Custom Identity Provider

Template for pushing IdP domain, user, and group metadata

Use this template to model authorization metadata for custom identity providers using the Open Authorization API.

This document includes an example template and notes for designing and publishing a model of your IdP.

A custom property definition can define additional properties, used to add supplemental metadata to entities in the payload.

Veza will handle federated identities just as those in supported IdPs such as Okta or Entra ID, enabling search and access review for OAA entities alongside the rest of your data catalog.

Sample Template and Features

The metadata payload describes the Identity Provider domain, users, and groups to add to the Veza authorization graph:

Simple Custom Identity Provider

{
  "name": "My IdP",
  "idp_type": "custom_idp",
  "domains": [
    {
      "name": "example.com",
      "tags": [],
    }
  ],
  "users": [
    {
      "name": "m_richardson",
      "email": "[email protected]",
      "identity": "m_richardson",
      "full_name": "Michelle Richardson",
      "department": null,
      "is_active": true,
      "is_guest": false,
      "groups": [
        {
          "identity": "everyone"
        },
        {
          "identity": "developers"
        }
      ],
      "assumed_role_arns": [
        {
          "identity": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/role001"
        },
        {
          "identity": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/role002"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [],
    },
    {
      "name": "evargas",
      "email": "[email protected]",
      "identity": "evargas",
      "full_name": "Elizabeth Vargas",
      "department": null,
      "is_active": true,
      "is_guest": false,
      "groups": [
        {
          "identity": "everyone"
        },
        {
          "identity": "developers"
        },
        {
          "identity": "sec-ops"
        }
      ],
      "assumed_role_arns": [],
      "tags": [],
    },
    {
      "name": "willis",
      "email": "[email protected]",
      "identity": "c_williams",
      "full_name": null,
      "department": null,
      "is_active": true,
      "is_guest": false,
      "groups": [
        {
          "identity": "everyone"
        }
      ],
      "assumed_role_arns": [],
      "tags": []
    }
  ],
  "groups": [
    {
      "name": "developers",
      "identity": "developers",
      "full_name": null,
      "is_security_group": null,
      "tags": []
    },
    {
      "name": "sec-ops",
      "identity": "sec-ops",
      "full_name": null,
      "is_security_group": null,
      "tags": []
    },
    {
      "name": "everyone",
      "identity": "everyone",
      "full_name": "All Company Employees",
      "is_security_group": null,
      "tags": []
    }
  ],
  "identity_mapping_configuration": {
    "mappings": [
      {
        "destination_datasource_type": "GITHUB_USERS",
        "property_matchers": [
          {
            "source_property": "EMAIL",
            "destination_property": "UNIQUE_ID"
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "destination_datasource_type": "SQL_SERVER",
        "property_matchers": [
          {
            "source_property": "EMAIL",
            "destination_property": "EMAIL"
          }
        ],
        "transformations": [
          "IGNORE_DOMAIN"
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Modeling Assumable Amazon Web Services Roles

For cases where federated IdP entities are granted AWS permissions via IAM roles, the template supports defining assumable roles per-user. Binding a custom IdP user or group to an AWS role or group ARN enables Veza to parse and display the resource-level actions permitted within AWS.

{
      "name": "Custom User",
      "assumed_role_arns": {
        "identity": [
          "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/S3Access"
          ]
        },
    }

Custom IdP users and groups can be assigned permissions in other OAA applications by setting the principal type to idp in identity_to_permissions in the custom application payload.

Source Identity Assignments

For use cases where a custom IdP is federated with another identity provider user identities can be linked between the two. Authorizations granted to the user will also be granted the source identity. The link is created by providing the unique identity ID and provider type as part of the user entry.

