Guide: Integrating Okta SAML SSO with Next.js (Passport and API Routes)

I recently had to wire up SAML-based SSO with Okta for a Next.js project. Most of the resources I found were either outdated or assumed a ton of boilerplate. I ended up combining passport-saml, iron-session, and custom API routes to make it work cleanly with Next.js.

Covered in the guide:

Okta SAML setup + metadata extraction

Configuring Passport strategy

Secure session handling with iron-session

API route-based login/callback/logout flows

Protecting SSR pages and basic user provisioning

Tips for testing locally with ngrok

If you’re building enterprise-ready apps with Next.js and need SAML support, this might save you some time: https://ssojet.com/blog/integrating-okta-saml-sso-with-your-...

Feedback welcome, and I’m happy to help troubleshoot if anyone hits weird edge cases like ACS URL mismatch or certificate issues.