diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 2c03d65..a228984 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -21,16 +21,13 @@ func (t *LoggingHook) Run(e *zerolog.Event, level zerolog.Level, message string)
 	t.prompt.CleanAndRefreshForLogging()
 }
 
-func setupLogging() {
-	debug := flag.Bool("debug", false, "enable debug logging")
-	flag.Parse()
-
+func setupLogging(debug bool) {
 	// Pretty logging
 	log.Logger = log.Output(zerolog.ConsoleWriter{Out: os.Stderr})
 
 	// Default level for this example is info, unless debug flag is present
 	zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.InfoLevel)
-	if *debug {
+	if debug {
 		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.DebugLevel)
 	}
 }
@@ -47,12 +44,16 @@ func printWelcomeMessage() {
 }
 
 func main() {
-	setupLogging()
+	debugLogging := flag.Bool("debug", false, "enable debug logging")
+	authEnabled := flag.Bool("auth", false, "enable authentication")
+	flag.Parse()
+
+	setupLogging(*debugLogging)
 
 	printWelcomeMessage()
 
 	c := web.MockHTTPServerConfiguration{
-		AuthEnabled: false,
+		AuthEnabled: *authEnabled,
 	}
 
 	addr := ":5738"
diff --git a/web/server.go b/web/server.go
index 7b5619f..92988aa 100644
--- a/web/server.go
+++ b/web/server.go
@@ -62,14 +62,26 @@ func (m *MockHTTPServer) checkAuthentication(r *http.Request) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (m *MockHTTPServer) requireAuthentication(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) bool {
+	if !m.authEnabled {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	if err := m.checkAuthentication(r); err != nil {
+		log.Error().Err(err).Msg("Error checking authentication")
+		http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusUnauthorized)
+		return false
+	}
+
+	return true
+}
+
 func (m *MockHTTPServer) handleVersion(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s", m.Server.Version())
 }
 
 func (m *MockHTTPServer) handleStatus(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-	if err := m.checkAuthentication(r); err != nil {
-		log.Error().Err(err).Msg("Status: Error checking authentication")
-		http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusUnauthorized)
+	if !m.requireAuthentication(w, r) {
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -77,6 +89,10 @@ func (m *MockHTTPServer) handleStatus(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 }
 
 func (m *MockHTTPServer) handleConversations(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	if !m.requireAuthentication(w, r) {
+		return
+	}
+
 	convos := m.Server.Conversations()
 
 	// Encode convos as JSON
@@ -93,6 +109,10 @@ func (m *MockHTTPServer) handleConversations(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Requ
 }
 
 func (m *MockHTTPServer) handleMessages(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	if !m.requireAuthentication(w, r) {
+		return
+	}
+
 	guid := r.URL.Query().Get("guid")
 	if len(guid) == 0 {
 		log.Error().Msg("handleMessage: Got empty guid parameter")
@@ -196,6 +216,10 @@ func (m *MockHTTPServer) handleNotFound(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request)
 }
 
 func (m *MockHTTPServer) handleSendMessage(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	if !m.requireAuthentication(w, r) {
+		return
+	}
+
 	// Decode request body as SendMessageRequest
 	var sendMessageReq SendMessageRequest
 	err := json.NewDecoder(r.Body).Decode(&sendMessageReq)
@@ -243,6 +267,10 @@ func (m *MockHTTPServer) handleSendMessage(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Reques
 }
 
 func (m *MockHTTPServer) handlePollUpdates(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	if !m.requireAuthentication(w, r) {
+		return
+	}
+
 	// TODO: This should block if we don't have updates for that seq yet.
 
 	seq := -1
@@ -280,6 +308,10 @@ func (m *MockHTTPServer) handlePollUpdates(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Reques
 }
 
 func (m *MockHTTPServer) handleMarkConversation(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	if !m.requireAuthentication(w, r) {
+		return
+	}
+
 	guid := r.URL.Query().Get("guid")
 	if len(guid) == 0 {
 		log.Error().Msg("handleMarkConversation: Got empty guid parameter")