How to Configure SAML SSO While Preserving Programmatic OAuth API Access

How-To-Articles
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How to Configure SAML SSO While Preserving Programmatic OAuth API Access

What You Will Build

  • This tutorial demonstrates how to configure a Genesys Cloud environment to enforce SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) for human users while maintaining a separate, secure OAuth client for server-to-server API automation.
  • This uses the Genesys Cloud Management APIs (/api/v2/auth, /api/v2/users, /api/v2/organizations/securitysettings) and the genesyscloud-python-sdk.
  • The programming language covered is Python 3.9+.

Prerequisites

  • Genesys Cloud Organization: You must have an existing Genesys Cloud organization with Admin rights.
  • SAML Identity Provider (IdP): You need a working SAML IdP configuration (e.g., Azure AD, Okta, OneLogin) with metadata or endpoint URLs.
  • OAuth Client Secret: You need an existing OAuth Client ID and Secret. If you do not have one, you must create one before enabling SAML, as the admin console may become inaccessible if the primary admin account is locked out by SAML requirements.
  • Python Environment: Python 3.9 or later installed.
  • Dependencies:
    pip install purecloudplatformclientv2 requests

Authentication Setup

The core conflict in this scenario is that SAML SSO changes how users authenticate, but it does not change how applications authenticate. However, if you enforce SAML on your primary admin account, you cannot log in to the Admin UI to manage OAuth clients if your SAML provider fails or if you are locked out.

Therefore, the critical first step is to ensure you have a Service Account (a non-human user) or a dedicated OAuth Client configured and tested before you flip the SAML switch.

Step 1: Verify and Store Your OAuth Credentials

Before modifying any SAML settings, you must retrieve your current OAuth Client ID and Secret. These will remain valid after SAML is enabled.

OAuth Scope Required: organization:oauthclient:read (if using an admin user to fetch via API) or manual copy from Admin UI.

We will use the requests library to fetch the client details to ensure we have them stored safely. Replace YOUR_CLIENT_ID and YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET with your actual values.

import os
import requests
from typing import Dict, Any

# Configuration
GENESYS_CLOUD_BASE_URL = "https://api.mypurecloud.com"
OAUTH_CLIENT_ID = os.getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_ID")
OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET = os.getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET")

def get_access_token(client_id: str, client_secret: str) -> str:
    """
    Retrieves a Bearer token using the Client Credentials Grant flow.
    This flow does NOT require SAML, making it ideal for programmatic access.
    """
    url = f"{GENESYS_CLOUD_BASE_URL}/api/v2/oauth/token"
    
    payload = {
        "grant_type": "client_credentials",
        "client_id": client_id,
        "client_secret": client_secret
    }

    headers = {
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    }

    response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)

    if response.status_code != 200:
        raise Exception(f"Failed to obtain token: {response.status_code} - {response.text}")

    data = response.json()
    return data["access_token"]

# Test the connection
try:
    token = get_access_token(OAUTH_CLIENT_ID, OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET)
    print("OAuth Client Credentials flow successful. Token acquired.")
    # Store this token for subsequent API calls
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Error: {e}")
    exit(1)

Step 2: Create a Dedicated Service Account (Optional but Recommended)

While you can use the Client Credentials grant for many APIs, some APIs require a specific user context (e.g., creating a conversation, updating a user profile). For these cases, you need a “Service Account” user. This user will also be subject to SAML if you enforce it globally, but you can often configure SAML to exclude specific service accounts or allow them to log in via legacy credentials if your IdP supports it.

However, the most robust pattern for pure API automation is to stick to Client Credentials wherever possible. If you must use a user context, you will use the Resource Owner Password Credentials (ROPC) grant or Authorization Code grant, which will trigger SAML if enabled.

To avoid SAML friction for API users, do not use human-admin accounts for API calls. Create a dedicated user in Genesys Cloud.

def create_service_account(access_token: str, username: str, email: str) -> Dict[str, Any]:
    """
    Creates a new user in Genesys Cloud.
    Note: This user will be subject to SAML if SAML is enforced for all users.
    """
    url = f"{GENESYS_CLOUD_BASE_URL}/api/v2/users"
    
    headers = {
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {access_token}"
    }

    # Minimal user payload
    user_payload = {
        "username": username,
        "email": email,
        "name": "API Service Account",
        "roles": [
            {
                "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000" # Placeholder: Replace with actual Role ID
            }
        ],
        "division": {
            "id": "default"
        }
    }

    response = requests.post(url, json=user_payload, headers=headers)

    if response.status_code == 201:
        print(f"Service account created: {response.json()['id']}")
        return response.json()
    else:
        print(f"Failed to create user: {response.status_code} - {response.text}")
        return {}

# Note: You need a valid Role ID. You can fetch roles using:
# GET /api/v2/authorization/roles

Step 3: Configure SAML Settings via API

Now that you have verified your OAuth client works and have a backup plan (service account or stored credentials), you can configure SAML. We will use the SDK to update the organization’s security settings.

