The flow endpoint is used to interact with the user in a sign-on workflow. Flow endpoint operations are used only to implement custom authentication UIs. OIDC/OAuth 2 and SAML requests initiate the flow and redirect the browser to the custom authentication UI (which is configured in the application through the application’s loginPageUrl
property).
Note: Flows expire after 15 minutes of inactivity. Interacting with a flow beyond this period results in a 404.
Common sign-on actions
Login actions
The flow endpoint can initiate login actions that specify the operations required to authenticate with a username and password.
Multi-factor authentication actions
The flow endpoint can also initiate multi-factor authentication (MFA) actions that specify the operations required to complete authentication using a registered user device and a one-time password (OTP).
Identity first actions
The flow can initiate a discovery action used to identify the user by username
and determine the applicable authentication methods for this user.
Progressive profiling actions
Progressive profiling actions prompt users to provide additional data at sign on. This action type does not authenticate users. It is used only to obtain additional profile data.
Agreement actions
Agreement actions enforce user consent to an agreement at sign on. This action type does not authenticate users. It is used only to obtain user consent to a terms of service agreement.
Identity provider actions
An action that bypasses the PingOne sign-on prompt and immediately redirects the user to an external identity provider’s sign-on workflow to authenticate.
Use Cases
Flow status
In a sign-on workflow, the flow’s status
property value returned by the last action identifies the appropriate next action in the authentication process. For example, if an application uses the LOGIN
sign-on policy, when a user initiates sign-on and starts the authentication flow, the response returned by the flow shows a status
value that specifies the next required step to complete this flow successfully. For the LOGIN
sign-on policy, the next action prompts the user to enter a username and password, as indicated by the USERNAME_PASSWORD_REQUIRED
value in the status
property.
"status" : "USERNAME_PASSWORD_REQUIRED"
The response data includes a link to the required action, which in this case is the usernamePassword.check
:
{
"_links" : {
"self" : {
"href" : "https://auth.pingone.com/{{envID}}/flows/{{flowID}}"
},
"session.reset" : {
"href" : "https://auth.pingone.com/{{envID}}/flows/{{flowID}}"
},
"usernamePassword.check" : {
"href" : "https://auth.pingone.com/{{envID}}/flows/{{flowID}}"
}
},
After the user submits a username and password, the flow calls the usernamePassword.check
action to verify the username and password.
For more information about flow actions, see Flow API Actions.
Flow status values
An authentication flow can return one of the following status
values in response to a sign-on action:
Status value |
Description |
USERNAME_PASSWORD_REQUIRED |
This value specifies that a username and password is required. This status can initiate a usernamePassword.check action, a user.register action, a registration.external action, a password.forgot action, or an authenticate action to sign on using an external identity provider. |
PASSWORD_REQUIRED |
This value specifies that a password is required. This status initiates a usernamePassword.check action. |
SIGN_ON_REQUIRED |
This value specifies that a sign-on action is required. This status transitions to a user.lookup action and a registration.external action in a passwordless authentication flow. |
RECOVERY_CODE_REQUIRED |
This value specifies that the user initiated a password.forgot action and a recovery code must be sent. This status calls the password.recover action. |
VERIFICATION_REQUIRED |
This value specifies that the user’s account must be verified. This status calls the user.verify action. |
OTP_REQUIRED |
This value specifies that the user must complete a multi-factor authentication action. This status calls the otp.check action. |
DEVICE_SELECTION_REQUIRED |
This value specifies that the user must complete a device selection multi-factor authentication action. This status calls the device.select action. |
PASSWORD_EXPIRED |
This value specifies that a user’s password has expired and must be updated. This status calls the password.reset action. |
MUST_CHANGE_PASSWORD |
This value specifies that a temporary password must be changed or updated. This status calls the password.reset action. |
ACCOUNT_LINKING_REQUIRED |
This value specifies that the external identity returned by the identity provider requires an account linking action to link the external account to an existing user. This status can initiate a usernamePassword.check to link to an existing user, a user.register action to create a link to a new user, a registration.external action, or a password.forgot to link to an existing user who has forgotten the password. |
