diff --git a/.changeset/itchy-kiwis-warn.md b/.changeset/itchy-kiwis-warn.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d2af94d0ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/itchy-kiwis-warn.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/create-app': patch
+---
+
+Adds IdentityApi configuration to create-app scaffolding templates.
diff --git a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/package.json.hbs b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/package.json.hbs
index 3bd070ee9b..2ee46723e6 100644
--- a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/package.json.hbs
+++ b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/package.json.hbs
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
     "@backstage/config": "^{{version '@backstage/config'}}",
     "@backstage/plugin-app-backend": "^{{version '@backstage/plugin-app-backend'}}",
     "@backstage/plugin-auth-backend": "^{{version '@backstage/plugin-auth-backend'}}",
+    "@backstage/plugin-auth-node": "^{{version '@backstage/plugin-auth-node'}}",
     "@backstage/plugin-catalog-backend": "^{{version '@backstage/plugin-catalog-backend'}}",
     "@backstage/plugin-permission-common": "^{{version '@backstage/plugin-permission-common'}}",
     "@backstage/plugin-permission-node": "^{{version '@backstage/plugin-permission-node'}}",
diff --git a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/src/index.ts b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/src/index.ts
index 70bc66bcdd..40cfbe62f1 100644
--- a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/src/index.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import techdocs from './plugins/techdocs';
 import search from './plugins/search';
 import { PluginEnvironment } from './types';
 import { ServerPermissionClient } from '@backstage/plugin-permission-node';
+import {DefaultIdentityClient} from "../../../../../../../dist-types/plugins/auth-node/src";
 
 function makeCreateEnv(config: Config) {
   const root = getRootLogger();
@@ -39,6 +40,13 @@ function makeCreateEnv(config: Config) {
   const databaseManager = DatabaseManager.fromConfig(config);
   const tokenManager = ServerTokenManager.noop();
   const taskScheduler = TaskScheduler.fromConfig(config);
+
+  const identity = DefaultIdentityClient.create({
+    discovery,
+    issuer: undefined,
+    algorithms: undefined,
+  });
+
   const permissions = ServerPermissionClient.fromConfig(config, {
     discovery,
     tokenManager,
@@ -61,6 +69,7 @@ function makeCreateEnv(config: Config) {
       tokenManager,
       scheduler,
       permissions,
+      identity,
     };
   };
 }
diff --git a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/src/plugins/scaffolder.ts b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/src/plugins/scaffolder.ts
index 7ce5fcf31a..77e1e94a66 100644
--- a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/src/plugins/scaffolder.ts
+++ b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/src/plugins/scaffolder.ts
@@ -16,5 +16,6 @@ export default async function createPlugin(
     database: env.database,
     reader: env.reader,
     catalogClient,
+    identity: env.identity
   });
 }
diff --git a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/src/types.ts b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/src/types.ts
index 8e0a86404b..9db9adadf0 100644
--- a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/src/types.ts
+++ b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/src/types.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import {
 } from '@backstage/backend-common';
 import { PluginTaskScheduler } from '@backstage/backend-tasks';
 import { PermissionEvaluator } from '@backstage/plugin-permission-common';
+import { IdentityApi } from "@backstage/plugin-auth-node";
 
 export type PluginEnvironment = {
   logger: Logger;
@@ -20,4 +21,5 @@ export type PluginEnvironment = {
   tokenManager: TokenManager;
   scheduler: PluginTaskScheduler;
   permissions: PermissionEvaluator;
+  identity: IdentityApi;
 };