---
title: SSO & LDAP Authentication
description: Authenticate with your existing identity provider - LDAP, Google, GitHub, or Okta.
---

<Note>
  SSO requires a Sencho **Team Pro** license. Personal Pro and Community Edition do not include this feature.
</Note>

Sencho Team Pro lets your team sign in using existing identity providers instead of managing separate credentials. SSO works **alongside** password authentication - it does not replace it.

## Supported providers

| Provider | Protocol | Notes |
|----------|----------|-------|
| **LDAP / Active Directory** | LDAP bind + search | Works with OpenLDAP, Active Directory, FreeIPA, and any LDAPv3 server |
| **Google** | OpenID Connect | Google Workspace or personal Google accounts |
| **GitHub** | OAuth 2.0 | GitHub personal accounts and GitHub orgs |
| **Okta** | OpenID Connect | Any Okta org or Okta-compatible IdP |

## How it works

### LDAP flow

1. User enters their directory username and password on the Sencho login page
2. Sencho binds to LDAP with a service account, searches for the user, then verifies their password
3. If this is their first login, a Sencho account is automatically created
4. Sencho issues a JWT and the user is logged in - identical to a password login

### OIDC / OAuth flow (Google, GitHub, Okta)

1. User clicks the provider button on the login page (e.g., "Sign in with Google")
2. Browser redirects to the identity provider for authentication
3. After granting consent, the provider redirects back to Sencho with an authorization code
4. Sencho exchanges the code for tokens, verifies the ID token, and reads user information
5. If this is their first login, a Sencho account is automatically created
6. Sencho issues a JWT and redirects to the dashboard

All OIDC flows use **PKCE** (Proof Key for Code Exchange) and a **state parameter** for CSRF protection.

## Auto-provisioning

When a user logs in via SSO for the first time, Sencho automatically creates a local account:

- **Username** is derived from their identity provider profile (display name, email prefix, or login handle)
- **Role** is assigned based on [role mapping](#role-mapping) - defaults to Viewer if no mapping matches
- **Password** is set to an unusable placeholder - SSO users cannot log in with a password
- **Seat limits** from your license apply. If admin seats are full, the user is downgraded to Viewer. If all seats are full, login is denied with a clear error message.

On subsequent logins, the existing account is reused. The user's email is updated if it changed at the provider.

## Role mapping

### LDAP group mapping

Set the **Admin Group DN** to a group in your directory. Members of that group get the Admin role; everyone else gets the default role (Viewer).

Example: If your admin group is `cn=sencho-admins,ou=groups,dc=example,dc=com`, set that as the Admin Group DN. Users who are a `member` of that group will be provisioned as Admin.

### OIDC claim mapping

For OIDC providers, configure two fields:

| Field | Description | Example |
|-------|-------------|---------|
| **Admin Claim** | The JWT claim name that contains role information | `groups` |
| **Admin Claim Value** | The value within that claim that grants Admin | `sencho-admins` |

If the user's ID token contains a `groups` claim with the value `sencho-admins`, they get Admin. Otherwise, they get the default role.

<Note>
  Not all providers include a `groups` claim by default. You may need to configure custom claims in your identity provider's admin console.
</Note>

## Configuration

SSO can be configured two ways:

1. **Settings UI** - Go to **Settings → SSO** in the Sencho dashboard. Enable providers, enter credentials, and test connections from the UI. Changes take effect immediately without restarting.
2. **Environment variables** - Set `SSO_*` variables in your Docker Compose file. These seed the database on first boot. After that, the database configuration is authoritative.

### Via Settings UI

Admins can manage SSO providers in **Settings → SSO**. Each provider has:

- An **enable/disable** toggle
- Provider-specific configuration fields
- A **Test Connection** button to verify connectivity before saving

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/sso/sso-settings.png" alt="SSO settings panel showing all four identity providers" />
</Frame>

Expand a provider card to configure it. Here's the LDAP configuration form:

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/sso/sso-settings-ldap.png" alt="LDAP configuration form with server URL, bind DN, search base, and role mapping" />
</Frame>

And an OIDC provider (Google) configuration form:

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/sso/sso-settings-oidc.png" alt="Google OIDC configuration form with client ID, client secret, and role claim mapping" />
</Frame>

### Via environment variables

Environment variables are useful for initial deployment or infrastructure-as-code workflows. They seed the SSO configuration on first startup. After that, changes made in the Settings UI take precedence.