ACCOUNT_CONFIRMATION_REQUIRED |
This value specifies that the external identity informaiton returned by the identity provider requires an account confirmation action to verify the account data. This status can initiate a user.confirm action to verify the account information. |
EXTERNAL_AUTHENTICATION_REQUIRED |
This value specifies that account authentication is required through an external identity provider’s authentication flow. The authenticate embedded resource link provides the location to redirect the browser to sign on with the specified identity provider. |
PROFILE_DATA_REQUIRED |
This value specifies that user must submit the requested profile data in order to continue the authentication flow. |
COMPLETED |
This value specifies that the entire flow is completed and initiates a browser redirect to the resumeUrl property to continue. |
FAILED |
This value specifies that the entire flow has failed. |
PUSH_CONFIRMATION_REQUIRED |
This value specifies that a push was sent to a native device to confirm the authentication. The client will have to poll this status using GET /{{envID}}/flows/{{flowID}} to check whether the native device answered the push. |
PUSH_CONFIRMATION_TIMED_OUT |
This value specifies that a push was sent to a native device, but the native device didn’t answer the push during the allowed timeframe. |
ASSERTION_REQUIRED |
This value specifies that for a FIDO2 device type, an assertion generated by the browser from the provided webauthn public key credential request is required to continue the flow. The flow calls the assertion.check action. |
AGREEMENT_CONSENT_REQUIRED |
This value specifies that users need to consent to an agreement. This status calls the user.consent action. |
DAG_USER_CODE_REQUIRED |
This value specifies that an activation action is required to continue the flow. The flow calls the deviceAuthGrant.userCode.verify action. |
DAG_CONSENT_REQUIRED |
This value specifies that users need to consent to a device authorization grant agreement. This status calls the deviceAuthGrant.consent action. After accepting consent, a record is stored in the user’s OAuth Scope Consents. |
COMPLETED_ACCEPTED |
This completed state is used for device authorization grants to transition to a completed state. Unlike the COMPLETED flow state, this state does not transition the flow to the resume URL. |
COMPLETED_DECLINED |
This completed state is used for device authorization grants to transition to a completed state, and it generates a “device consent declined” audit event. |
Flow status data model and embedded resources
The following sections show the parameters required by the flow status. In addition, the following links and embedded resources are returned in the flow response for the given flow status.
USERNAME_PASSWORD_REQUIRED
Property |
Type |
Required? |
Mutable? |
Description |
username |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the username or ID of the user to authenticate. |
password |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the password or ID of the user to authenticate. |
Links |
Description |
usernamePassword.check |
The link to initiate a sign-on action that allows users to login with a username and password. The request body requires the username and password attributes. |
user.register |
The link to initiate a sign-on action to register a user. The request body requires the username , email , and password attributes needed to define a new user. |
registration.external |
The link to redirect a sign-on action to register a user to an external identity provider’s registration workflow. |
password.forgot |
The link to initiate an action to recover a user’s forgotten password. The request body requires the username attribute to identify the user. |
Embedded resources |
Description |
socialProviders.authenticate |
The link to the external authentication resource to initiate authentication using an external identity provider’s authentication flow. The response also returns the following information about the identity provider: id , name , and type . For more information, see Base identity providers data model. |
passwordPolicy |
The embedded password policy resource expanded to show password policy attributes. For more information about password policy attributes, see Password policies data model. |
Note: If an associated login action is configured with the enforceLockoutForIdentityProviders
property set to true
, and the user’s account is locked out (the account.canAuthenticate
attribute is set to false
), the login flow fails and returns an ACCOUNT_LOCKED_OUT
error.
