Do I need OAuth consent screens for first-party apps?

Usually, yes — if your app uses OAuth with Google APIs, it still needs an OAuth consent screen, even if it’s a first-party app.

A few important nuances:

• First-party vs. third-party is mainly about who owns the app and who uses it, but it doesn’t automatically remove the consent-screen requirement.
• In Google Cloud, you generally must configure an OAuth consent screen for any app that requests user authorization.
• If the app is:
  • Internal and your Google Workspace organization controls the users, you may only need an internal consent screen that’s limited to users in your org.
  • External, even if it’s your own company’s app, you typically need to set up the consent screen, and it may need verification depending on scopes and publishing status.

When you may not see a real consent prompt

You might not need a visible end-user consent flow if:

• The app uses service accounts only
• It’s a server-to-server integration without user data access
• You’re using domain-wide delegation in Workspace and admin consent is pre-authorized

Short version

• First-party app + OAuth user login/API access = consent screen usually required
• Internal Workspace app = consent screen still required, but limited to your org
• No user OAuth at all = consent screen may not be needed

If you want, I can tell you the exact rule for Google Cloud / Google OAuth versus Microsoft Entra / Azure, since the wording differs a bit.