Sharepoint REST API authentication with SAML

Question

My app uses OKTA for authentication using SAML. I was able to get this up. I am also able to make REST calls to sharepoint using the username and password.

Now that I have both these set up, I would like to integrate them. I would like to use OKTA(SAML) for authentication and then would like to use the SAML token for authentication of REST calls.

I would like to know if Sharepoint REST API supports it and if yes what headers should I pass for the same.

Answer 1

SharePoint Online uses a token based authentication mechanism. To authenticate with SharePoint Online you can use an active or passive approach. Active involves calling a web service to authenticate with and receive a token in return. Passive makes use of a web browser control from which you can then retrieve the security token from the cookies.

The token is then associated with each call you make to SharePoint Online.

Check these.

Authentication with SharePoint Online and the Client Side Object Model

Remote Authentication in SharePoint Online Using Claims-Based Authentication

Part 2: “Headless” Authentication with SharePoint Online and the Client Side Object Model

https://github.com/OfficeDev/PnP/blob/2f91e2d053171d2e9bb6a60fc0f7004401ffc363/OfficeDevPnP.Core/SAML%20authentication.md