SIGN_ON_REQUIRED
Property |
Type |
Required? |
Mutable? |
Description |
username |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the username or ID of the user to sign on. |
Links |
Description |
user.lookup |
The link for existing users to sign on using their username . |
registration.external |
The link to redirect a sign-on action to register a user to an external identity provider’s registration workflow. |
PASSWORD_REQUIRED
Property |
Type |
Required? |
Mutable? |
Description |
username |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the username or ID of the user to authenticate. If provided, must match the user currently associated with the session. |
password |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the password or ID of the user to authenticate. |
Links |
Description |
usernamePassword.check |
The link to initiate a sign-on action that allows users to log in with a username and password. The request body requires the username and password attributes. |
password.forgot |
The link to initiate an action to recover a user’s forgotten password. The request body requires the username attribute to identify the user. |
Embedded resources |
Description |
socialProviders.authenticate |
The link to the external authentication resource to initiate authentication using an external identity provider’s authentication flow. The response also returns the following information about the identity provider: id , name , and type . For more information, see Base identity providers data model. |
PASSWORD_EXPIRED
Property |
Type |
Required? |
Mutable? |
Description |
currentPassword |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the current password, which must be verified before the new password is set. |
newPassword |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the new password to set. |
Links |
Description |
password.reset |
The link to initiate a sign-on action that allows users to reset their password. The request body requires the currentPassword and newPassword attributes. |
Embedded resources |
Description |
passwordPolicy |
The embedded password policy resource expanded to show password policy attributes. For more information about password policy attributes, see Password policies data model. |
MUST_CHANGE_PASSWORD
Property |
Type |
Required? |
Mutable? |
Description |
currentPassword |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the current password, which must be verified before the new password is set. |
newPassword |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the new password to set. |
Links |
Description |
password.reset |
The link to initiate a sign-on action that allows users to reset their password. The request body requires the currentPassword and newPassword attributes. |
Embedded resources |
Description |
passwordPolicy |
The embedded password policy resource expanded to show password policy attributes. For more information about password policy attributes, see Password policies data model. |
RECOVERY_CODE_REQUIRED
Property |
Type |
Required? |
Mutable? |
Description |
recoveryCode |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the recovery code sent to the user to recover the user’s password. |
newPassword |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the new password to set. |
Links |
Description |
password.recover |
The link to initiate an action to recover the account and set a new password. The request body requires the recoveryCode and newPassword attributes. |
password.sendRecoveryCode |
The link to send the one-time password (OTP) to the user. |
Embedded resources |
Description |
passwordPolicy |
The embedded password policy resource expanded to show password policy attributes. For more information about password policy attributes, see Password policies data model. |
VERIFICATION_CODE_REQUIRED
Property |
Type |
Required? |
Mutable? |
Description |
verificationCode |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the verification code to check. |
Links |
Description |
user.verify |
The link to initiate an action to verify the user account to continue the authentication flow. |
user.sendVerificationCode |
The link to initiate an action to send the user a new account verification email. |
DEVICE_SELECTION_REQUIRED
Property |
Type |
Required? |
Mutable? |
Description |
device.id |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the ID of the selected device. |
Links |
Description |
device.select |
The link to initiate an action to specify a device ID to use in the multi-factor authentication flow. |
Embedded resources |
Description |
devices |
The embedded devices resource expanded to show a list of authenticating devices for this operation. For more information about device attributes, see Device properties. |
OTP_REQUIRED
Property |
Type |
Required? |
Mutable? |
Description |
selectedDevice.id |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the ID of the currently selected device. |
Links |
Description |
device.select |
The link to initiate an action to specify a device ID to use in the multi-factor authentication flow. |
otp.check |
The link to initiate an action to validate the OTP used in the multi-factor authentication flow. |
Embedded resources |
Description |
devices |
The embedded devices resource expanded to show a list of authenticating devices for this operation. For more information about device attributes, see Device properties. |
PUSH_CONFIRMATION_REQUIRED
Property |
Type |
Required? |
Mutable? |
Description |
selectedDevice.id |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the ID of the currently selected device. |
Links |
Description |
device.select |
The link to initiate an action to specify a device ID to use in the multi-factor authentication flow. |
Embedded resources |
Description |
devices |
The embedded devices resource expanded to show a list of authenticating devices for this operation. For more information about device attributes, see Device properties. |
PUSH_CONFIRMATION_TIMED_OUT
Property |
Type |
Required? |
Mutable? |
Description |
selectedDevice.id |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the ID of the currently selected device. |
Links |
Description |
device.select |
The link to initiate an action to specify a device ID to use in the multi-factor authentication flow. |
Embedded resources |
Description |
devices |
The embedded devices resource expanded to show a list of authenticating devices for this operation. For more information about device attributes, see Device properties. |
Note: For MFA actions that use push notification on a native device, the user resource must have a native device and an application associated with its user ID. In cases where a push token is sent to an uninstalled application, APNs may not return an unregistered application error. By not returning an error, the MFA flow continues to prompt for push confirmation and can result in a PUSH_CONFIRMATION_TIMED_OUT
status.