OAuth Scope Required: organization:securitysettings:write

First, install and initialize the SDK:

from purecloudplatformclientv2 import ApiClient, Configuration, OrganizationApi, AuthorizationApi
from purecloudplatformclientv2.rest import ApiException
import os

# Initialize the SDK client
configuration = Configuration()
configuration.host = GENESYS_CLOUD_BASE_URL

# Use the access token we retrieved earlier
def get_sdk_client(access_token: str):
    api_client = ApiClient(configuration)
    api_client.default_headers["Authorization"] = f"Bearer {access_token}"
    return api_client

api_client = get_sdk_client(token)
organization_api = OrganizationApi(api_client)

Fetch Current Security Settings

Before updating, fetch the current configuration to avoid overwriting unrelated settings.

def get_current_security_settings(org_api: OrganizationApi) -> dict:
    try:
        # Fetch the organization settings
        org_response = org_api.get_organization()
        return org_response.settings
    except ApiException as e:
        print(f"Exception when calling OrganizationApi->get_organization: {e}\n")
        return {}

current_settings = get_current_security_settings(organization_api)
print("Current SAML Enabled:", current_settings.get('saml', {}).get('enabled', False))

Update SAML Configuration

You will need the following from your IdP:

  1. IdP Metadata URL (or Entity ID and SSO URL).
  2. Certificate (if not using metadata URL).

Here is how to enable SAML for the organization. Warning: This will enforce SAML for all users unless you configure exceptions.

def enable_saml(org_api: OrganizationApi, idp_metadata_url: str, entity_id: str):
    """
    Updates organization settings to enable SAML.
    """
    # Get current settings to preserve other values
    org_response = org_api.get_organization()
    current_settings = org_response.settings

    # Update SAML configuration
    if 'saml' not in current_settings:
        current_settings['saml'] = {}

    current_settings['saml']['enabled'] = True
    current_settings['saml']['idp_metadata_url'] = idp_metadata_url
    current_settings['saml']['idp_entity_id'] = entity_id
    
    # Optional: Allow users to log in with username/password if SAML fails (Fallback)
    # current_settings['saml']['allow_fallback'] = False # Recommended to set to False for security

    # Update the organization
    try:
        org_api.put_organization(settings=current_settings)
        print("SAML SSO has been enabled successfully.")
    except ApiException as e:
        print(f"Exception when calling OrganizationApi->put_organization: {e}\n")
        # Handle 400 Bad Request: Check metadata URL validity
        if e.status == 400:
            print("Check your IdP Metadata URL. It must be publicly accessible and valid XML.")

Important: After this call, any attempt to log in to the Genesys Cloud Admin UI with a human user account will redirect to your IdP. Your OAuth Client Credentials flow, however, remains completely unaffected because it does not use the user login portal.

Step 4: Verify API Access Post-SAML

To prove that programmatic access still works, we will make a simple API call to fetch the current user’s profile (or organization info) using the token generated in Step 1.

def verify_api_access(access_token: str):
    """
    Verifies that the OAuth token still works after SAML is enabled.
    """
    url = f"{GENESYS_CLOUD_BASE_URL}/api/v2/users/me"
    
    headers = {
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {access_token}"
    }

    response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)

    if response.status_code == 200:
        user_data = response.json()
        print(f"API Access Verified. Logged in as: {user_data['name']} ({user_data['id']})")
        return True
    else:
        print(f"API Access Failed: {response.status_code} - {response.text}")
        return False

verify_api_access(token)

Complete Working Example

Below is the full, copy-pasteable script. It assumes you have your GENESYS_CLIENT_ID and GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET set as environment variables.

import os
import requests
from purecloudplatformclientv2 import ApiClient, Configuration, OrganizationApi
from purecloudplatformclientv2.rest import ApiException

# --- Configuration ---
GENESYS_CLOUD_BASE_URL = "https://api.mypurecloud.com"
OAUTH_CLIENT_ID = os.getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_ID")
OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET = os.getenv("GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET")

