Version 4.0 of Mailchimp Open Commerce removes the Hydra and Identity services from the development platform. The authentication APIs are now part of the GraphQL server.

Store implementers now need to create their own signup and login interfaces using accounts-js. All existing users will be logged out, but their login credentials should carry over and they shouldn’t have to update their passwords.

Implementers who need Hydra should continue using version 3.x.

Identity and Hydra enabled OAuth 2 authentication and created a single authentication service for both the storefront and the admin dashboard. These services were hard to deploy and overkill for developers who wanted to get Open Commerce up and running quickly. 

Reducing the number of default services should make it easier to use and extend Open Commerce. This is part of a broader plan to use libraries for the storefront and admin dashboard user interfaces. Under this plan, the development platform will provide an integration layer, rather than the services themselves.

Removing Hydra and Identity also reduces the footprint of Meteor, bringing us closer to our goal of completely eliminating Meteor from the codebase.