Configure SAML SSO for Users and Maintain OAuth for API Automation

What You Will Build

• This tutorial demonstrates how to decouple human user authentication (SAML Single Sign-On) from machine-to-machine API authentication (OAuth Client Credentials) in Genesys Cloud.
• You will configure a SAML Identity Provider for your organization while simultaneously provisioning a Service Account with specific OAuth scopes for backend integrations.
• The code examples use Python and the Genesys Cloud Python SDK to validate that API access remains functional and independent of the SAML configuration.

Prerequisites

• A Genesys Cloud organization with Admin privileges.
• A SAML Identity Provider (IdP) such as Okta, Azure AD, or OneLogin.
• Python 3.9+ installed.
• The genesyscloud SDK installed via pip.
• Basic understanding of OAuth 2.0 flows and SAML assertions.

Authentication Setup

Genesys Cloud supports two distinct authentication mechanisms that operate independently. It is a common misconception that enabling SAML SSO disables standard OAuth flows for applications. This is incorrect. SAML replaces the username/password login for humans in the web interface. OAuth Client Credentials grants are used for server-to-server communication.

To proceed, you must configure two separate entities:

1. SAML IdP Configuration: For human users.
2. Service Account: For API scripts.

Step 1: Configure the SAML Identity Provider

You must define the IdP metadata in Genesys Cloud. This does not affect API keys.

1. Log in to the Genesys Cloud Admin portal.
2. Navigate to Organization > Identity Providers.
3. Click Add Identity Provider.
4. Select SAML 2.0.
5. Enter the Entity ID from your IdP (e.g., https://idp.okta.com/...).
6. Upload the IdP Metadata XML or manually enter the SLO Endpoint, SSO Endpoint, and Signing Certificate.
7. Set the Default IDP flag if this is your primary login method.

At this stage, human users will be redirected to your IdP. However, no API keys are affected. Existing OAuth clients remain valid.

Step 2: Create a Service Account for API Access

To ensure programmatic access works regardless of SAML status, you must create a Service Account. Service Accounts are non-human identities that authenticate using OAuth Client Credentials.

1. In the Admin portal, navigate to Organization > Users.
2. Click Add User.
3. Select Service Account as the user type.
4. Name the account (e.g., api-automation-bot).
5. Assign the necessary roles (e.g., Administrator or custom roles with specific permissions).
6. Save the user.

Step 3: Generate OAuth Client Credentials

1. Navigate to Organization > API Keys (or OAuth Clients in newer UI versions).
2. Click Add Client.
3. Name the client (e.g., python-automation-client).
4. Select the Service Account created in Step 2 as the owner.
5. Set the Grant Type to client_credentials.
6. Define the Scopes. For this tutorial, we will use:
   • admin:organization:read
   • admin:user:read
   • conversation:search
7. Save the client.
8. Copy the Client ID and Client Secret.

These credentials are the only inputs required for the code below. The SAML configuration is irrelevant to this flow.

Implementation

Step 1: Install Dependencies and Initialize the SDK

Install the Genesys Cloud Python SDK. This SDK handles the OAuth token exchange internally when configured correctly.

pip install genesyscloud

Create a file named setup.py. This script will initialize the client using the Service Account credentials.

import os
import sys
from genesyscloud.platform_client_v2.client_configuration import ClientConfiguration
from genesyscloud.platform_client_v2.api_client import ApiClient
from genesyscloud.organization_api import OrganizationApi
from genesyscloud.user_api import UserApi

# Configuration constants
CLIENT_ID = os.getenv('GENESYS_CLIENT_ID')
CLIENT_SECRET = os.getenv('GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET')
BASE_URL = 'https://api.mypurecloud.com' # Use your environment URL

def get_api_client() -> ApiClient:
    """
    Initializes the Genesys Cloud ApiClient using Client Credentials flow.
    This flow is independent of SAML SSO configuration.
    """
    if not CLIENT_ID or not CLIENT_SECRET:
        raise ValueError("GENESYS_CLIENT_ID and GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET environment variables are required.")

