotNil(t, cfg)
+
+		require.NotNil(t, cfg.IdentityFromToken)
+		assert.Equal(t, "authed_user.id", cfg.IdentityFromToken.SubjectPath)
+		assert.Empty(t, cfg.IdentityFromToken.NamePath)
+		assert.Empty(t, cfg.IdentityFromToken.EmailPath)
+	})
+}
+
 func TestNewHMACSecrets(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
diff --git a/pkg/authserver/upstream/identity_from_token.go b/pkg/authserver/upstream/identity_from_token.go
index e827d19815..813f5f8df3 100644
--- a/pkg/authserver/upstream/identity_from_token.go
+++ b/pkg/authserver/upstream/identity_from_token.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"log/slog"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/tidwall/gjson"
 )
@@ -43,16 +44,25 @@ type IdentityFromTokenConfig struct {
 	EmailPath string
 }
 
+// registerOnce ensures gjson modifiers are registered exactly once, even
+// when RegisterModifiers is called concurrently from multiple goroutines
+// (e.g. parallel auth-server constructors in tests or during thundering-herd
+// restarts). gjson.AddModifier writes to a global map without internal
+// synchronization, so concurrent calls race without this guard.
+var registerOnce sync.Once
+
 // RegisterModifiers registers the gjson custom modifiers used by this
 // package's path-based identity extractors. Call once during application
 // or test wire-up before invoking any extractor that consumes a
-// modifier-bearing path. Repeated calls are safe — gjson.AddModifier
-// overwrites the existing entry.
+// modifier-bearing path. Repeated calls are safe — the registration is
+// protected by a sync.Once and executes at most once per process.
 //
 // Modifiers registered:
 //   - @upstreamjwt: see upstreamJWTModifier.
 func RegisterModifiers() {
-	gjson.AddModifier("upstreamjwt", upstreamJWTModifier)
+	registerOnce.Do(func() {
+		gjson.AddModifier("upstreamjwt", upstreamJWTModifier)
+	})
 }
 
 // extractIdentityFromTokenResponse extracts user identity fields from a raw