# SAML IdP Details (Replace with your actual IdP values)
IDP_METADATA_URL = "https://your-idp.example.com/saml/metadata"
IDP_ENTITY_ID = "https://your-idp.example.com/saml"

def get_access_token(client_id: str, client_secret: str) -> str:
    """Retrieves a Bearer token using Client Credentials Grant."""
    url = f"{GENESYS_CLOUD_BASE_URL}/api/v2/oauth/token"
    payload = {
        "grant_type": "client_credentials",
        "client_id": client_id,
        "client_secret": client_secret
    }
    headers = {"Content-Type": "application/json"}
    
    response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)
    if response.status_code != 200:
        raise Exception(f"Token error: {response.status_code} - {response.text}")
    
    return response.json()["access_token"]

def configure_saml(access_token: str, metadata_url: str, entity_id: str):
    """Enables SAML SSO on the Genesys Cloud Organization."""
    
    # Initialize SDK
    configuration = Configuration()
    configuration.host = GENESYS_CLOUD_BASE_URL
    api_client = ApiClient(configuration)
    api_client.default_headers["Authorization"] = f"Bearer {access_token}"
    
    org_api = OrganizationApi(api_client)
    
    try:
        # 1. Get current settings
        org_response = org_api.get_organization()
        settings = org_response.settings
        
        # 2. Update SAML settings
        if 'saml' not in settings:
            settings['saml'] = {}
        
        settings['saml']['enabled'] = True
        settings['saml']['idp_metadata_url'] = metadata_url
        settings['saml']['idp_entity_id'] = entity_id
        
        # 3. Apply changes
        org_api.put_organization(settings=settings)
        print("SUCCESS: SAML SSO enabled.")
        
    except ApiException as e:
        print(f"FAILED: {e.status} - {e.reason}")
        if e.body:
            print(f"Details: {e.body}")

def verify_programmatic_access(access_token: str):
    """Verifies that API access still works via OAuth."""
    url = f"{GENESYS_CLOUD_BASE_URL}/api/v2/organizations"
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {access_token}"}
    
    response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
    if response.status_code == 200:
        print("SUCCESS: Programmatic API access confirmed.")
        print(f"Organization: {response.json()['name']}")
    else:
        print(f"FAILED: API access denied. Status: {response.status_code}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    if not OAUTH_CLIENT_ID or not OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET:
        raise ValueError("Environment variables GENESYS_CLIENT_ID and GENESYS_CLIENT_SECRET are required.")

    print("Step 1: Acquiring OAuth Token...")
    try:
        token = get_access_token(OAUTH_CLIENT_ID, OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET)
    except Exception as e:
        print(e)
        exit(1)

    print("Step 2: Enabling SAML SSO...")
    configure_saml(token, IDP_METADATA_URL, IDP_ENTITY_ID)

    print("Step 3: Verifying API Access...")
    verify_programmatic_access(token)

Common Errors & Debugging

Error: 401 Unauthorized

  • What causes it: Your OAuth Client ID or Secret is incorrect, or the client has been disabled.
  • How to fix it: Go to Admin → Platform → OAuth Client Management. Verify the client is enabled. If you recently enabled SAML, you might have locked yourself out of the UI. If you have no other admin access, contact Genesys Cloud Support to reset your OAuth client status.

Error: 400 Bad Request (SAML Metadata Invalid)

  • What causes it: The idp_metadata_url is not publicly accessible, returns non-XML content, or contains invalid SAML assertions.
  • How to fix it: Ensure the URL is accessible from the public internet (Genesys Cloud servers must be able to fetch it). Use a tool like curl to verify the XML structure.
    curl -I https://your-idp.example.com/saml/metadata

Error: 403 Forbidden

  • What causes it: The OAuth client lacks the required scope (e.g., organization:securitysettings:write).
  • How to fix it: In Admin → Platform → OAuth Client Management, edit your client and add the missing scope. Note: Changes to scopes may require a new token issuance.

Error: SAML Login Loop for API Users

  • What causes it: You are using the Resource Owner Password Credentials (ROPC) grant with a user account that is forced to use SAML. ROPC requires a password, but SAML users do not have usable passwords in Genesys Cloud.
  • How to fix it: Do not use ROPC for API automation. Use Client Credentials Grant (for server-to-server) or Authorization Code Grant (for web apps with human interaction). If you must use a user context, ensure the user is excluded from SAML enforcement in your IdP or Genesys Cloud settings (if supported by your license).

Official References