{
  "name": "Custom User",
  "identity": "00001",
  "source_identity": {
    "identity": "[email protected]",
    "provider_type": "okta"
  }
}

For provider_type the following values are accepted:

Provider

provider_type string

Active Directory

active_directory

Any

any

AzureAD

azure_ad

OAA

custom

Google Workspace

google_workspace

Okta

okta

One Login

one_login

Resource Manager Assignments

New in Veza release 2022.2.1

To assign an IdP user or group as the manager of any resource Veza has discovered, list the node type and node id in the entities_owned field, for example:

{
  "name": "Custom User",
  "identity": "000011",
  "entities_owned": [
    {
      "node_type": "S3Bucket",
      "id": "arn:aws:s3:::amazon-connect-53f87966654d"
    }
  ]
}

When parsing the payload, resources in the data catalog will be updated with a SYSTEM_resource_managers tag to enable entitlement reviews. The owner(s) will be suggested as reviewers for Veza Workflows that target an individual named resource with the correct tag.

Manager Assignments

Users and groups can be mapped to the identity of another user they report to. When configured, the manager will be suggested as a review for Workflow certifications where the assigned reporter is the single query target "named entity."

{
  "name": "Custom User",
  "identity": "000013",
  "manager_id": "000011"
}

Custom Properties and Tags

Custom Properties are the recommended method for adding additional metadata to custom identities and resources.

Additionally, Veza tags can be applied to the IdP domain, users, and groups:

"tags": [
  {
    "key": "Tag1key",
    "value": "optional_Tag1Val"
  }
]

Use incremental updates to remove tags: Resubmitting a payload with different tags will apply any new tags, but not remove existing ones. To remove a tag already applied to an entity, you will need to use the incremental update remove_tag operation.

Incremental Updates

After the initial metadata push (which must contain the full payload), you can modify, add, or remove the domain, users, and groups without resubmitting other entities. An incremental update is enabled by setting "incremental_change": true in the json_data push payload, and specifying the update operation for each entity to change.

`Custom Identity Provider` definition

The identity provider object models one instance of the custom IdP:

Field

Type

Description

name

string

Name to associate with the provider in Veza.

custom_property_definition

Custom Property Definition

Defines the key and types for properties that can be applied to other objects in the push payload

idp_type

string

Type descriptor for IdP, can be unique or share across multiple IdP (for example ldap, IPA)

idp_description

string

Any notes to add as entity details (optional)

domains

IdP Domain

Domain model

users

IdP Users

Dictionary of CustomIdPUser class instances

groups

IdP Group

Dictionary of CustomIdPGroup class instances

incremental_change

boolean

When true, enables incremental update operations (optional).

identity_mapping_configuration

Identity Mapping Configuration

Configuration for mapping identities between IdP User and other User types from external data sources

`IdP Domain`

One domain is supported for each custom IdP. Users and groups are mapped to the IdP domain, and connected in Veza Search:

Field

Type

Description

name

string

IdP Domain name

custom_properties

Custom Properties

Each element of the push payload can have property_values, validated against the custom_property_definition.

dynamic_properties

Dynamic Properties

Up to 5 attributes to apply to the domain (deprecated, use custom properties instead)

tags

Veza Tags list

Any tags to create and apply to the domain.

operation

enum

For incremental updates, the operation to use.

`IdP Users`

Each IdP user object contains the display name, login email, and identity, along with other identity-related properties:

{
      "name": "willis",
      "email": "[email protected]",
      "identity": "000001",
      "full_name": "Charles Willis",
      "department": "Sales",
      "is_active": true,
      "is_guest": false,
      "groups": [
        {
          "identity": "everyone"
        }
      ],
      "assumed_role_arns": {
        "identity": [
          "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/S3Access"
          ]
      },
      "source_identity": {
        "identity": "[email protected]",
        "provider_type": "okta"
      },
      "tags": [],
      "custom_properties": {},
      "manager_id": "string",
      "entities_owned": {
        "node_type": "S3Bucket",
        "id": "arn:aws:s3:::amazon-connect-53f87966654d"
        }
    }

