Okta Auth

Alpha: this project is under active development. APIs, tool signatures, and session formats may change between releases.

okta-auth is an Okta login toolkit with two entry points:

• okta: interactive CLI for humans
• okta-auth: MCP server for AI agents that reuse saved sessions

Sessions are stored under ~/.okta-auth/sessions/. Existing sessions under ~/.okta-auth-mcp/sessions/ are migrated automatically.

Install

uv tool

uv tool install okta-auth-cli

pipx

pipx install okta-auth-cli

pip

pip install okta-auth-cli

Browser setup

The project uses Playwright for browser automation. It automatically prefers a local Chrome or Edge install when available.

If no supported system browser is found, install Playwright Chromium:

playwright install chromium

Upgrade

• uv tool: uv tool upgrade okta-auth-cli
• pipx: pipx upgrade okta-auth-cli
• pip: pip install -U okta-auth-cli

Quick Start

1. Configure credentials

Run the built-in wizard:

okta config

If the wizard asks for a TOTP secret and you are not sure where to find it, see TOTP Secret.

The wizard supports two providers:

• keyring: store credentials in the OS credential manager
• op: generate ~/.okta-auth/op.env with op://... references for op run

Only non-secret settings such as the default URL and provider metadata are stored in ~/.okta-auth/config.json.

2. Log in

okta

Or pass a target URL directly:

okta https://portal.company.com

The login flow is headless by default. Use --headed to show the browser.

3. Reuse the session from MCP

Once configured, AI agents can authenticate with the saved session or with the credential provider you configured.

TOTP Secret

The TOTP secret is the Base32 key behind your authenticator app. You typically must capture it during initial MFA enrollment.

During Okta MFA setup

1. Go to Settings -> Security Methods in Okta.
2. Choose Google Authenticator or another TOTP-compatible factor.
3. On the QR screen, click Can't scan?
4. Copy the displayed Base32 secret.
5. Complete enrollment by entering the generated code.

This project does not currently support portals that rely only on the Okta Verify push app for MFA.

If you already enrolled and lost the secret

You usually need to remove and re-enroll the authenticator factor to get a new secret.

Credential Setup

Credential resolution order is:

1. Explicit CLI or MCP arguments
2. Environment variables
3. Stored keyring credentials when the selected provider is keyring

Recommended: OS keyring

This is the default and recommended local setup:

okta config --provider keyring

What gets stored:

• username, password, totp_secret: OS keyring only
• default_url: ~/.okta-auth/config.json

Typical keyring backends:

• macOS: Keychain Access
• Windows: Credential Manager / Credential Locker
• Linux: Secret Service or KWallet

If no secure backend is available, the wizard refuses to fall back to plaintext.

1Password CLI

If you already manage secrets in 1Password:

okta config --provider op

What gets stored:

• vault, item, field names, default_url: ~/.okta-auth/config.json
• OKTA_USERNAME, OKTA_PASSWORD, optional OKTA_TOTP_SECRET references: ~/.okta-auth/op.env

The generated env file contains op://... references, not plaintext values.

Launch the CLI or MCP server through op run:

op run --env-file=$HOME/.okta-auth/op.env -- okta
op run --env-file=$HOME/.okta-auth/op.env -- uvx --from okta-auth-cli okta-auth

1Password vault, item, and field names must be compatible with secret reference paths. If a name contains unsupported separators such as /, use the object's unique ID instead.

Environment variables

Environment variables are still supported for CI, ephemeral shells, or external secret managers. They override okta config values.

export OKTA_USERNAME="[email protected]"
export OKTA_PASSWORD="your-okta-password"
export OKTA_TOTP_SECRET="JBSWY3DPEHPK3PXP"

Manual 1Password setup

If you do not want to use the wizard, you can set up op run manually.

1. Create a login item:

op item create --category login --title "Okta MCP" \
  username="[email protected]" \
  password="your-okta-password" \
  totp_secret="JBSWY3DPEHPK3PXP"

2. Create ~/.okta-auth/op.env:

OKTA_USERNAME=op://Personal/Okta MCP/username
OKTA_PASSWORD=op://Personal/Okta MCP/password
OKTA_TOTP_SECRET=op://Personal/Okta MCP/totp_secret

3. Launch through op run:

op run --env-file=$HOME/.okta-auth/op.env -- uvx --from okta-auth-cli okta-auth

CLI

Common commands

• okta [url]: log in and save a session
• okta config: open the credential wizard
• okta config --provider keyring: force keyring configuration
• okta config --provider op: force 1Password configuration
• okta config --show: show current config status
• okta config --reset: remove saved config and credentials
• okta check <url>: verify a stored session
• okta list: list stored sessions
• okta delete <url>: delete a stored session
• okta cookies <url>: inspect stored cookies

Example

okta https://portal.company.com --username [email protected] --headed

MCP Server

MCP tools

Tool	Description
okta_login	Authenticate to a target URL and store session state
okta_check_session	Verify whether a stored session is still valid
okta_list_sessions	List saved sessions and metadata
okta_delete_session	Remove a stored session
okta_get_cookies	Retrieve cookies from a stored session

Claude Code

claude mcp add okta-auth -- uvx --from okta-auth-cli okta-auth

If you use 1Password:

claude mcp add okta-auth -- op run --env-file=$HOME/.okta-auth/op.env -- uvx --from okta-auth-cli okta-auth

Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf

Default:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "okta-auth": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "okta-auth-cli", "okta-auth"]
    }
  }
}

With 1Password:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "okta-auth": {
      "command": "op",
      "args": ["run", "--env-file=/Users/yourname/.okta-auth/op.env", "--", "uvx", "--from", "okta-auth-cli", "okta-auth"]
    }
  }
}

Use okta for the interactive CLI. Use okta-auth only when wiring the package into an MCP client.

Security

• This project is intended for local trusted execution.
• Session files and cookies are sensitive credentials.
• Prefer okta config over passing credentials directly on the command line.
• Prefer keyring or op run over plaintext shell files.
• Never post cookie values, passwords, or TOTP secrets in issues or logs.

Development

uv venv && source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install -e '.[dev]'
playwright install chromium

Run checks locally:

ruff format --check .
ruff check .
pytest