Configure SAML SSO While Preserving OAuth Client Credentials for API Access

How-To-Articles
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Configure SAML SSO While Preserving OAuth Client Credentials for API Access

What You Will Build

  • A configuration workflow that enables SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) for human users while maintaining a separate OAuth Client Credentials flow for server-to-server API automation.
  • This tutorial uses the Genesys Cloud CX Admin API for identity provider configuration and the standard OAuth 2.0 token endpoint for programmatic access.
  • The implementation covers Python for configuration management and Bash/cURL for validating the independent OAuth flow.

Prerequisites

  • Genesys Cloud Org Admin permissions in the Genesys Cloud Admin console.
  • OAuth Client ID and Client Secret for a Service Account or API Key.
  • SAML Identity Provider (IdP) metadata XML or endpoint URLs (e.g., Okta, Azure AD, OneLogin).
  • Python 3.8+ with the requests library installed (pip install requests).
  • cURL installed for manual OAuth validation.

Authentication Setup

To configure SAML, you must authenticate using a human user account that has Organization Admin rights. You cannot configure SAML via a service account token. To validate that programmatic access remains unaffected, you will use a separate OAuth Client Credentials grant.

Step 1: Authenticate as an Admin User (SAML Configuration)

Use the standard Resource Owner Password Credentials grant or Authorization Code flow to obtain a token for an admin user. For automation scripts, the password grant is often simpler if MFA is disabled for the script user or if you are using an app password.

import requests
import json

# Configuration
ORG_DOMAIN = "your-org-name.mypurecloud.com"
ADMIN_USERNAME = "admin@your-domain.com"
ADMIN_PASSWORD = "your-app-password"  # Use an app password if MFA is enabled

# OAuth Token Endpoint
TOKEN_URL = f"https://{ORG_DOMAIN}/oauth/token"

def get_admin_token(username: str, password: str) -> str:
    """
    Authenticates an admin user to retrieve an access token for API calls.
    """
    headers = {
        "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
    }
    data = {
        "grant_type": "password",
        "username": username,
        "password": password,
        "scope": "admin:identityprovider:write admin:identityprovider:read"
    }

    response = requests.post(TOKEN_URL, headers=headers, data=data)
    
    if response.status_code != 200:
        raise Exception(f"Authentication failed: {response.status_code} - {response.text}")
    
    return response.json()["access_token"]

try:
    admin_token = get_admin_token(ADMIN_USERNAME, ADMIN_PASSWORD)
    print("Admin token acquired successfully.")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Error: {e}")
    exit(1)

Step 2: Validate Programmatic OAuth (Client Credentials)

Before modifying SAML settings, verify that your existing OAuth Client (used by bots, integrations, or backend services) works independently. This proves that the SAML change will not break this flow.

# Replace these values with your actual Service Account credentials
CLIENT_ID="your-client-id"
CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"
ORG_DOMAIN="your-org-name.mypurecloud.com"

curl -X POST "https://${ORG_DOMAIN}/oauth/token" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
  -d "grant_type=client_credentials&client_id=${CLIENT_ID}&client_secret=${CLIENT_SECRET}&scope=analytics:conversations:read"

Expected Response:

{
  "access_token": "eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...",
  "token_type": "bearer",
  "expires_in": 3600,
  "scope": "analytics:conversations:read"
}

If this fails, resolve the OAuth Client permissions before proceeding. SAML configuration does not affect Client Credentials grants, but it is critical to confirm baseline connectivity.

Implementation

Step 1: Retrieve Existing Identity Providers

Before adding a new SAML provider, list existing providers to avoid conflicts. This step uses the Admin API to fetch the current state.

Endpoint: GET /api/v2/identity/providers
Scope: admin:identityprovider:read

import requests

# Reuse the admin_token from the previous step
HEADERS = {
    "Authorization": f"Bearer {admin_token}",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

def list_identity_providers(org_domain: str) -> list:
    """
    Fetches all configured identity providers for the organization.
    """
    url = f"https://{org_domain}/api/v2/identity/providers"
    response = requests.get(url, headers=HEADERS)
    
    if response.status_code == 401:
        raise Exception("Unauthorized: Token may be expired or invalid.")
    elif response.status_code == 403:
        raise Exception("Forbidden: User lacks 'admin:identityprovider:read' scope.")
    elif response.status_code != 200:
        raise Exception(f"API Error: {response.status_code} - {response.text}")
    
    return response.json()

providers = list_identity_providers(ORG_DOMAIN)
print(f"Found {len(providers['entities'])} identity providers.")
for provider in providers['entities']:
    print(f"ID: {provider['id']}, Type: {provider['type']}, Active: {provider['active']}")

