How does SSO works?

How does SSO works?

IDP intitiated flow


  1. The user wants to access a Zoho service.
  2. The user logs in to their Identity Provider (IdP )and chooses the Zoho application.
  3. IdP will create a signed SAML assertion response, which is sent to the ACS (Assertion Consumer Service) URL endpoint at Zoho.
  4. Zoho will validate the SAML assertion response. Upon successful validation, the user will be granted access to any Zoho services they are authorized for.

SP initated flow


  1. The user wants to sign in to a Zoho service. 
  2. Zoho generates an SAML authentication request and sends it to IdP via HTTP-Redirect binding.
  3. IdP will authenticate the user and form a signed SAML assertion response, which is sent to the ACS URL endpoint at Zoho.
  4. Zoho will validate the SAML assertion response. If the user is authorized to use the Zoho service, they will be granted access.

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