diff --git a/server/middleware/validateFirebaseIdTokenLiteMiddleware.js b/server/middleware/validateFirebaseIdTokenLiteMiddleware.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 3da2d0871..000000000
--- a/server/middleware/validateFirebaseIdTokenLiteMiddleware.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
-const logger = require("../utils/logger");
-const admin = require("firebase-admin");
-
-/**
- * Lite Firebase ID token validator.
- * - Only accepts Authorization: Bearer <token>
- * - Sets req.user to the decoded token on success
- */
-const validateFirebaseIdTokenLite = async (req, res, next) => {
-  const authHeader = req.headers.authorization || "";
-  const match = authHeader.match(/^Bearer\s+(.+)$/i);
-
-  if (!match) {
-    logger.log("api-authorization-call", "warn", null, null, {
-      type: "unauthorized",
-      reason: "missing Bearer token",
-      path: req.path,
-      body: req.body
-    });
-    return res.status(401).send("Unauthorized");
-  }
-
-  const idToken = match[1].trim();
-
-  try {
-    const decodedIdToken = await admin.auth().verifyIdToken(idToken);
-    req.user = decodedIdToken;
-    return next();
-  } catch (error) {
-    logger.log("api-unauthorized-call", "warn", null, null, {
-      type: "unauthorized",
-      reason: "invalid or expired token",
-      path: req.path,
-      body: req.body,
-      code: error?.errorInfo?.code || error?.code,
-      message: error?.message
-    });
-    return res.status(401).send("Unauthorized");
-  }
-};
-
-module.exports = validateFirebaseIdTokenLite;
diff --git a/server/routes/renderRoutes.js b/server/routes/renderRoutes.js
index 5bf651a34..41b6cf6aa 100644
--- a/server/routes/renderRoutes.js
+++ b/server/routes/renderRoutes.js
@@ -1,14 +1,13 @@
 const express = require("express");
 const router = express.Router();
 const { inlineCSS } = require("../render/inlinecss");
-const validateFirebaseIdTokenLite = require("../middleware/validateFirebaseIdTokenLiteMiddleware");
+const validateFirebaseIdTokenMiddleware = require("../middleware/validateFirebaseIdTokenMiddleware");
 const { canvas } = require("../render/canvas-handler");
 const validateCanvasInputMiddleware = require("../middleware/validateCanvasInputMiddleware");
 
 // Define the route for inline CSS rendering
-router.post("/inlinecss", validateFirebaseIdTokenLite, inlineCSS);
-
-router.post("/canvas-skia", validateFirebaseIdTokenLite, validateCanvasInputMiddleware, canvas);
-router.post("/canvas", validateFirebaseIdTokenLite, validateCanvasInputMiddleware, canvas);
+router.post("/inlinecss", validateFirebaseIdTokenMiddleware, inlineCSS);
+router.post("/canvas-skia", validateFirebaseIdTokenMiddleware, validateCanvasInputMiddleware, canvas);
+router.post("/canvas", validateFirebaseIdTokenMiddleware, validateCanvasInputMiddleware, canvas);
 
 module.exports = router;