Expected Response Structure:

{
  "pageSize": 25,
  "pageCount": 1,
  "pageNumber": 1,
  "total": 1,
  "entities": [
    {
      "id": "purecloud",
      "type": "PURECLOUD",
      "name": "PureCloud",
      "active": true,
      "config": {}
    }
  ]
}

Step 2: Configure SAML Identity Provider

Create a new SAML provider. You must provide the IdP metadata URL or the specific SSO URL, Certificate, and Entity ID. Genesys Cloud supports both metadata upload and manual entry. This example uses manual entry for precision.

Endpoint: POST /api/v2/identity/providers
Scope: admin:identityprovider:write

Required Fields:

  • type: Must be SAML.
  • name: A unique name for the provider (e.g., “Okta SSO”).
  • config: Contains SAML-specific settings.
    • ssoUrl: The SSO endpoint from your IdP.
    • certificate: The X.509 certificate from your IdP.
    • entityId: The Entity ID from your IdP.
    • acsUrl: The Assertion Consumer Service URL. Genesys Cloud provides this. It is typically https://{org-domain}/saml/acs.
    • userNameAttribute: The attribute in the SAML assertion that maps to the user’s email (usually http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/emailaddress or NameID).
def create_saml_provider(org_domain: str, provider_name: str, sso_url: str, certificate: str, entity_id: str) -> dict:
    """
    Creates a new SAML Identity Provider in Genesys Cloud.
    """
    url = f"https://{org_domain}/api/v2/identity/providers"
    
    # The ACS URL is fixed for Genesys Cloud
    acs_url = f"https://{org_domain}/saml/acs"
    
    payload = {
        "type": "SAML",
        "name": provider_name,
        "active": True,
        "config": {
            "ssoUrl": sso_url,
            "certificate": certificate,
            "entityId": entity_id,
            "acsUrl": acs_url,
            "userNameAttribute": "http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/emailaddress",
            "signOnMethod": "REDIRECT",
            "signResponse": True,
            "signAssertion": True
        }
    }
    
    response = requests.post(url, headers=HEADERS, json=payload)
    
    if response.status_code == 201:
        print("SAML Provider created successfully.")
        return response.json()
    elif response.status_code == 400:
        print(f"Bad Request: {response.text}")
        raise Exception("Invalid payload or configuration error.")
    elif response.status_code == 409:
        print(f"Conflict: A provider with this name or ID already exists.")
        raise Exception("Duplicate provider.")
    else:
        raise Exception(f"API Error: {response.status_code} - {response.text}")

# Example Usage (Uncomment to run)
# SSO_URL = "https://your-idp.okta.com/app/your-app-id/sso/saml"
# CERT = "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIID...base64encoded...\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----"
# ENTITY_ID = "0oa123456abcdef"
# 
# new_provider = create_saml_provider(
#     ORG_DOMAIN, 
#     "Okta SSO", 
#     SSO_URL, 
#     CERT, 
#     ENTITY_ID
# )

Step 3: Verify Provider Activation

After creation, verify the provider is active. If the certificate is invalid or the metadata does not match, the provider may be created but fail during the SAML handshake.

def verify_provider(org_domain: str, provider_id: str) -> dict:
    """
    Retrieves a specific provider by ID to check its status.
    """
    url = f"https://{org_domain}/api/v2/identity/providers/{provider_id}"
    response = requests.get(url, headers=HEADERS)
    
    if response.status_code != 200:
        raise Exception(f"Failed to fetch provider: {response.status_code}")
    
    provider = response.json()
    print(f"Provider '{provider['name']}' is active: {provider['active']}")
    return provider

Complete Working Example

This script combines authentication, provider listing, and creation into a single executable module.