Field

Type

Description

name

string

Primary ID for user

email

string

Optional email for user

identity

string

Optional unique identifier for user

groups

string list

Assign groups memberships by group identity (optional)

full_name

string

Full name to display in Veza

department

string list

Any departments to apply as a searchable property (optional).

is_active

boolean

If available, will be applied to the entity as a searchable property (optional).

is_guest

boolean

If available, will be applied to the entity as a searchable property (optional).

assumed_role_arns

array

AWS IAM roles that can be assumed by the IdP user, in the format {"identity": ["arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/S3Access"]} (optional).

tags

Veza Tags list

Any tags to create and apply to the user.

dynamic_properties

Dynamic Properties

Up to 5 attributes to apply to the user (deprecated, use custom properties instead)

custom_properties

Custom Properties

Each element of the push payload can have property_values, validated against the custom_property_definition.

manager_id

string

If the same as another user's identity, that user will be recommended for governance reviews. Entity details for the user will be updated on push to include the manager as a searchable property.

entities_owned

Entities Owned array

If another resource is specified by entity type and entity id, a Veza tag will be created on the resource to indicate the owner.

operation

enum

For incremental updates, the operation to use (optional).

source_identity

Source Identity

Optionally link IdP user to user from another IdP for federation use cases.

`IdP Groups`

Add a group by name in the groups section of the template to enable mapping IdP users to those groups:

"groups": [
  {
    "name": "developers",
    "identity": "developers",
    "full_name": null,
    "is_security_group": null,
    "assumed_role_arns": {
      "identity": ["arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/S3Access"]
    },
    "tags": [],
    "groups": [
      { "group_1_identity": "parent" },
      { "group_2_identity": "parent" }
    ],
    "custom_properties": {}
  }
]

Field

Type

Description

name

string

IdP group name.

identity

string

Unique ID used for user-group assignments.

full_name

string

Optional display name for group

groups

string list

other custom IdP groups this group is a member of

is_security_group

boolean

Sets the is security group searchable property for the entity in Veza (optional).

tags

Veza Tags list

Any tags to create and apply to the group.

custom_properties

Custom Properties

Each element of the push payload can have property_values, validated against the custom_property_definition.

dynamic_properties

Dynamic Properties

Up to 5 attributes to apply to the domain. (deprecated, use custom properties instead)

operation

enum

For incremental updates, the operation to use (optional).

assumed_role_arns

array

AWS IAM roles the group can assume, in the format {"identity": ["arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/S3Access"]} (optional).

IdP entities can be granted permissions on custom applications in the identity_to_permissions section of the custom app metadata payload.

`IdP Apps`

Use the apps section to define any applications used to manage access within the identity provider. Apps can be associated with users and groups to model application assignments across your organization.

  "apps": [
    {
      "id": "app1",
      "name": "Application 1",
      "description": "This is a sample application",
      "assumed_role_arns": [
        {
          "identity": "arn:aws:iam::1234567890:role/DevAppRole"
        }
      ],
      "custom_properties": {
        "owner_org": "engineering"
      },
      "tags": []
    }
  ]

Field

Type

Description

id

string

App unique identifier.

name

string

IdP app name.

description

string

Description for the App (optional).

assumed_role_arns

array

AWS IAM roles the app can assume, in the format {"identity": ["arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/S3Access"]} (optional).

custom_properties

Custom Properties

Each element of the payload can have property_values, validated against the custom_property_definition.

tags

Veza Tags list

Any tags to create and apply to the group.

operation

enum

For incremental updates, the operation to use (optional).

Users and Groups can be assigned to an application by setting the app_assignments in the user or group.