ACCOUNT_LINKING_REQUIRED
Links |
Description |
user.register |
The link to initiate a sign-on action that initiates an action to register a user. The request body requires the username , email , and password attributes to define a new user. |
registration.external |
The link to redirect a sign-on action to register a user to an external identity provider’s registration workflow. |
Embedded resources |
Description |
matchedUsers |
An array of 0 or more users that match the external identity. The request returns the username , email , and lastSignedOnAt attributes needed to identify the user. |
identityProviders |
The external identity provider used to authenticate. The request returns the name and type attributes needed to identify the identity provider used for authentication. |
ACCOUNT_CONFIRMATION_REQUIRED
Links |
Description |
user.confirm |
The link to initiate an action to verify the data returned by the external identity provider. The request body can include the returned attributes from the identity provider. |
Embedded resources |
Description |
attributes |
An array of attributes returned by the external identity provider. |
EXTERNAL_AUTHENTICATION_REQUIRED
Property |
Type |
Required? |
Mutable? |
Description |
name |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the name of the identity provider. |
type |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the identity provider type. |
Embedded resources |
Description |
identityProvider.authenticate |
A string that specifies the URL for the external identity provider’s sign-on screen to initiate authentication with the external identity provider. |
identityProvider.loginButtonIcon |
A string that specifies the URL for the external identity provider’s login button icon file. |
Note: If an associated login action is configured with the enforceLockoutForIdentityProviders
property set to true
, and the user’s account is locked out (the account.canAuthenticate
attribute is set to false
), the login flow fails and returns an ACCOUNT_LOCKED_OUT
error.
PROFILE_DATA_REQUIRED
Property |
Type |
Required? |
Mutable? |
Description |
displayName |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the display name as defined in the user schema. |
name |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the attribute name/path as defined in the user schema (for example, email , address.postalCode ). |
required |
Boolean |
Required |
Mutable |
A boolean that specifies whether the user is required to provide a value for the attribute. |
Links |
Description |
user.update |
The link to update the specified user’s profile with the user attribute values provided in the request. |
Embedded resources |
Description |
attributes |
An array of user attributes provided to update the user’s profile. |
attributes.name |
A string that specifies the attribute path, as defined in the user schema (for example, email , name.family , address.postalCode ). |
attributes.displayName |
A string that specifies the attribute’s display name, as defined in the user schema. This property is optional. |
attributes.required |
A boolean that specifies whether the user is required to provide a value for the attribute. |
promptText |
A string that specifies text to display to the user when prompting for attribute values. |
ASSERTION_REQUIRED
Response property |
Description |
publicKeyCredentialRequestOptions |
A string that specifies the public key credential request options object generated for the selected device that should be used to call the navigator.credentials.get() on the browser to generate the assertion. |
Property |
Type |
Required? |
Mutable? |
Description |
assertion |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the authenticator assertion response, which contains the signed challenge needed to complete the MFA action. |
compatibility |
String |
Optional |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the browser compatibility to support webauthn. Options are FULL (compatible with FIDO2 biometrics and security key), SECURITY_KEY_ONLY (compatible with security key only), and NONE (browser is not compatible with the webauthn method). |
origin |
String |
Required |
Mutable |
A string that specifies the server name where the fetch originates, providing the URI scheme and hostname (for example, https://apps.pingone.com). |
Links |
Description |
device.select |
The link to initiate an action to specify a device ID to use in the multi-factor authentication flow. For more information, see Select an MFA device. |
assertion.check |
The link to initiate an action to validate the assertion used in the multi-factor authentication flow. For more information, see Check assertion. |
Embedded resources |
Description |
devices |
The embedded devices resource expanded to show a list of authenticating devices for this operation. For more information about device attributes, see Devices model properties. |
AGREEMENT_CONSENT_REQUIRED
Property |
Type |
Required? |
Mutable? |
Description |
accept |
Boolean |
Required |
Mutable |
A boolean that specifies whether the user has consented to the agreement. This property is required for a user.consent action. The value is true if the user has consented to the agreement. |
Links |
Description |
user.consent |
The link to initiate an action in which the user accepts the agreement. |
DAG_USER_CODE_REQUIRED
Parameters |
Description |
userCode |
A string that specifies the user code value returned by the device authorization grant authorize request. |
Links |
Description |
deviceAuthGrant.userCode.verify |
The link to initiate an action to verify the end-user’s user code. |
DAG_CONSENT_REQUIRED
Parameters |
Description |
accept |
A boolean that specifies whether the user has consented to the agreement. This property is required for a deviceAuthGrant.consent action. The value is true if the user has consented to the agreement. |
Links |
Description |
deviceAuthGrant.consent |
The link to initiate an action to complete the consent agreement. On accepting the agreement, the flow transitions to the COMPLETED_ACCEPTED flow state; otherwise, it transitions to COMPLETED_DECLINED . |