Authenticate Session - Stytch Docs

sessions.authenticate wraps the Authenticate Session endpoint and validates that the session issued to the user is still valid. The SDK will invoke this method automatically in the background.

This method is used by the Stytch SDK internally to refresh session tokens on a regular cadence, so you probably won’t need to call this method directly. However, if you want to manually refresh the session token, you can call this method.

Parameters

session_duration_minutes

number

required

Set the session lifetime to be this many minutes from now. This will return both an opaque session_token and session_jwt for this session, which will automatically be stored in the browser cookies. The session_jwt will have a fixed lifetime of five minutes regardless of the underlying session duration, and will be automatically refreshed by the SDK in the background over time.This value must be a minimum of 5 and may not exceed the maximum session duration minutes value set in the Frontend SDK page of the Stytch Dashboard.A successful authentication will continue to extend the session this many minutes.

Response

session_jwt

string

The JSON Web Token (JWT) for a given Stytch Session.

session_token

string

A secret token for a given Stytch Session.

member_session

object

The Member Session object.

Show properties

member_session_id

string

Globally unique UUID that identifies the Session.

member_id

string

Globally unique UUID that identifies a specific Member.

authentication_factors

array[objects]

An array of authentication factors that comprise a Session.

Show properties

type

string

The type of authentication factor. The possible values are: email_otp, impersonated, imported, magic_link, oauth, otp, password, recovery_codes, sso, trusted_auth_token, or totp.

delivery_method

string

The method that was used to deliver the authentication factor. The possible values depend on the type:

email_otp: Only email.
impersonated: Only impersonation.
imported: Only imported_auth0.
magic_link: Only email.
oauth: oauth_google, oauth_microsoft, oauth_hubspot, oauth_slack, or oauth_github. You may see an ‘exchange’ delivery method when a non-email-verifying OAuth factor originally authenticated in one organization is exchanged for a factor in another organization. This can happen during authentication flows such as session exchange. The non-email-verifying OAuth providers are Hubspot, Slack, and Github. Google is also considered non-email-verifying when the HD claim is empty. The possible exchange values are oauth_exchange_google, oauth_exchange_hubspot, oauth_exchange_slack, or oauth_exchange_github. The final possible value is oauth_access_token_exchange, if this factor came from an access token exchange flow.
- otp: Only sms.
- password: Only knowledge.
- recovery_codes: Only recovery_code.
- sso: sso_saml or sso_oidc.
- trusted_auth_token: Only trusted_token_exchange.
- totp: Only authenticator_app.

created_at

string

The timestamp when the factor was initially authenticated.

last_authenticated_at

string

The timestamp when the factor was last authenticated.

updated_at

string

The timestamp when the factor was last updated.

sequence_order

string

Either PRIMARY or SECONDARY. Secondary factor types include otp, totp, and recovery_codes. All other factors are primary.

email_factor

object

Information about the email factor, if one is present.

Show properties

email_address

string

The email address of the Member.

email_id

string

The globally unique UUID of the Member’s email.

phone_number_factor

object

Information about the phone number factor, if one is present.

Show properties

phone_number

string

The phone number.

phone_id

string

The globally unique UUID of the phone number.

google_oauth_factor

object

Information about the Google OAuth factor, if one is present.

Show properties

string

The unique ID of the OAuth registration.

email_id

string

The globally unique UUID of the Member’s email.

provider_subject

string

The unique identifier for the User within the OAuth provider. Also commonly called the sub or “Subject field” in OAuth protocols.

microsoft_oauth_factor

object

Information about the Microsoft OAuth factor, if one is present.

Show properties

string

The unique ID of the OAuth registration.

email_id

string

The globally unique UUID of the Member’s email.

provider_subject

string

The unique identifier for the User within the OAuth provider. Also commonly called the sub or “Subject field” in OAuth protocols.

hubspot_oauth_factor

object

Information about the Hubspot OAuth factor, if one is present.

Show properties

string

The unique ID of the OAuth registration.

email_id

string

The globally unique UUID of the Member’s email.

provider_subject

string

The unique identifier for the User within the OAuth provider. Also commonly called the sub or “Subject field” in OAuth protocols.

github_oauth_factor

object

Information about the Github OAuth factor, if one is present.

