diff --git a/examples/react-graphql/client/src/index.tsx b/examples/react-graphql/client/src/index.tsx
index f7c1f7435..3f71d2b5d 100644
--- a/examples/react-graphql/client/src/index.tsx
+++ b/examples/react-graphql/client/src/index.tsx
@@ -5,7 +5,20 @@ import ApolloClient from 'apollo-boost'
 import { ApolloProvider } from 'react-apollo'
 import * as serviceWorker from './serviceWorker'
 
-const client = new ApolloClient({ uri: 'http://localhost:4000/' })
+const client = new ApolloClient({
+  uri: 'http://localhost:4000/',
+
+  // Authorization is out of scope for this example,
+  // but this is where you could add your auth logic
+  request: operation => {
+    const token = 'hardcoded-example-token'
+    operation.setContext({
+      headers: {
+        authorization: token ? `Bearer ${token}` : '',
+      },
+    })
+  },
+})
 
 ReactDOM.render(
   <ApolloProvider client={client}>
diff --git a/examples/react-graphql/server/index.ts b/examples/react-graphql/server/index.ts
index fe51df63f..3bbd1ec01 100644
--- a/examples/react-graphql/server/index.ts
+++ b/examples/react-graphql/server/index.ts
@@ -61,7 +61,16 @@ const server = new ApolloServer({
     W3c.Gql.resolvers,
     SD.Gql.resolvers,
   ),
-  context: () => ({ core, dataStore }),
+  context: ({ req }) => {
+    // Authorization is out of scope for this example,
+    // but this is where you could add your auth logic
+    const token = req.headers.authorization || ''
+    if (token !== 'Bearer hardcoded-example-token') {
+      throw Error('Auth error')
+    }
+
+    return { core, dataStore }
+  },
   introspection: true,
 })