diff --git a/jupyter_server/services/auth/authorizer.py b/jupyter_server/services/auth/authorizer.py
index 1b16629856..85738e4088 100644
--- a/jupyter_server/services/auth/authorizer.py
+++ b/jupyter_server/services/auth/authorizer.py
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
 """
 # Copyright (c) Jupyter Development Team.
 # Distributed under the terms of the Modified BSD License.
+from typing import Any
+from typing import Dict
+
 from traitlets.config import LoggingConfigurable
 
 from jupyter_server.base.handlers import JupyterHandler
@@ -49,6 +52,35 @@ def is_authorized(self, handler: JupyterHandler, user: str, action: str, resourc
         """
         raise NotImplementedError()
 
+    def user_model(self, user: Any) -> Dict:
+        """Construct standardized user model for the identity API
+
+        Casts accepted `.current_user` structure (generally str username or dict with 'username' or 'name')
+        """
+        user_model = {}
+        if isinstance(user, str):
+            user_model["username"] = user
+            return {
+                "username": user,
+                "given_name": None,
+            }
+        elif isinstance(user, dict):
+            user_model = {}
+            # username may be in 'username' field or 'name' (e.g. JupyterHub)
+            for key in ("username", "name"):
+                if key in user:
+                    user_model["username"] = user[key]
+                    break
+            if "given_name" in user:
+                user_model["given_name"] = user["given_name"]
+        # handle other types, e.g. `.user`? Subclasses can handle these.
+        if "username" not in user_model:
+            self.log.warning("Unable to find username in current_user")
+            self.log.debug("Unknown to find username in current_user: %s", user)
+            user_model["username"] = "unknown"
+        user_model.setdefault("given_name", None)
+        return user_model
+
 
 class AllowAllAuthorizer(Authorizer):
     """A no-op implementation of the Authorizer
diff --git a/jupyter_server/services/auth/handlers.py b/jupyter_server/services/auth/handlers.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e3a03fef9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jupyter_server/services/auth/handlers.py
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+"""Handlers related to authorization
+
+"""
+import json
+import sys
+from typing import Dict
+from typing import List
+from typing import Optional
+
+if sys.version_info >= (3, 8):
+    from typing import TypedDict
+else:
+    try:
+        from typing_extensions import TypedDict
+    except ImportError:
+        TypedDict = Dict
+
+from tornado import web
+
+from ...base.handlers import APIHandler
+
+
+class IdentityModel(TypedDict):
+    username: str
+    given_name: Optional[str]
+    permissions: Dict[str, List[str]]
+
+
+class IdentityHandler(APIHandler):
+    """Get the current user's identity model"""
+
+    @web.authenticated
+    def get(self):
+        resources: List[str] = self.get_argument("resources") or []
+        actions: List[str] = self.get_argument("actions") or [
+            "read",
+            "write",
+            "execute",
+        ]
+        permissions: Dict[str, List[str]] = {}
+        user = self.current_user
+        for resource in resources:
+            allowed = permissions[resource] = []
+            for action in actions:
+                if self.authorizer.is_authorized(self, user=user, resource=resource, action=action):
+                    allowed.append(action)
+        user_model: IdentityModel = dict(
+            permissions=permissions,
+            **self.authorizer.user_model(user),
+        )
+        self.write(json.dumps(user_model))
+
+
+default_handlers = [
+    (r"/api/me", IdentityHandler),
+]
diff --git a/jupyter_server/tests/services/auth/test_authorizer.py b/jupyter_server/tests/services/auth/test_authorizer.py
index e2a1ec8e63..612a02d444 100644
--- a/jupyter_server/tests/services/auth/test_authorizer.py
+++ b/jupyter_server/tests/services/auth/test_authorizer.py
@@ -275,3 +275,37 @@ async def test_authorized_requests(
 
     code = await send_request(url, body=body, method=method)
     assert code in expected_codes
+
+
+class CustomUser:
+    def __init__(self, name):
+        self.name = name
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "user, expected",
+    [
+        ("str-name", {"username": "str-name", "given_name": None}),
+        ({"name": "user.name"}, {"username": "user.name", "given_name": None}),
+        (
+            {"username": "user.username"},
+            {"username": "user.username", "given_name": None},
+        ),
+        (
+            {"name": "user.name", "username": "user.username"},
+            {"username": "user.username", "given_name": None},
+        ),
+        (
+            {"username": "user.username", "given_name": "given"},
+            {"username": "user.username", "given_name": "given"},
+        ),
+        (
+            {"username": "user.username", "given_name": "given"},
+            {"username": "user.username", "given_name": "given"},
+        ),
+        (CustomUser("custom_name"), {"username": "unknown", "given_name": None}),
+    ],
+)
+def test_user_model(user, expected):
+    authorizer = AuthorizerforTesting()
+    assert authorizer.user_model(user) == expected