diff --git a/gen/go/headscale/v1/user.pb.go b/gen/go/headscale/v1/user.pb.go
index 5f05d084..c1268e26 100644
--- a/gen/go/headscale/v1/user.pb.go
+++ b/gen/go/headscale/v1/user.pb.go
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ type User struct {
 	ProviderId    string                 `protobuf:"bytes,6,opt,name=provider_id,json=providerId,proto3" json:"provider_id,omitempty"`
 	Provider      string                 `protobuf:"bytes,7,opt,name=provider,proto3" json:"provider,omitempty"`
 	ProfilePicUrl string                 `protobuf:"bytes,8,opt,name=profile_pic_url,json=profilePicUrl,proto3" json:"profile_pic_url,omitempty"`
+	// OIDC group memberships extracted from the identity provider's
+	// `groups` claim at login. Populated by hscontrol/types.User.FromClaim.
+	// External tools (Headplane, automation) use this for role-based access.
+	Groups        []string `protobuf:"bytes,9,rep,name=groups,proto3" json:"groups,omitempty"`
 	unknownFields protoimpl.UnknownFields
 	sizeCache     protoimpl.SizeCache
 }
@@ -122,6 +126,13 @@ func (x *User) GetProfilePicUrl() string {
 	return ""
 }
 
+func (x *User) GetGroups() []string {
+	if x != nil {
+		return x.Groups
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 type CreateUserRequest struct {
 	state         protoimpl.MessageState `protogen:"open.v1"`
 	Name          string                 `protobuf:"bytes,1,opt,name=name,proto3" json:"name,omitempty"`
@@ -518,7 +529,7 @@ var File_headscale_v1_user_proto protoreflect.FileDescriptor
 
 const file_headscale_v1_user_proto_rawDesc = "" +
 	"\n" +
-	"\x17headscale/v1/user.proto\x12\fheadscale.v1\x1a\x1fgoogle/protobuf/timestamp.proto\"\x83\x02\n" +
+	"\x17headscale/v1/user.proto\x12\fheadscale.v1\x1a\x1fgoogle/protobuf/timestamp.proto\"\x9b\x02\n" +
 	"\x04User\x12\x0e\n" +
 	"\x02id\x18\x01 \x01(\x04R\x02id\x12\x12\n" +
 	"\x04name\x18\x02 \x01(\tR\x04name\x129\n" +
@@ -529,7 +540,8 @@ const file_headscale_v1_user_proto_rawDesc = "" +
 	"\vprovider_id\x18\x06 \x01(\tR\n" +
 	"providerId\x12\x1a\n" +
 	"\bprovider\x18\a \x01(\tR\bprovider\x12&\n" +
-	"\x0fprofile_pic_url\x18\b \x01(\tR\rprofilePicUrl\"\x81\x01\n" +
+	"\x0fprofile_pic_url\x18\b \x01(\tR\rprofilePicUrl\x12\x16\n" +
+	"\x06groups\x18\t \x03(\tR\x06groups\"\x81\x01\n" +
 	"\x11CreateUserRequest\x12\x12\n" +
 	"\x04name\x18\x01 \x01(\tR\x04name\x12!\n" +
 	"\fdisplay_name\x18\x02 \x01(\tR\vdisplayName\x12\x14\n" +
diff --git a/gen/openapiv2/headscale/v1/headscale.swagger.json b/gen/openapiv2/headscale/v1/headscale.swagger.json
index 545cf0b5..99480845 100644
--- a/gen/openapiv2/headscale/v1/headscale.swagger.json
+++ b/gen/openapiv2/headscale/v1/headscale.swagger.json
@@ -1528,6 +1528,13 @@
         },
         "profilePicUrl": {
           "type": "string"
+        },
+        "groups": {
+          "type": "array",
+          "items": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "description": "OIDC group memberships extracted from the identity provider's\n`groups` claim at login. Populated by hscontrol/types.User.FromClaim.\nExternal tools (Headplane, automation) use this for role-based access."
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/hscontrol/types/users.go b/hscontrol/types/users.go
index f2ab85b1..b2455a67 100644
--- a/hscontrol/types/users.go
+++ b/hscontrol/types/users.go
@@ -243,6 +243,7 @@ func (u *User) Proto() *v1.User {
 		ProviderId:    u.ProviderIdentifier.String,
 		Provider:      u.Provider,
 		ProfilePicUrl: u.ProfilePicURL,
+		Groups:        u.GetGroups(),
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/integration/oidc_groups_test.go b/integration/oidc_groups_test.go
index af7e572f..1695dac8 100644
--- a/integration/oidc_groups_test.go
+++ b/integration/oidc_groups_test.go
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
 package integration
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"sort"
-	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
+	v1 "github.com/juanfont/headscale/gen/go/headscale/v1"
 	"github.com/juanfont/headscale/integration/hsic"
 	"github.com/oauth2-proxy/mockoidc"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -13,30 +12,27 @@ import (
 )
 
