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Zenskar supports single sign-on (SSO) through SAML 2.0, letting an organization authenticate users through its existing identity provider. This guide sets up SAML in Zenskar using Google Workspace (or Cloud Identity) as the identity provider.

New to SSO?

If terms like identity provider (IdP) and service provider (SP) are unfamiliar, start with the Concepts page.

Reference

Field-level detail, validation rules, and the assertion Zenskar expects. Keep it open while you work through the steps.
This guide is for administrators. You need admin access to both Google Workspace and Zenskar: a Google Workspace super administrator account, and a Zenskar role with SAML permissions. If your organization does not use Google Workspace yet, set it up and add your users there first. Adding the Zenskar application does not change your existing Google Workspace setup, and your users keep the credentials they already use.
Sign-in must start from the Zenskar sign-in page. Launching Zenskar from the Google app launcher does not complete sign-in.
Zenskar does not control the Google Admin console, and Google may rename or move fields at any time. Each Google Workspace label in this guide is paired with the SAML 2.0 concept it maps to, which does not change, so a rename does not break the mapping. The labels were accurate on 2 September 2026; if one no longer matches what you see, match on the concept and use Google’s current guide to setting up your own custom SAML app to find the field.

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Step 1: Verify your domain

  1. Click the account menu at the bottom of the sidebar, and select Settings.
  2. Open the SAML tab.
  3. In the Connection section, enter a Name for this configuration and the Domain to verify, for example acme.com. Enter the bare domain, with no https:// prefix and no path.
  4. Click GET TXT RECORDS.
  5. Add the resulting TXT record to the domain’s DNS.
  6. Click VERIFY DOMAIN once the record has propagated. The domain’s status changes from Pending to Verified.
  7. Under Identity Provider, select Google Workspace from the dropdown. This is the default selection.
If VERIFY DOMAIN reports a failure, the TXT record may not have propagated yet. DNS changes can take from a few minutes to 48 hours; wait and try again.

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Step 2: Set up the application in Google Workspace

Create a custom SAML app for Zenskar. On the Google Identity Provider details screen, download the certificate file and copy the SSO URL and Entity ID; you enter these in Zenskar in Step 3. Then turn the app on for the users or organizational units who should be able to sign in to Zenskar.

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Service provider values

From the Zenskar SAML Configuration Values section on the SAML tab, enter these in Google Workspace: The ACS URL appears once Google Workspace is selected on the SAML tab in Step 1. Copy it and the Entity ID exactly as shown.

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NameID

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Attribute statements

Attribute names are case-sensitive and must contain no spaces. If the first or last name attribute is missing, Zenskar asks the user to enter their name on first sign-in. Leave anything else at its default.

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Step 3: Finish in Zenskar

On the SAML tab, in the Identity Provider Configuration section, enter these values from Google Workspace:
Zenskar needs the certificate as a PEM block with its -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- and -----END CERTIFICATE----- lines. The <ds:X509Certificate> value in the metadata XML has no such lines and will fail the check: use the certificate file downloaded in Step 2, or wrap the Base64 in those lines before pasting.
Then set the four Attribute Mapping fields to the attribute names from Step 2. Turn on SAML Status and click Save Configuration. Zenskar checks the form first: with SAML Status on, the Name, Domain, both Identity Provider Configuration values, the Certificate, and all four attribute mappings are required, and the single sign-on URL must use https. See Field validation for the certificate format and the other checks. Good to know
  • A user who already has a Zenskar password confirms it once, on their first SSO sign-in, to link their account. Every sign-in after that goes through Google.
  • Once the domain is verified and SAML Status is on, invited users no longer receive a password-setup email; their account is created on first SSO sign-in.
  • To change an Identity Provider Configuration value later, edit the field with SAML Status on and click Save Configuration again. A save made while SAML Status is off is stored but does not update the live connection.

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Step 4: Test

  1. Test in a private or incognito window: go to the Zenskar sign-in page, enter the work email address of a user the app is turned on for, and continue. The sign-in should route to Google and return to the Zenskar dashboard.
  2. Test with a second user before announcing it to the team. This confirms the app is on for the right organizational units, not just one account.
If sign-in fails with a Google 403 app_not_configured_for_user error right after turning the app on, wait: app access can take up to 24 hours to propagate, though it is usually a few minutes.

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Troubleshooting and upkeep

Troubleshooting

Common sign-in failures and what each one means.

Keeping SAML running

Certificate rotation, adding and removing access, and passwords.
Reach out to help@zenskar.com with questions while going through setup.