Show properties

string

The unique ID of the OAuth registration.

email_id

string

The globally unique UUID of the Member’s email.

provider_subject

string

The unique identifier for the User within the OAuth provider. Also commonly called the sub or “Subject field” in OAuth protocols.

slack_oauth_factor

object

Information about the Slack OAuth factor, if one is present.

Show properties

string

The unique ID of the OAuth registration.

email_id

string

The globally unique UUID of the Member’s email.

provider_subject

string

The unique identifier for the User within the OAuth provider. Also commonly called the sub or “Subject field” in OAuth protocols.

google_oauth_exchange_factor

object

Information about the Google OAuth Exchange factor, if one is present.

Show properties

email_id

string

The globally unique UUID of the email address.

hubspot_oauth_exchange_factor

object

Information about the Hubspot OAuth Exchange factor, if one is present.

Show properties

email_id

string

The globally unique UUID of the email address.

github_oauth_exchange_factor

object

Information about the Github OAuth Exchange factor, if one is present.

Show properties

email_id

string

The globally unique UUID of the email address.

slack_oauth_exchange_factor

object

Information about the Slack OAuth Exchange factor, if one is present.

Show properties

email_id

string

The globally unique UUID of the email address.

saml_sso_factor

object

Information about the SAML SSO factor, if one is present.

Show properties

string

The unique ID of an SSO Registration.

provider_id

string

Globally unique UUID that identifies a specific SAML Connection.

external_id

string

The ID of the member given by the identity provider.

oidc_sso_factor

object

Information about the OIDC SSO factor, if one is present.

Show properties

string

The unique ID of an SSO Registration.

provider_id

string

Globally unique UUID that identifies a specific OIDC Connection.

external_id

string

The ID of the member given by the identity provider.

authenticator_app_factor

object

Information about the TOTP-backed Authenticator App factor, if one is present.

Show properties

totp_id

string

Globally unique UUID that identifies the TOTP instance.

impersonated_factor

object

Information about the impersonated factor, if one is present.

Show properties

impersonator_id

string

For impersonated sessions initiated via the Stytch Dashboard, the impersonator’s Stytch Dashboard member_id.

impersonator_email_address

string

The email address of the impersonator.

trusted_auth_token_factor

object

Information about the trusted auth token factor, if one is present.

Show properties

token_id

string

The ID of the trusted auth token.

oauth_access_token_exchange_factor

object

Information about the access token exchange factor, if one is present.

Show properties

client_id

string

The ID of the Connected App client.

organization_id

The globally unique UUID that identifies the Organization associated with the Session.

organization_slug

The unique URL slug of the Organization associated with the Session.

roles

array[string]

A list of the roles associated with the Session. Members may inherit certain roles depending on the factors in their Session. For example, some roles may only be active if the member logged in from a specific SAML IDP.

started_at

string

The timestamp when the Session was created. Values conform to the RFC 3339 standard and are expressed in UTC, e.g. 2021-12-29T12:33:09Z.

last_accessed_at

string

The timestamp when the Session was last accessed. Values conform to the RFC 3339 standard and are expressed in UTC, e.g. 2021-12-29T12:33:09Z.

expires_at

string

The timestamp when the Session expires. Values conform to the RFC 3339 standard and are expressed in UTC, e.g. 2021-12-29T12:33:09Z.

custom_claims

map<string, any>

The custom claims map for a Session. Claims can be added to a Session during a Sessions authenticate call.

member

object

The Member associated with the Session.

Show properties

organization_id

string

Globally unique UUID that identifies a specific Organization.

member_id

string

Globally unique UUID that identifies a specific Member.

external_id

string

The ID of the Member given by the identity provider.

email_address

string

The email address of the Member.

email_address_verified

boolean

Whether or not the Member’s email address is verified.

status

string

The status of the Member. The possible values are: pending, invited, active, or deleted.

name

string

The name of the Member.

sso_registration

object[]

An array of registered SAML Connection or OIDC Connection objects the Member has authenticated with.

Show sso_registration properties

connection_id

string

Globally unique UUID that identifies a specific SSO connection_id for a Member.

registration_id

string

The unique ID of an SSO Registration.

external_id

string

The ID of the Member given by the identity provider.

sso_attributes

object

An object for storing SSO attributes brought over from the identity provider.

scim_registration

object

Sets whether the Member is enrolled in MFA.

