Use Cloudflare as a SAML identity provider

If you use Cloudflare to centralize authentication and authorization in your business, you can integrate Kinde as a service provider for these processes. This gives you the benefits of Kinde’s robust auth capabilities, while keeping the familiar Cloudflare structure.

You need to set up an enterprise connection in Kinde for this, and add a Cloudflare application. We recommend setting up and testing the connection in a non-production environment before making available to users.

Advanced configurations

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Depending on your SAML set up, you may need to include advanced configurations for your connection. See Advanced SAML configurations

Step 1: Add the connection in Kinde

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You can make a connection available only to a specific organization, or you can create it so it can be used across any organization in your business.

Add a connection for a specific organization

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1. Go to Organizations and open the organization.
2. In the menu, select Authentication, then select Add connection.
3. In the Add connection window, select New enterprise connection, then click Next.
4. Select the Cloudflare connection and then select Next.
5. Next: ‘Step 2: Configure the connection’.

Add a connection that can be shared across multiple organizations

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1. Go to Settings > Environment > Authentication.
2. Scroll to the Enterprise connection section and select Add connection. The Add connection window opens.
3. Select the Cloudflare connection and then select Next.
4. Next: ‘Step 2: Configure the connection’.

Step 2: Configure the connection

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1. Enter a name for the connection. It should match the connection name in Cloudflare.

2. Enter a random string value for Entity ID, for e.g. 870sa9fbasfasdas23aghkhc12zasfnasd.

3. Enter the IdP metadata URL. This URL comes from your identity provider.

   

4. Enter a sign in URL if your IdP requires a specific URL.

5. If you want, select the Sign request algorithm and Protocol binding. The options you choose will depend on what your identity provider prefers or requires.

6. Select a Name ID format. This helps identify and link user identities between your IdP and Kinde.

7. Enter an Email key attribute. This is the attribute in the SAML token that contains the user’s email. Setting this value ensures that the email address returned in the SAML response is correctly retrieved. We do not recommend leaving this field blank, but if you do we will set ‘email’ as the attribute.

8. (Optional) Add a first name and last name key attribute.

   

9. Enter any relevant Home realm domains. This is how SAML recognizes a user’s credentials and routes them to the correct sign in page. Note that home realm domains need to be unique across all connections in an environment. Read more about home realm domains.

10. If you use home realm domains, the sign in button is hidden on the auth screen by default. To show the SSO button, select the Always show sign-in button option.

    

11. Copy the reply relevant URL:

    1. If you don’t use a custom domain, copy the Assertion customer service (ACS) URL.
    2. If you do use a custom domain, select the Use custom domain instead option and copy the custom domain URL. Later, add this URL to your identity provider configuration.

12. If you want to enable just-in-time (JIT) provisioning for users, select the Create a user record in Kinde option. This saves time adding users manually or via API later.

    

13. (Temporary feature) Select if you want to treat this connection as a trusted provider. A trusted provider is one that guarantees the email they issue is verified.

14. (Optional) In the Sign SAML request section, paste in the Signed certificate and Private key. You may have got these from your IdP or you may have generated yourself (see procedure above).

15. Enter any upstream params that you want to pass to the identity provider. Not all providers support this, so check their documentation first.

16. Select Save.

Step 3: Add and configure your Cloudflare application

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1. Sign in to your Cloudflare account.

2. In the menu, select Zero trust.

3. Go to Access > Applications, then select Add an application.

4. Select SaaS as the type of application. The Add application window opens.

   

5. Enter an application name or select an application.

6. Choose Select SAML for the authentication protocol.

7. Select Add Application. The Configure application page opens.

   

8. Add the Entity ID and ACS URL from Kinde.

9. Copy the SAML Metadata endpoint to your clipboard. You’ll need to enter this back in Kinde.

10. Scroll through the other sections and then select Save configuration. The Add policies page opens.

11. Add a policy to define who can access your application. You might do this via an allowlist and groups, or other strategy.

12. Complete any other relevant sections of the window, and then select Done.

Step 4: Finish setting up your Cloudflare connection

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1. Open the connection in Kinde. Via Organization > Authentication or via Settings > Authentication.
2. Scroll to the IdP metadata URL field and paste the Metadata URL you copied from your Cloudflare app.
3. Switch on the connection. This will make it instantly available to users if this is your production environment.
   1. For environment-level connections, scroll down and select the apps that will use the auth method.
   2. For organization-level connections, scroll down and select if you want to switch this on for the org.
4. Select Save.