> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/supertokens/supertokens-core/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# SAML Login Initiation

> Endpoint for initiating SAML authentication flow

## Create SAML Login Redirect

<RequestExample>
  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  curl -X POST https://your-domain.com/recipe/saml/login \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{
      "clientId": "my-saml-client",
      "redirectURI": "https://myapp.com/auth/callback",
      "state": "optional-state-parameter",
      "acsURL": "https://myapp.com/recipe/saml/acs"
    }'
  ```
</RequestExample>

<ResponseExample>
  ```json 200 OK theme={null}
  {
    "status": "OK",
    "ssoRedirectURI": "https://idp.example.com/sso?SAMLRequest=encoded-request&RelayState=state"
  }
  ```
</ResponseExample>

<ParamField path="clientId" type="string" required>
  The SAML client ID configured in your application
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="redirectURI" type="string" required>
  The URI to redirect to after successful authentication. Must be in the client's redirectURIs list
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="state" type="string">
  Optional state parameter to maintain state between request and callback
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="acsURL" type="string" required>
  Assertion Consumer Service URL where IdP will POST the SAML response
</ParamField>

<ResponseField name="status" type="string">
  "OK" or "INVALID\_CLIENT\_ERROR"
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="ssoRedirectURI" type="string">
  The complete SSO URL to redirect the user to for authentication with the IdP. This URL includes the encoded SAML authentication request and relay state
</ResponseField>

## Usage

After receiving the `ssoRedirectURI`, redirect the user's browser to this URL. The user will authenticate with the Identity Provider and be redirected back to your application's callback endpoint.

```javascript Example theme={null}
// Frontend example
fetch('/recipe/saml/login', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    clientId: 'my-saml-client',
    redirectURI: 'https://myapp.com/auth/callback',
    state: 'random-state-value',
    acsURL: 'https://myapp.com/recipe/saml/acs'
  })
})
.then(res => res.json())
.then(data => {
  if (data.status === 'OK') {
    window.location.href = data.ssoRedirectURI;
  }
});
```