Show sso_registration properties

connection_id

string

The id of the SCIM Connection.

registration_id

string

The unique ID of a SCIM Registration.

external_id

string

The ID of the Member given by the identity provider.

sso_attributes

object

An object for storing SCIM attributes brought over from the identity provider.

is_breakglass

boolean

Identifies the Member as a break glass user - someone who has permissions to authenticate into an Organization by bypassing the Organization’s settings.A break glass account is typically used for emergency purposes to gain access outside of normal authentication procedures. Refer to the Organization object and its auth_methods and allowed_auth_methods fields for more details.

member_password_id

string

Globally unique UUID that identifies a Member’s password.

oauth_registrations

object[]

A list of OAuth registrations for this Member.

Show oauth_registrations properties

provider_type

string

Denotes the OAuth identity provider that the user has authenticated with, e.g. Google, Microsoft, GitHub etc.

provider_subject

string

The unique identifier for the User within a given OAuth provider. Also commonly called the sub or “Subject field” in OAuth protocols.

profile_picture_url

string

If available, the profile_picture_url is a URL of the User’s profile picture set in the OAuth identity provider that the User has authenticated with, e.g. Google profile picture.

locale

string

If available, the locale is the Member’s locale set in the OAuth identity provider that the user has authenticated with.

member_oauth_registration_id

string

The unique ID of an OAuth registration.

mfa_enrolled

boolean

Sets whether the Member is enrolled in MFA.If true, the Member must complete an MFA step whenever they wish to log in to their Organization.If false, the Member only needs to complete an MFA step if the Organization’s MFA policy is set to REQUIRED_FOR_ALL.

mfa_phone_number

string

The Member’s phone number. A Member may only have one phone number.The phone number should be in E.164 format (i.e. +1XXXXXXXXXX).

mfa_phone_number_verified

boolean

Whether or not the Member’s phone number is verified.

retired_email_addresses

object[]

A list of retired email addresses for this Member. A previously active email address can be marked as retired in one of two ways:

It’s replaced with a new primary email address during an explicit Member update.
A new email address is surfaced by an OAuth, SAML or OIDC provider. In this case the new email address becomes the Member’s primary email address and the old primary email address is retired. A retired email address cannot be used by other Members in the same Organization. However, unlinking retired email addresses allows them to be subsequently re-used by other Organization Members. Retired email addresses can be unlinked using the Unlink Retired Email endpoint.

Show properties

email_id

string

The globally unique UUID of a Member’s email.

email_address

string

The email address of the Member.

trusted_metadata

object

An arbitrary JSON object for storing application-specific data or identity-provider-specific data.

untrusted_metadata

object

An arbitrary JSON object of application-specific data. These fields can be edited directly by the frontend SDK, and should not be used to store critical information. See the Metadata resource for complete field behavior details.

roles

object[]

Explicit or implicit Roles assigned to this Member, along with details about the role assignment source. See the RBAC guide for more information about role assignment.

Show roles properties

role_id

string

The unique identifier of the RBAC Role, provided by the developer and intended to be human-readable.Reserved role_ids that are predefined by Stytch include:

stytch_member
stytch_admin

Check out the guide on Stytch default Roles for a more detailed explanation.

sources

object[]

A list of sources for this role assignment. A role assignment can come from multiple sources - for example, the Role could be both explicitly assigned and implicitly granted from the Member’s email domain.

Show sources properties

type

string

The type of role assignment. The possible values are:

direct_assignment – an explicitly assigned Role. Directly assigned roles can be updated by passing in the roles argument to the Update Member endpoint.
email_assignment – an implicit Role granted by the Member’s email domain, regardless of their login method. Email implicit role assignments can be updated by passing in the rbac_email_implicit_role_assignments argument to the Update Organization endpoint.
sso_connection – an implicit Role granted by the Member’s SSO connection. This is currently only available for SAML connections and not for OIDC. If the Member has a SAML Member registration with the given connection, this role assignment will appear in the list. However, for authorization check purposes (in sessions authenticate or in any endpoint that enforces RBAC with session headers), the Member will only be granted the Role if their session contains an authentication factor with the specified SAML connection. SAML connection implicit role assignments can be updated by passing in the saml_connection_implicit_role_assignments argument to the Update SAML connection endpoint.
sso_connection_group – an implicit Role granted by the Member’s SSO connection and group. This is currently only available for SAML connections and not for OIDC. If the Member has a SAML Member registration with the given connection, and belongs to a specific group within the IdP, this role assignment will appear in the list. However, for authorization check purposes (in sessions authenticate or in any endpoint that enforces RBAC with session headers), the Member will only be granted the role if their session contains an authentication factor with the specified SAML connection.
scim_connection_group – an implicit Role granted by the Member’s SCIM connection and group. If the Member has a SCIM Member registration with the given connection, and belongs to a specific group within the IdP, this role assignment will appear in the list. SCIM group implicit role assignments can be updated by passing in the scim_group_implicit_role_assignments argument to the Update SCIM connection endpoint.