    # Create configuration object
    config = ClientConfiguration(
        host=BASE_URL,
        client_id=CLIENT_ID,
        client_secret=CLIENT_SECRET
    )
    
    # The ApiClient handles OAuth token acquisition and refresh automatically
    # It uses the 'client_credentials' grant type by default when client_id/secret are provided
    api_client = ApiClient(config)
    
    return api_client

if __name__ == "__main__":
    try:
        client = get_api_client()
        print("API Client initialized successfully.")
        print(f"Base URL: {client.host}")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Failed to initialize client: {e}")
        sys.exit(1)

Step 2: Validate API Access

Verify that the Service Account can retrieve data. This proves that the SAML configuration for human users has not broken the OAuth flow for machines.

Add the following function to setup.py.

def validate_access(api_client: ApiClient):
    """
    Retrieves the organization details to validate permissions.
    Required Scope: admin:organization:read
    """
    org_api = OrganizationApi(api_client)
    
    try:
        # Fetch organization details
        response = org_api.get_organization()
        
        print("Organization Validation Successful:")
        print(f"Organization ID: {response.id}")
        print(f"Organization Name: {response.name}")
        print(f"Region: {response.region}")
        
        return True
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error retrieving organization: {e}")
        return False

Update the if __name__ == "__main__": block:

if __name__ == "__main__":
    try:
        client = get_api_client()
        print("API Client initialized successfully.")
        
        if validate_access(client):
            print("Connection validated.")
        else:
            print("Validation failed.")
            sys.exit(1)
            
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Critical error: {e}")
        sys.exit(1)

Run the script:

export GENESYS_CLIENT_ID="your_client_id"
export GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET="your_client_secret"
python setup.py

Expected Output:

API Client initialized successfully.
Organization Validation Successful:
Organization ID: 12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012
Organization Name: My Genesys Org
Region: us-east-1
Connection validated.

Step 3: Retrieve Users via API

Now, retrieve a list of users. This demonstrates that you can programmatically access user data, including those who log in via SAML, without needing SAML tokens.

Add this function to setup.py.

def list_users(api_client: ApiClient, limit: int = 25):
    """
    Retrieves a list of users.
    Required Scope: admin:user:read
    """
    user_api = UserApi(api_client)
    
    try:
        # Get users endpoint
        # Note: Pagination is handled via 'limit' and 'next_page' cursor
        response = user_api.post_users_query(
            body={
                "limit": limit,
                "order": ["name"]
            }
        )
        
        print(f"\nRetrieved {response.total} users (showing first {len(response.entities)}):")
        
        for user in response.entities:
            # Check if user is a service account or human
            user_type = "Service Account" if user.type == "service" else "Human"
            print(f" - ID: {user.id}, Name: {user.name}, Type: {user_type}")
            
        return response.entities
        
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error retrieving users: {e}")
        return []

Update the main block:

if __name__ == "__main__":
    try:
        client = get_api_client()
        print("API Client initialized successfully.")
        
        if validate_access(client):
            print("Connection validated.")
            list_users(client, limit=5)
        else:
            print("Validation failed.")
            sys.exit(1)
            
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Critical error: {e}")
        sys.exit(1)

Complete Working Example

Below is the complete, consolidated Python script. Save this as genesys_saml_oauth_demo.py.

import os
import sys
from genesyscloud.platform_client_v2.client_configuration import ClientConfiguration
from genesyscloud.platform_client_v2.api_client import ApiClient
from genesyscloud.organization_api import OrganizationApi
from genesyscloud.user_api import UserApi

