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Show HN: WorkOS – APIs for enterprise features like SSO/SAML

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Re: Show HN: WorkOS – APIs for enterprise features like SSO/SAML

#11

Post by ucarion »

grinich wrote: post #7
ucarion wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I fully appreciate how difficult this is to do, but I think it would be immensely useful if WorkOS provided the docs that I (the SAML SP, your customer) provide to my customers who are setting up SAML (as an IdP) on their end. One of the biggest pain points I've experienced with SAML is that people come to me asking for help, but only understanding their IdP; the only IdP I know how to use is Okta, and I don't have a…

Yep we're already looking at doing this with docs. :) One thing to help with the SAML support is WorkOS.js. It's essentially an embeddable configuration flow, so you don't need to build the UI to collect x.509 certs, generate the ACS URL, etc. Similar architecture to "Plaid Link" so users never leave your app. Docs here: https://docs.workos.com/sso/embed-workosjs

Yeah this is really cool! To your point about WorkOS.js -- how would a customer know where to find their SAML metadata? Some of this can be done inline in WorkOS.js, of course.

But no amount of inline docs in WorkOS.js's UI is going to get around the high-level guidance docs, both for your customers ("where do I even start") and your customers' customers ("how do I fit my IdP peg into your SP round hole").

Re: Show HN: WorkOS – APIs for enterprise features like SSO/SAML

#12

Post by cordite »

grinich wrote: post #2

Hi HN! I’m the founder of WorkOS ( https://workos.com ) We provide a developer API for making your app enterprise-ready. You can quickly add features including SSO/SAML, Director Sync (SCIM), Audit Logs, and more. WorkOS is “Plaid for enterprise IT systems.” I learned about these enterprise requirements the hard way. Previously, I founded Nylas where we built an email app called Nylas Mail. We couldn’t monetize that…

What did you use to build your documentation site?

Re: Show HN: WorkOS – APIs for enterprise features like SSO/SAML

#13

Post by grinich »

ucarion wrote: post #11
grinich wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep we're already looking at doing this with docs. :) One thing to help with the SAML support is WorkOS.js. It's essentially an embeddable configuration flow, so you don't need to build the UI to collect x.509 certs, generate the ACS URL, etc. Similar architecture to "Plaid Link" so users never leave your app. Docs here: https://docs.workos.com/sso/embed-workosjs

Yeah this is really cool! To your point about WorkOS.js -- how would a customer know where to find their SAML metadata? Some of this can be done inline in WorkOS.js, of course. But no amount of inline docs in WorkOS.js's UI is going to get around the high-level guidance docs, both for your customers ("where do I even start") and your customers' customers ("how do I fit my IdP peg into your SP round hole").

Ah yeah I'm talking about two different things. The docs for getting SAML config would be on a separate public site.

WorkOS.js is for the IT admin to configure their SSO/SAML integration.

With both of these things, you can make SAML fully self-serve and include it in your base tier, which drives adoption and retention in bigger companies.

Re: Show HN: WorkOS – APIs for enterprise features like SSO/SAML

#14

Post by mdeeks »

Slightly off-topic complaint: I really wish these features weren't considered "Enterprise" by so many people. Do you have a company that uses third party tools and has employees that leave? Congrats, you're an "enterprise" and need the "enterprise" plan.

I dream of the day that these features (SSO, Sync/SCIM, auditing) are considered table stakes.

I hope WorkOS takes off and drives that.

P.S. RIP Nylus

Re: Show HN: WorkOS – APIs for enterprise features like SSO/SAML

#16

Post by grinich »

cordite wrote: post #12
grinich wrote: post #2

Hi HN! I’m the founder of WorkOS ( https://workos.com ) We provide a developer API for making your app enterprise-ready. You can quickly add features including SSO/SAML, Director Sync (SCIM), Audit Logs, and more. WorkOS is “Plaid for enterprise IT systems.” I learned about these enterprise requirements the hard way. Previously, I founded Nylas where we built an email app called Nylas Mail. We couldn’t monetize that…

What did you use to build your documentation site?

It's custom, built on Next.js and MDX.

https://github.com/zeit/next.js/

https://github.com/mdx-js/mdx

Re: Show HN: WorkOS – APIs for enterprise features like SSO/SAML

#17

Post by HEHENE »

cordite wrote: post #12
grinich wrote: post #2

Hi HN! I’m the founder of WorkOS ( https://workos.com ) We provide a developer API for making your app enterprise-ready. You can quickly add features including SSO/SAML, Director Sync (SCIM), Audit Logs, and more. WorkOS is “Plaid for enterprise IT systems.” I learned about these enterprise requirements the hard way. Previously, I founded Nylas where we built an email app called Nylas Mail. We couldn’t monetize that…

What did you use to build your documentation site?

Very impressed with how the documentation looks. Similar to ReadMe.io, but a little bit more simple. Would love to know as well!

Re: Show HN: WorkOS – APIs for enterprise features like SSO/SAML

#18

Post by xellisx »

mdeeks wrote: post #14

Slightly off-topic complaint: I really wish these features weren't considered "Enterprise" by so many people. Do you have a company that uses third party tools and has employees that leave? Congrats, you're an "enterprise" and need the "enterprise" plan. I dream of the day that these features (SSO, Sync/SCIM, auditing) are considered table stakes. I hope WorkOS takes off and drives that. P.S. RIP Nylus

I wish people would stop using 'OS' when naming things, when it's not an Operating System.

Re: Show HN: WorkOS – APIs for enterprise features like SSO/SAML

#19

Post by grinich »

aktive0 wrote: post #15

Since this is enterprise tool, what's your security posture like? Are you compliant/certified with framework's like ISO27001?

We're currently in the middle of our SOC-2 Type 2 observation period and should have that certification in Q2.

The company is barely 1 year old and the process of certification can be a bit slow. Other attestations including ISO/IEC 27001, 27017, and 27018 will come later.

We also have a lot of internal practices and policy for how we secure WorkOS while still allowing our engineering team to ship code incredibly fast. It involves separation of duties, hardware security keys (YubiKey), and lots of automation with alerting.

Hopefully we can write something public about it later this year. Many of the ideas came from Stripe's security team. (Thanks Angie! <3)

Re: Show HN: WorkOS – APIs for enterprise features like SSO/SAML

#20

Post by bigbossman »

grinich wrote: post #2

Hi HN! I’m the founder of WorkOS ( https://workos.com ) We provide a developer API for making your app enterprise-ready. You can quickly add features including SSO/SAML, Director Sync (SCIM), Audit Logs, and more. WorkOS is “Plaid for enterprise IT systems.” I learned about these enterprise requirements the hard way. Previously, I founded Nylas where we built an email app called Nylas Mail. We couldn’t monetize that…

Just want to clarify - is this different from Monday.com? I saw a bunch of billboards on 101 advertising Monday as your new Work OS.
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