details

object

An object containing additional metadata about the source assignment. The fields will vary depending on the role assignment type as follows:

direct_assignment – no additional details.
email_assignment – will contain the email domain that granted the assignment.
sso_connection – will contain the connection_id of the SAML connection that granted the assignment.
sso_connection_group – will contain the connection_id of the SAML connection and the name of the group that granted the assignment.
scim_connection_group – will contain the connection_id of the SAML connection and the group_id that granted the assignment.

is_admin

boolean

Whether or not the Member has the stytch_admin Role. This Role is automatically granted to Members who create an Organization through the discovery flow. See the RBAC guide for more details on this Role.

created_at

string

The date and time the Member was created.

updated_at

string

The date and time the Member was last updated.

organization

object

The Organization associated with the Member’s Session.

Show properties

organization_id

string

Globally unique UUID that identifies a specific Organization. The organization_id is critical to perform operations on an Organization, so be sure to preserve this value. You may also use the organization_slug or organization_external_id here as a convenience.

organization_name

string

The name of the Organization. Must be between 1 and 128 characters in length.

organization_logo_url

string

The image URL of the Organization logo.

organization_slug

string

The unique URL slug of the Organization.The slug only accepts alphanumeric characters and the following reserved characters: - . _ ~. Must be between 2 and 128 characters in length.Wherever an organization_id is expected in a path or request parameter, you may also use the organization_slug as a convenience.

sso_active_connections

array[objects]

An array of active SAML Connection references or OIDC Connection references.

Show sso_active_connections properties

connection_id

string

Globally unique UUID that identifies a specific SSO connection_id for a Member.

display_name

string

A human-readable display name for the connection.

email_allowed_domains

array[strings]

An array of email domains that allow invites or JIT provisioning for new Members. This list is enforced when either email_invites or email_jit_provisioning is set to RESTRICTEDCommon domains such as gmail.com are not allowed. See the full list of disallowed common email domains.

email_jit_provisioning

string

The authentication setting that controls how a new Member can be provisioned by authenticating via Email Magic Link or OAuth. The accepted values are:

RESTRICTED – only new Members with verified emails that comply with email_allowed_domains can be provisioned upon authentication via Email Magic Link or OAuth
NOT_ALLOWED – the default setting, disables JIT provisioning via Email Magic Link and OAuth

auth_methods

string

The setting that controls which authentication methods can be used by Members of an Organization. The accepted values are:

ALL_ALLOWED – the default setting which allows all authentication methods to be used
RESTRICTED – only methods that comply with allowed_auth_methods can be used for authentication. This setting does not apply to Members with is_breakglass set to true

allowed_auth_methods

array[strings]

An array of allowed authentication methods. This list is enforced when auth_methods is set to RESTRICTED. The list’s accepted values are: sso, magic_link, email_otp, password, google_oauth, microsoft_oauth, slack_oauth, github_oauth, and hubspot_oauth.

sso_default_connection_id

string

The default connection used for SSO when there are multiple active connections.

oauth_tenant_jit_provisioning

string

The authentication setting that controls how a new Member can JIT provision into an Organization by tenant. The accepted values are:

RESTRICTED – only new Members with tenants in allowed_oauth_tenants can JIT provision via tenant
NOT_ALLOWED – the default setting, disables JIT provisioning by OAuth Tenant

allowed_oauth_tenants

object

A map of allowed OAuth tenants. If this field is not passed in, the Organization will not allow JIT provisioning by OAuth Tenant. Allowed keys are “slack”, “hubspot”, and “github”.

request_id

string

Globally unique UUID that is returned with every API call. This value is important to log for debugging purposes; we may ask for this value to help identify a specific API call when helping you debug an issue.

status_code

number

The HTTP status code of the response. Stytch follows standard HTTP response status code patterns, e.g. 2XX values equate to success, 3XX values are redirects, 4XX are client errors, and 5XX are server errors.

​Parameters

​Response

Parameters

Response