    {
      "name": "willis",
      "email": "[email protected]",
      "identity": "cwilliams",
      "groups": [
        {
          "identity": "everyone"
        }
      ],
      "custom_properties": {
        "region": "NorthAmerica",
        "is_contractor": true
      },
      "app_assignments": [
        {
          "id": "assignment1",
          "name": "Assignment",
          "app_id": "app1",
          "custom_properties": {
            "assigned_on": "2024-12-05T12:42:25+00:00"
          }
        }
      ]
    }

Field

Type

Description

id

string

Assignment unique identifier.

name

string

Display name for the assignment.

app_id

string

Unique ID of the App to assign the identity to.

custom_properties

Custom Properties

Each element of the payload can have property_values, validated against the custom_property_definition.

Creating and Updating a Custom Identity Provider

The steps to add a custom IdP are the same as for any other OAA provider: you will need to register the new provider and data source, and then push the domain, user, and group descriptions in a JSON payload.

Register a custom identity provider

To create a new custom provider using the identity_provider template, POST the name and template type to /providers/custom:

curl -X POST 'https://<veza_url>/api/v1/providers/custom' \
-H 'authorization: Bearer '<access_token> \
--data-binary '{"name":"SimpleIdP","custom_template":"identity_provider"}'

The response will return the custom IdP ID, which you will need when pushing the metadata payload:

{
  "value": {
    "id": "532f6fe3-189f-4576-afdf-8913088961e4",
    "name": "Simple IdP",
    "custom_template": "identity_provider",
    "state": "ENABLED",
    "application_types": [],
    "resource_types": [],
    "idp_types": []
  }
}

Push a data source for the custom identity provider

curl -X POST 'https://<veza_url>/api/v1/providers/custom/532f6fe3-189f-4576-afdf-8913088961e4/datasources' \
-H 'authorization: Bearer '<access_token> \
--data-binary '{"id":"532f6fe3-189f-4576-afdf-8913088961e4", "name":"SimpleDataSource"}'

Note that the provider id is required in both the path and body of the request. The response will include the new data source ID.

{"value":{"id":"b6a32af6-b854-47e1-8325-e5984f78bb4d","name":"SimpleDataSource"}}

Push metadata for the data source

curl -X POST 'https://<veza_url>/api/v1/providers/custom/532f6fe3-189f-4576-afdf-8913088961e4/datasources/b6a32af6-b854-47e1-8325-e5984f78bb4d:push' \
-H 'authorization: Bearer '<access_token> \
--compressed --data-binary @payload.json

The payload file must contain the provider and data source ID, and the authorization metadata as a single string, for example:

payload.json

{
  "id": "532f6fe3-189f-4576-afdf-8913088961e4",
  "data_source_id": "b6a32af6-b854-47e1-8325-e5984f78bb4d",
  "json_data": "{\n\"name\":\"CustomIdentityProvider\",\n\"idp_type\": ... "
}

`Identity Mapping Configuration`

The identity_mapping_configuration parameter defines rules for connecting users in a custom IdP to users from other data sources in the Veza graph.

This is useful when:

The connected data source does not natively support returning information about external identities
A correlation between IdP identities and local users can be assumed based on values like username, email, or another property value.

The identity_mapping_configuration is a top-level property of the Custom IDP submission, and is optional. The mapping configuration can include multiple mappings to connect IDP users to users from different data source types, each based on its own mappings.

{
  "identity_mapping_configuration": {
    "mappings": [
      {
        "destination_datasource_type": "OKTA",
        "property_matchers": [
          {
            "source_property": "EMAIL",
            "destination_property": "EMAIL"
          }
        ],
        "transformations": [
          "IGNORE_SPECIAL"
        ]
      },
      {
        "destination_datasource_type": "AZURE_AD",
        "property_matchers": [
          {
            "source_property": "EMAIL",
            "destination_property": "EMAIL"
          }
        ],
        "transformations": [
          "IGNORE_DOMAIN"
        ]
      },
      {
        "destination_datasource_type": "GITHUB_USERS",
        "property_matchers": [
          {
            "source_property": "EMAIL",
            "destination_property": "UNIQUE_ID"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Incremental Identity Mapping Updates

You can update just the identity mappings without resubmitting the entire provider payload by using an incremental update. This is useful when you need to modify only the mapping configuration while leaving other provider data unchanged.

