How do we configure StackAI SSO with Microsoft Entra ID and enforce RBAC for projects, knowledge bases, and connectors?

Quick Answer: You configure StackAI SSO with Microsoft Entra ID by setting up an enterprise app with SAML/OIDC, mapping Entra groups to StackAI roles, and then enforcing role-based access control (RBAC) on projects, knowledge bases, and connectors via StackAI’s governance controls.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do we connect StackAI to Microsoft Entra ID for SSO?

Short Answer: Create an enterprise application in Microsoft Entra ID, configure SAML or OIDC with StackAI’s SSO settings, then test and enforce SSO-only access for your StackAI workspace.

Expanded Explanation:
From an IT perspective, StackAI behaves like any other enterprise SaaS relying on SSO: you define StackAI as an application in Entra ID, configure authentication (SAML/OIDC), and map user identifiers and groups. Once the trust relationship is in place, you can require all workspace access to go through Entra, removing local passwords and centralizing identity control.

The specific values (reply URL, entity ID, or redirect URL) are provided in your StackAI workspace’s SSO settings. After you configure the Entra app and upload any required certificates or metadata, you test with a pilot group before enabling SSO for all users.

Key Takeaways:

• Use a dedicated enterprise application in Entra ID for StackAI.
• Configure SAML/OIDC endpoints based on StackAI’s SSO configuration page.

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What’s the step-by-step process to configure StackAI SSO with Microsoft Entra ID?

Short Answer: Define a new enterprise app in Entra ID, configure SSO with StackAI’s URLs and identifiers, map user attributes and groups, then enable and enforce SSO in StackAI.

Expanded Explanation:
The workflow mirrors most modern SaaS SSO setups. On the Entra side, you’ll configure authentication protocol, URLs, claims, and group assignments. On the StackAI side, you’ll paste the Entra metadata (or discovery URL), verify test logins, and decide how strictly you want to enforce SSO-only access. The key is to finalize SSO in a small pilot group before enforcing it tenant-wide, especially in regulated environments where access interruptions are costly.

Steps:

1. Create the Entra enterprise application

   • In the Entra admin portal, go to Enterprise applications → New application → Create your own application.
   • Name it “StackAI (Production)” (and optionally separate “StackAI (Non-Prod)” for staging).
   • Choose Integrate any other application you don’t find in the gallery.

2. Configure SSO (SAML or OIDC)

   • Select the StackAI app → Single sign-on.
   • Choose SAML or OpenID Connect (OIDC) per your security standards.
   • From StackAI’s SSO settings page, copy:
     • Assertion Consumer Service (ACS) / Redirect URL
     • Entity ID / Audience (for SAML) or Client ID/Secret (for OIDC)
   • In Entra:
     • Paste the StackAI ACS URL as the Reply URL.
     • Set the Identifier (Entity ID) to the value provided by StackAI (SAML).
     • For OIDC, register a web app, set the Redirect URI to StackAI’s URL, and copy Client ID/Secret back into StackAI.

3. Configure user attributes and group claims

   • Ensure the NameID / preferred_username or email claim matches the email StackAI uses.
   • Optionally emit group membership (e.g., groups or a custom claim) so you can map Entra groups to StackAI roles.

4. Assign users and groups

   • In the Entra app, go to Users and groups.
   • Assign:
     • A small IT/EA pilot group first (e.g., “StackAI-Admins”, “StackAI-PowerUsers”).
   • Confirm they all have valid email addresses that match StackAI accounts.

5. Enable and test SSO in StackAI

   • In StackAI, open the SSO / Authentication settings.
   • Paste Entra metadata (SAML) or OIDC discovery URL, client ID, and secret.
   • Save and perform a test login with a pilot account.
   • Validate:
     • User is provisioned or mapped correctly.
     • Role, if auto-assigned via groups, looks correct.
     • Audit logs in StackAI show the SSO-authenticated user.

6. Enforce SSO-only access

   • Once tests pass, toggle enforcement in StackAI so only SSO-authenticated users can access your workspace.
   • Communicate the cut-over plan to end users and support teams.

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How does RBAC in StackAI differ for projects, knowledge bases, and connectors?

Short Answer: The same RBAC model applies across StackAI, but projects, knowledge bases, and connectors are scoped resources: you grant roles at the workspace or resource level to control who can view, edit, or publish each.

