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# AuthorizationEngineRef

Handle passed from the authorization engine to an instance of a mechanism in a plug-in.

```
typedef struct __OpaqueAuthorizationEngine * AuthorizationEngineRef;
```

## Discussion

The authorization engine passes one of these opaque handles to your plug-in when it calls your [`MechanismCreate`](/documentation/Security/AuthorizationPluginInterface/MechanismCreate) function. Your mechanism must pass this handle back to the authorization engine when you call one of the engine’s callback functions, as defined in the [`AuthorizationCallbacks`](/documentation/Security/AuthorizationCallbacks) structure.

---

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