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Genesys Cloud SAML SSO Configuration Script
Ensures SAML is set up for humans while preserving OAuth for machines.
"""

import requests
import sys
import os

# Configuration Constants
ORG_DOMAIN = "your-org-name.mypurecloud.com"
ADMIN_USERNAME = "admin@your-domain.com"
ADMIN_PASSWORD = os.getenv("GENESYS_ADMIN_PASSWORD")

# SAML Configuration from IdP
SAML_PROVIDER_NAME = "Corporate Okta SSO"
SAML_SSO_URL = "https://your-idp.okta.com/app/your-app-id/sso/saml"
SAML_CERTIFICATE = """-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIDXTCCAkWgAwIBAgIJAJC1HiIAZAiUMA0Gcm9AQEFBQAwPT...
(Replace with actual certificate content)
-----END CERTIFICATE-----"""
SAML_ENTITY_ID = "0oa123456abcdef"

def get_admin_token() -> str:
    token_url = f"https://{ORG_DOMAIN}/oauth/token"
    data = {
        "grant_type": "password",
        "username": ADMIN_USERNAME,
        "password": ADMIN_PASSWORD,
        "scope": "admin:identityprovider:write admin:identityprovider:read"
    }
    response = requests.post(token_url, data=data)
    response.raise_for_status()
    return response.json()["access_token"]

def check_existing_providers(token: str) -> list:
    url = f"https://{ORG_DOMAIN}/api/v2/identity/providers"
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {token}"}
    response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
    response.raise_for_status()
    return response.json()["entities"]

def create_saml_provider(token: str) -> dict:
    url = f"https://{ORG_DOMAIN}/api/v2/identity/providers"
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {token}", "Content-Type": "application/json"}
    
    payload = {
        "type": "SAML",
        "name": SAML_PROVIDER_NAME,
        "active": True,
        "config": {
            "ssoUrl": SAML_SSO_URL,
            "certificate": SAML_CERTIFICATE,
            "entityId": SAML_ENTITY_ID,
            "acsUrl": f"https://{ORG_DOMAIN}/saml/acs",
            "userNameAttribute": "http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/emailaddress",
            "signOnMethod": "REDIRECT",
            "signResponse": True,
            "signAssertion": True
        }
    }
    
    response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=payload)
    
    if response.status_code == 201:
        print("SAML Provider created successfully.")
        return response.json()
    elif response.status_code == 409:
        print("Provider already exists. Skipping creation.")
        return None
    else:
        response.raise_for_status()

def main():
    if not ADMIN_PASSWORD:
        print("Error: GENESYS_ADMIN_PASSWORD environment variable not set.")
        sys.exit(1)

    try:
        print("1. Authenticating as Admin...")
        token = get_admin_token()
        
        print("2. Checking existing providers...")
        providers = check_existing_providers(token)
        existing_ids = [p['id'] for p in providers if p['name'] == SAML_PROVIDER_NAME]
        
        if existing_ids:
            print(f"Provider '{SAML_PROVIDER_NAME}' already exists with ID: {existing_ids[0]}")
        else:
            print("3. Creating SAML Provider...")
            new_provider = create_saml_provider(token)
            if new_provider:
                print(f"New Provider ID: {new_provider['id']}")
        
        print("4. Verification Complete.")
        print("Note: OAuth Client Credentials flow remains unaffected by this change.")
        
    except requests.exceptions.HTTPError as e:
        print(f"HTTP Error: {e}")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Unexpected Error: {e}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Common Errors & Debugging

Error: 401 Unauthorized

  • Cause: The admin token is expired, invalid, or the user does not have the admin:identityprovider:write scope.
  • Fix: Re-authenticate using the get_admin_token function. Ensure the scope includes admin:identityprovider:write.
  • Code Check:
# Ensure scope is correct
data = {
    "grant_type": "password",
    "username": username,
    "password": password,
    "scope": "admin:identityprovider:write admin:identityprovider:read"
}

Error: 400 Bad Request (Certificate Invalid)

  • Cause: The X.509 certificate provided in the certificate field is malformed, expired, or does not match the IdP’s signing key.
  • Fix: Copy the certificate directly from the IdP metadata XML. Ensure it includes the -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- and -----END CERTIFICATE----- headers. Remove any whitespace issues.
  • Debugging: Validate the certificate using OpenSSL:
openssl x509 -in cert.pem -text -noout

Error: 409 Conflict

  • Cause: A provider with the same name or entityId already exists.
  • Fix: Use the GET /api/v2/identity/providers endpoint to list existing providers. Update the existing provider instead of creating a new one using PUT /api/v2/identity/providers/{id}.

Error: SAML Login Fails (User Not Found)

  • Cause: The userNameAttribute in the SAML configuration does not match the email address of the user in Genesys Cloud.
  • Fix: Ensure the IdP sends the user’s email in the attribute mapped to userNameAttribute. If the IdP sends NameID, change userNameAttribute to NameID or ensure the NameID format is email.

Official References