Example: Incremental Identity Mapping Update

Set "incremental_change": true and use "operation": "modify" in the identity_mapping_configuration to update mapping rules without affecting other aspects of the provider.

{
  "incremental_change": true,
  "identity_mapping_configuration": {
    "operation": "modify",
    "mappings": [
      {
        "destination_datasource_type": "GITHUB_USERS",
        "property_matchers": [
          {
            "source_property": "EMAIL",
            "destination_property": "UNIQUE_ID"
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "destination_datasource_type": "SQL_SERVER",
        "property_matchers": [
          {
            "source_property": "EMAIL",
            "destination_property": "EMAIL"
          }
        ],
        "transformations": [
          "IGNORE_DOMAIN"
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Example curl command to apply the incremental identity mapping update:

curl --location 'https://<veza_url>/api/v1/providers/custom/816d6e51-6d6a-4279-ba41-2e7c732be880/datasources/716026b5-4b84-4b2f-a805-b41a6ec69cf3:push' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY>' \
--data '{
    "id": "816d6e51-6d6a-4279-ba41-2e7c732be880",
    "data_source_id": "716026b5-4b84-4b2f-a805-b41a6ec69cf3",
    "json_data": "{\"incremental_change\":true,\"identity_mapping_configuration\":{\"operation\":\"modify\",\"mappings\":[{\"destination_datasource_type\":\"GITHUB_USERS\",\"property_matchers\":[{\"source_property\":\"EMAIL\",\"destination_property\":\"UNIQUE_ID\"}]},{\"destination_datasource_type\":\"SQL_SERVER\",\"property_matchers\":[{\"source_property\":\"EMAIL\",\"destination_property\":\"EMAIL\"}],\"transformations\":[\"IGNORE_DOMAIN\"]}]}}"
}'

Identity Mapping Configuration

Field

Type

Description

mappings

IdentityMappingSubmission

List of mappings to create between IDP Users and external data sources

operation

enum

For incremental updates, the operation to use.

Identity Mapping Submission

Field

Type

Description

destination_datasource_type

string

Veza Type for the destination data source, GITHUB_USERS, SQL_SERVER, CUSTOM_APPLICATION

destination_datasource_oaa_app_type

string

Optional specifically for mapping to OAA Custom Application to provide a specific App Type

property_matchers

IdentityMappingPropertyMatchersSubmission

List of properties to match on

transformations

list enum

Optional transformations to perform on the property values, available values: ignore_special, ignore_domain

Supported transformations:

IGNORE_SPECIAL: Ignore special characters (_, -, .) when matching identities
IGNORE_DOMAIN: Match identities after removing domain portions (e.g., "@example.com")

IdentityMappingPropertyMatchersSubmission

Field

Type

Description

source_property

enum

IDP User property to match on, unique_id, email, property or custom_property

destination_property

enum

Destination User property to match on, unique_id, email, property or custom_property

custom_source_property

string

When using property or custom_propert the property name to match on

custom_destination_property

string

When using property or custom_propert the property name to match on

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Sample Template and Features

Modeling Assumable Amazon Web Services Roles

Source Identity Assignments

Resource Manager Assignments

Manager Assignments

Custom Properties and Tags

Incremental Updates

Custom Identity Provider definition

IdP Domain

IdP Users

IdP Groups

IdP Apps

Creating and Updating a Custom Identity Provider

Register a custom identity provider

Push a data source for the custom identity provider

Push metadata for the data source

Identity Mapping Configuration

Incremental Identity Mapping Updates

Identity Mapping Configuration

Identity Mapping Submission

IdentityMappingPropertyMatchersSubmission

`Custom Identity Provider` definition

`IdP Domain`

`IdP Users`

`IdP Groups`

`IdP Apps`

`Identity Mapping Configuration`