# Configuration constants
# In production, use a secrets manager or environment variables
CLIENT_ID = os.getenv('GENESYS_CLIENT_ID')
CLIENT_SECRET = os.getenv('GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET')
BASE_URL = 'https://api.mypurecloud.com'

def get_api_client() -> ApiClient:
    """
    Initializes the Genesys Cloud ApiClient using Client Credentials flow.
    This flow is independent of SAML SSO configuration.
    """
    if not CLIENT_ID or not CLIENT_SECRET:
        raise ValueError("GENESYS_CLIENT_ID and GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET environment variables are required.")

    config = ClientConfiguration(
        host=BASE_URL,
        client_id=CLIENT_ID,
        client_secret=CLIENT_SECRET
    )
    
    # ApiClient handles OAuth token acquisition and refresh automatically
    api_client = ApiClient(config)
    
    return api_client

def validate_access(api_client: ApiClient) -> bool:
    """
    Retrieves the organization details to validate permissions.
    Required Scope: admin:organization:read
    """
    org_api = OrganizationApi(api_client)
    
    try:
        response = org_api.get_organization()
        
        print("Organization Validation Successful:")
        print(f"Organization ID: {response.id}")
        print(f"Organization Name: {response.name}")
        print(f"Region: {response.region}")
        
        return True
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error retrieving organization: {e}")
        return False

def list_users(api_client: ApiClient, limit: int = 25):
    """
    Retrieves a list of users.
    Required Scope: admin:user:read
    """
    user_api = UserApi(api_client)
    
    try:
        response = user_api.post_users_query(
            body={
                "limit": limit,
                "order": ["name"]
            }
        )
        
        print(f"\nRetrieved {response.total} users (showing first {len(response.entities)}):")
        
        for user in response.entities:
            user_type = "Service Account" if user.type == "service" else "Human"
            print(f" - ID: {user.id}, Name: {user.name}, Type: {user_type}")
            
        return response.entities
        
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error retrieving users: {e}")
        return []

if __name__ == "__main__":
    try:
        client = get_api_client()
        print("API Client initialized successfully.")
        
        if validate_access(client):
            print("Connection validated.")
            list_users(client, limit=5)
        else:
            print("Validation failed.")
            sys.exit(1)
            
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Critical error: {e}")
        sys.exit(1)

Common Errors & Debugging

Error: 401 Unauthorized

• Cause: The CLIENT_ID or CLIENT_SECRET is incorrect, or the OAuth client was deleted/disabled.
• Fix: Verify the credentials in the Genesys Cloud Admin portal under API Keys. Ensure the client is active.
• Code Check: Ensure environment variables are loaded correctly. Print CLIENT_ID to verify it is not empty.

Error: 403 Forbidden

• Cause: The OAuth client lacks the required scope. For example, calling get_organization requires admin:organization:read.
• Fix: Go to API Keys, edit the client, and add the missing scope. Note: Scope changes may take up to 5 minutes to propagate.
• Debugging: Check the error response body for insufficient_scope.

Error: 429 Too Many Requests

• Cause: You have exceeded the rate limit for your organization or specific endpoint.
• Fix: Implement exponential backoff. The Genesys Cloud SDK does not automatically retry 429s, so you must handle this in your application logic.
• Code Example:

  import time
  
  def safe_api_call(func, *args, **kwargs):
      retries = 3
      for i in range(retries):
          try:
              return func(*args, **kwargs)
          except Exception as e:
              if "429" in str(e) and i < retries - 1:
                  wait_time = 2 ** i
                  print(f"Rate limited. Waiting {wait_time} seconds...")
                  time.sleep(wait_time)
              else:
                  raise e
  

Error: SAML Login Redirect for API Calls

• Cause: This error should not occur if using client_credentials. If you see a redirect to a SAML login page in your logs, you are likely using a password grant type with a human user who is now SAML-only.
• Fix: Do not use password grant for automation. Always use client_credentials with a Service Account. The Service Account is not subject to SAML enforcement.

Official References

• Genesys Cloud API Documentation
• OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials Flow
• SAML SSO Configuration Guide
• Python SDK Reference