Implementing SCIM Provisioning with Okta

Overview

SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management) is an open standard protocol (RFC 7644) that automates the exchange of user identity information between identity providers like Okta and service providers. This skill covers building a SCIM 2.0-compliant API endpoint and integrating it with Okta for automated user lifecycle management including provisioning, deprovisioning, profile updates, and group management.

When to Use

• When deploying or configuring implementing scim provisioning with okta capabilities in your environment
• When establishing security controls aligned to compliance requirements
• When building or improving security architecture for this domain
• When conducting security assessments that require this implementation

Prerequisites

• Okta tenant with admin access (Developer or Production)
• Application with REST API capable of user management
• TLS-secured endpoint (HTTPS required)
• Okta API token or OAuth 2.0 client credentials
• Python 3.9+ with Flask or FastAPI

Core Concepts

SCIM 2.0 Protocol

SCIM defines a standard schema for representing users and groups via JSON, with a RESTful API for CRUD operations:

Okta SCIM Integration Architecture

Okta (IdP) ──SCIM 2.0 over HTTPS──> SCIM Server ──> Application Database
     │                                     │
     ├── User Assignment                   ├── Create/Update User
     ├── User Unassignment                 ├── Deactivate User
     ├── Profile Push                      ├── Sync Attributes
     └── Group Push                        └── Manage Groups

Required SCIM Endpoints

1. ServiceProviderConfig (/scim/v2/ServiceProviderConfig): Advertises SCIM capabilities
2. ResourceTypes (/scim/v2/ResourceTypes): Describes supported resource types
3. Schemas (/scim/v2/Schemas): Publishes the SCIM schema definitions
4. Users (/scim/v2/Users): User lifecycle operations
5. Groups (/scim/v2/Groups): Group management operations

Workflow

Step 1: Build SCIM 2.0 API Server

Create a Flask-based SCIM server that implements the core endpoints. The server must handle:

• User CRUD: Create, read, update, delete, and list users
• Filtering: Support eq filter on userName (required by Okta)
• Pagination: Return startIndex, itemsPerPage, and totalResults
• Authentication: Bearer token validation on all endpoints

from flask import Flask, request, jsonify
import uuid
from datetime import datetime

app = Flask(__name__)

# Bearer token for Okta authentication
SCIM_BEARER_TOKEN = "your-secure-token-here"

def require_auth(f):
    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
        auth = request.headers.get("Authorization", "")
        if not auth.startswith("Bearer ") or auth[7:] != SCIM_BEARER_TOKEN:
            return jsonify({"detail": "Unauthorized"}), 401
        return f(*args, **kwargs)
    wrapper.__name__ = f.__name__
    return wrapper

@app.route("/scim/v2/Users", methods=["POST"])
@require_auth
def create_user():
    data = request.json
    user_id = str(uuid.uuid4())
    user = {
        "schemas": ["urn:ietf:params:scim:schemas:core:2.0:User"],
        "id": user_id,
        "userName": data.get("userName"),
        "name": data.get("name", {}),
        "emails": data.get("emails", []),
        "active": True,
        "meta": {
            "resourceType": "User",
            "created": datetime.utcnow().isoformat() + "Z",
            "lastModified": datetime.utcnow().isoformat() + "Z",
            "location": f"/scim/v2/Users/{user_id}"
        }
    }
    # Persist user to database
    return jsonify(user), 201

@app.route("/scim/v2/Users", methods=["GET"])
@require_auth
def list_users():
    filter_param = request.args.get("filter", "")
    start_index = int(request.args.get("startIndex", 1))

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