 // TestOIDCGroupsPersisted verifies that the `groups` claim from an OIDC
-// provider is persisted into the users.groups column after the user logs in.
+// provider is persisted on the user and exposed through the gRPC API.
 //
-// The implementation under test:
-//   - User.Groups column (TEXT, JSON-encoded []string) added by migration
-//     202505141323 in hscontrol/db/db.go.
-//   - User.SetGroups / User.GetGroups in hscontrol/types/users.go.
-//   - FromClaim() calls SetGroups(claims.Groups) so login populates the column.
-//   - OIDCClaims.Groups is FlexibleStringSlice so providers like JumpCloud
-//     that return a single string instead of a one-element array also work.
-//
-// Verification is done by reading the SQLite database inside the headscale
-// container directly, because the gRPC User message does not currently
-// expose Groups. Adding groups to the gRPC API is a separate, larger change.
+// Implementation under test:
+//   - users.groups TEXT column added by migration 202505141323.
+//   - hscontrol/types.User.SetGroups / GetGroups round-trip via JSON.
+//   - FromClaim calls SetGroups(claims.Groups) so login populates the
+//     column. OIDCClaims.Groups is FlexibleStringSlice, so providers like
+//     JumpCloud that return a single string instead of an array also work.
+//   - v1.User.Groups (proto field 9) is populated by User.Proto() so
+//     external tools (Headplane) can read group membership over gRPC.
 func TestOIDCGroupsPersisted(t *testing.T) {
 	IntegrationSkip(t)
 
-	// mockoidc serves logins in strict queue order, so keep NodesPerUser=1.
+	// mockoidc serves logins from a strict queue, so keep NodesPerUser=1.
 	spec := ScenarioSpec{
 		NodesPerUser: 1,
 		Users:        []string{"admin", "dev", "solo"},
 		OIDCUsers: []mockoidc.MockUser{
 			oidcMockUserWithGroups("admin", true, []string{"admins", "engineering"}),
 			oidcMockUserWithGroups("dev", true, []string{"engineering"}),
-			// User with empty groups — must round-trip as no Groups stored.
+			// User with empty groups — round-trips as no Groups.
 			oidcMockUserWithGroups("solo", true, nil),
 		},
 	}
@@ -50,7 +46,7 @@ func TestOIDCGroupsPersisted(t *testing.T) {
 		"HEADSCALE_OIDC_CLIENT_ID":          scenario.mockOIDC.ClientID(),
 		"CREDENTIALS_DIRECTORY_TEST":        "/tmp",
 		"HEADSCALE_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET_PATH": "${CREDENTIALS_DIRECTORY_TEST}/hs_client_oidc_secret",
-		// Make sure the OIDC scope set includes "groups" so the IdP emits the claim.
+		// Make sure the OIDC scope set includes "groups" so mockoidc emits the claim.
 		"HEADSCALE_OIDC_SCOPE": "openid,profile,email,groups",
 	}
 
