diff --git a/ansible/templates/alertad.conf b/ansible/templates/alertad.conf
index c43df2c..c116d8e 100644
--- a/ansible/templates/alertad.conf
+++ b/ansible/templates/alertad.conf
@@ -11,7 +11,11 @@ ALLOWED_ENVIRONMENTS = [
 BASE_URL = "/api"
 USE_PROXYFIX = True
 
-AUTH_REQUIRED = True
+# Note(decentral1se): on initial deployment, this must be set to False but on
+# subsequent deployments, we can then turn it to True once the Keycloak
+# integration has been configured and API keys have been setup
+AUTH_REQUIRED = False
+
 AUTH_PROVIDER = "keycloak"
 
 ADMIN_USERS = [