Expanded Explanation:
StackAI is built for enterprise governance, so RBAC isn’t one flat “admin vs user” distinction. You typically define workspace-level roles (e.g., admin, builder, operator, viewer), then apply fine-grained permissions on artifacts that matter: agentic workflows (projects), knowledge bases (RAG sources), and connectors (integrations into your systems).

For example, a team might have many users who can run a Claim Processing agent, but only a small subset can modify the underlying extraction workflow, touch the knowledge base, or update integrations that connect to your EHR or core banking system. RBAC enables this separation of duties, which is critical in HIPAA, GDPR, and SOC 2-aligned environments.

Comparison Snapshot:

• Projects (Agentic Workflows): Control who can create, edit, publish, and deploy workflows into interfaces (Forms, Batch, etc.).
• Knowledge Bases: Control who can add, update, or remove documents and who can tune retrieval (critical for cited answers in support, IT, and due diligence use cases).
• Connectors: Control who can configure credentials and scopes for 100+ enterprise integrations (where agents can read, write, and execute tasks).
• Best for: Enterprises that need to separate builders, operators, and security/IT owners while keeping AI agents safe, auditable, and compliant.

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How do we enforce RBAC on StackAI projects, knowledge bases, and connectors once SSO is enabled?

Short Answer: Use Entra groups to define StackAI role mappings, then apply role-based permissions inside StackAI for each project, knowledge base, and connector to control who can view, edit, or manage them.

Expanded Explanation:
After SSO is configured, Entra ID becomes your central source of truth for identity and group membership. StackAI then uses those roles and groups to govern what people can actually do: ship new workflows, modify RAG sources, or change integrations.

The recommended pattern is to define Entra groups like “StackAI-Workflow-Builders,” “StackAI-KB-Admins,” and “StackAI-Connector-Admins,” and map those to roles inside StackAI. Then, for sensitive workflows—like Claim Processing, IT Ticket Triage, or Due Diligence—you explicitly grant permissions only to the right builders and operators. This ensures that the people who can run agents are not necessarily the people who can re-wire them.

What You Need:

• Defined Entra groups aligned with StackAI roles (e.g., Admin, Builder, Operator, Viewer).
• A governance practice in StackAI to assign resource-level permissions on:
  • Projects (agentic workflows)
  • Knowledge bases (RAG sources)
  • Connectors (integrations and credentials)

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How should we design our SSO + RBAC strategy for secure, scalable rollout?

Short Answer: Align Entra groups with StackAI’s role and resource model, start with a controlled pilot, and then scale to a “citizen developer” model with guardrails via RBAC, audit logs, and deployment controls.

Expanded Explanation:
From an enterprise architecture standpoint, you want SSO + RBAC to do more than “keep the bad actors out.” You want it to create a safe runway for teams to build and deploy agentic workflows—while IT still controls environment, access, and data boundaries.

The strategy I typically see work best is:

• Use Entra ID for identity, group-based role assignment, and deprovisioning.
• Use StackAI for the application-level control plane: who can publish a new IT Ticket Triage agent into production, who can edit RFP Drafting prompts, who can add a new knowledge source with sensitive PDFs, and who can attach a high-privilege connector to core systems.
  Because StackAI offers enterprise-grade security (HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001) and explicit guarantees around not using your data to train AI models, you can confidently scale from pilots to production without losing observability or governance.

Why It Matters:

• Operational safety at scale: SSO + RBAC ensures agents that read, write, and execute tasks via 100+ integrations are only controlled by authorized builders and operators.
• Regulatory and audit readiness: Clear roles, feature controls, and audit logs let you prove who ran what, using which data and connectors—critical for healthcare, finance, and industrial workflows.

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Quick Recap

Configuring StackAI SSO with Microsoft Entra ID is a standard enterprise SSO pattern: you register StackAI as an app in Entra, configure SAML/OIDC with StackAI’s URLs, map user and group claims, and then enforce SSO-only access. The real value emerges when you layer RBAC on top: using Entra groups and StackAI’s governance controls to tightly manage who can build and publish agentic workflows (projects), curate and edit knowledge bases, and configure connectors that let agents act across your systems. Done well, you get a secure, auditable AI transformation platform that IT can own while enabling a broad base of “citizen developers” to build within guardrails.

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