@@ -71,17 +67,10 @@ func TestOIDCGroupsPersisted(t *testing.T) {
 	headscale, err := scenario.Headscale()
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	// Query the SQLite database inside the headscale container for the groups
-	// column. CLI/gRPC do not expose it yet; this is the authoritative store.
-	const dbPath = "/tmp/integration_test_db.sqlite3"
-	out, err := headscale.Execute([]string{
-		"sqlite3", dbPath,
-		"-cmd", ".mode tabs",
-		"SELECT name, COALESCE(groups, '') FROM users WHERE provider = 'oidc' ORDER BY name;",
-	})
-	require.NoError(t, err, "querying users.groups from sqlite")
+	users, err := headscale.ListUsers()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	got := parseGroupsRows(t, out)
+	got := groupsByOIDCUserName(users)
 
 	want := map[string][]string{
 		"admin": {"admins", "engineering"},
@@ -91,40 +80,28 @@ func TestOIDCGroupsPersisted(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for name, wantGroups := range want {
 		gotGroups, ok := got[name]
-		assert.True(t, ok, "user %q not present in users table", name)
-		assert.ElementsMatch(t, wantGroups, gotGroups,
-			"groups mismatch for user %q (raw rows: %q)", name, out)
+		assert.True(t, ok, "OIDC user %q not present in ListUsers response", name)
+		assert.ElementsMatch(t, wantGroups, gotGroups, "groups mismatch for user %q", name)
 	}
 }
 
-// parseGroupsRows parses the tab-separated output of:
-//
-//	SELECT name, COALESCE(groups, '') FROM users ...
-//
-// Returns a map of username -> decoded groups slice. An empty groups column
-// (stored as "" by SetGroups when the input slice is empty) decodes to nil.
-func parseGroupsRows(t *testing.T, raw string) map[string][]string {
-	t.Helper()
-	rows := map[string][]string{}
-	for _, line := range strings.Split(strings.TrimSpace(raw), "\n") {
-		if line == "" {
+// groupsByOIDCUserName picks out OIDC users from a ListUsers response and
+// returns a map of username -> sorted groups. CLI-created users (no provider)
+// are filtered out so the assertions don't need to know about them.
+func groupsByOIDCUserName(users []*v1.User) map[string][]string {
+	out := map[string][]string{}
+	for _, u := range users {
+		if u.GetProvider() != "oidc" {
 			continue
 		}
-		parts := strings.SplitN(line, "\t", 2)
-		require.Len(t, parts, 2, "unexpected sqlite row format: %q", line)
-		name, groupsJSON := parts[0], parts[1]
-
-		if groupsJSON == "" {
-			rows[name] = nil
-			continue
+		g := append([]string(nil), u.GetGroups()...)
+		sort.Strings(g)
+		if len(g) == 0 {
+			g = nil
 		}
-		var gs []string
-		require.NoError(t, json.Unmarshal([]byte(groupsJSON), &gs),
-			"groups column for %q is not valid JSON: %q", name, groupsJSON)
-		sort.Strings(gs)
-		rows[name] = gs
+		out[u.GetName()] = g
 	}
-	return rows
+	return out
 }
 
 // oidcMockUserWithGroups extends [oidcMockUser] with a Groups claim.
diff --git a/proto/headscale/v1/user.proto b/proto/headscale/v1/user.proto
index bd71bcb1..a20587fe 100644
--- a/proto/headscale/v1/user.proto
+++ b/proto/headscale/v1/user.proto
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ message User {
   string provider_id = 6;
   string provider = 7;
   string profile_pic_url = 8;
+  // OIDC group memberships extracted from the identity provider's
+  // `groups` claim at login. Populated by hscontrol/types.User.FromClaim.
+  // External tools (Headplane, automation) use this for role-based access.
+  repeated string groups = 9;
 }
 
 message CreateUserRequest {