## SSO environment variables reference

### LDAP

| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `SSO_LDAP_ENABLED` | `false` | Enable LDAP authentication |
| `SSO_LDAP_URL` | - | LDAP server URL (e.g., `ldap://ldap.example.com:389` or `ldaps://ldap.example.com:636`) |
| `SSO_LDAP_BIND_DN` | - | Service account DN for searching users |
| `SSO_LDAP_BIND_PASSWORD` | - | Service account password (encrypted at rest in the database) |
| `SSO_LDAP_SEARCH_BASE` | - | Base DN for user searches (e.g., `ou=users,dc=example,dc=com`) |
| `SSO_LDAP_SEARCH_FILTER` | `(uid={{username}})` | LDAP filter template. Use `(sAMAccountName={{username}})` for Active Directory |
| `SSO_LDAP_ADMIN_GROUP_DN` | - | DN of the group whose members receive the Admin role |
| `SSO_LDAP_DEFAULT_ROLE` | `viewer` | Role assigned to LDAP users not in the admin group |
| `SSO_LDAP_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED` | `true` | Whether to verify the LDAP server's TLS certificate |

### Google OIDC

| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `SSO_OIDC_GOOGLE_ENABLED` | `false` | Enable Google SSO |
| `SSO_OIDC_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID` | - | OAuth client ID from Google Cloud Console |
| `SSO_OIDC_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET` | - | OAuth client secret (encrypted at rest) |

### GitHub OAuth

| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `SSO_OIDC_GITHUB_ENABLED` | `false` | Enable GitHub SSO |
| `SSO_OIDC_GITHUB_CLIENT_ID` | - | OAuth app client ID from GitHub Developer Settings |
| `SSO_OIDC_GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET` | - | OAuth app client secret (encrypted at rest) |

### Okta OIDC

| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `SSO_OIDC_OKTA_ENABLED` | `false` | Enable Okta SSO |
| `SSO_OIDC_OKTA_ISSUER_URL` | - | Okta issuer URL (e.g., `https://dev-123456.okta.com`) |
| `SSO_OIDC_OKTA_CLIENT_ID` | - | Okta application client ID |
| `SSO_OIDC_OKTA_CLIENT_SECRET` | - | Okta client secret (encrypted at rest) |

### General

| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `SSO_OIDC_ADMIN_CLAIM` | `groups` | JWT claim name inspected for Admin role mapping |
| `SSO_OIDC_ADMIN_CLAIM_VALUE` | `sencho-admins` | Value in the admin claim that maps to the Admin role |
| `SSO_DEFAULT_ROLE` | `viewer` | Default role for all SSO users when no mapping matches |
| `SSO_CALLBACK_URL` | auto-detect | External base URL for OAuth callback URLs (see below) |

## Reverse proxy and callback URLs

<Warning>
  If Sencho is behind a reverse proxy (nginx, Traefik, Caddy), you **must** set `SSO_CALLBACK_URL` to your external URL. Otherwise, OAuth callbacks will fail.
</Warning>

Set `SSO_CALLBACK_URL` to the URL users access Sencho from - for example, `https://sencho.example.com`. Sencho uses this to construct the OAuth redirect URI that your identity provider calls back to.

If not set, Sencho auto-detects the URL from the request's `Host` header and protocol, which works for direct access but fails behind proxies that rewrite the host.

## Security

- **PKCE** - All OIDC flows use `code_challenge_method=S256` to prevent authorization code interception
- **State parameter** - A cryptographic random value protects against CSRF attacks on the OAuth callback
- **Encrypted secrets** - LDAP bind passwords and OIDC client secrets are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM
- **No local password** - SSO users are created with an unusable password hash. They cannot bypass SSO by using the password login form
- **Admin-only configuration** - Only Team Pro administrators can enable or configure SSO providers

## Troubleshooting

### LDAP connection refused
Verify the LDAP server is reachable from the Sencho container. If LDAP is on the host machine, use `host.docker.internal` (Docker Desktop) or the host's LAN IP address - not `localhost`.

### TLS certificate errors
If your LDAP server uses a self-signed certificate, set `SSO_LDAP_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=false`. For production, install a trusted certificate instead.

### OAuth callback URL mismatch
The redirect URI registered in your identity provider must exactly match what Sencho sends. Check:
1. `SSO_CALLBACK_URL` is set to your external URL (e.g., `https://sencho.example.com`)
2. The callback URL in your provider's settings is `https://sencho.example.com/api/auth/sso/oidc/<provider>/callback`
3. Protocol matches - don't mix `http` and `https`

### SSO buttons not appearing on login page
SSO providers only appear on the login page when they are both **configured** and **enabled**. Check Settings → SSO to verify the provider is active.
