Set up custom SSO

Last updated: October, 2026

Circle supports single sign-on (SSO) via OAuth 2.0.

The benefit of having SSO enabled for your community is that you can integrate user login accounts from your own platform, creating a seamless experience! Your users won't have to sign up or log in with their Circle account — instead, they'll use your own authentication provider and access Circle from your log-in page.

This guide is for Custom SSO. If you are looking for a specific guide, please use the suggested links at the bottom of this article. To see what built-in SSO solutions are covered under your plan, click here.

Please note that Custom SSO is intended to be self-serve. To set up SSO with your own OAuth platform, prior experience implementing a custom OAuth is recommended (here's an in-depth guide). You can reach out to support@circle.so for detailed error messages, but we recommend working with an expert if you need help debugging them.

🚨 If you plan to use a custom domain, set that up first as this will change your Callback URL. Not doing this first can potentially lead to being locked out of your account.



To navigate to SSO settings page:

1. Click the community name or logo (or the dropdown icon next to it) in the top-left corner and select Settings.

2. Scroll down to the Community section and select Single sign-on.

🚨 We recommend keeping the "Allow members with a Circle account to sign in" toggle enabled to avoid getting locked out of your account while setting up your SSO integration. In the case this happens, you can easily sign in again with your Circle credentials.

On the settings page, set up these basic settings as per your preference:

• Enable state param: Enabling the state parameter enhances security by storing information in the session, adding it to the authorization URL, and verifying that the OAuth provider sends back the correct state parameter in the callback.

• Allow members with a Circle account to sign in: You can keep this enabled if you would like to allow your members with a Circle account to sign in. If enabled, you will see both SSO and Circle login options on your login page and can use the Circle option if your initial SSO setup does not work. If you want to turn off the Circle Sign-in completely, please make sure to add your community account email to your custom OAuth account to match it with your Circle account email.

• Allow members to sign up via a custom URL: After enabling SSO, members won't be able to sign up via Circle. However, you can keep the sign up button visible and point it to a custom URL.

• Skip profile confirmation step: If enabled, members with a preset name will not need to confirm their profile information when they sign in via SSO for the first time.

  

Once you've configured these settings on the SSO settings page, click Save changes.

Use the dropdown to select your OAuth provider. The name field is what will be displayed under the login button. For example, if you input the name "Facebook", the login button will say "Continue with Facebook."

When setting up a custom SSO connection, you’ll need the following credentials and endpoints from your OAuth provider:

• Client ID: A unique identifier for your Circle connection. Think of it as the username that Circle uses when connecting to your SSO provider.

• Secret Key: A private code used to verify that requests are coming from Circle. Treat this like a password; it should never be shared publicly.

• Scope: The scope field tells your identity provider what information Circle is allowed to request when someone signs in. It helps control what data is shared, keeping things secure and transparent. In most cases, this is openid profile email.

• Authorization URL: The web address where users are redirected to sign in through your SSO provider.

• Token Fetch URL: After someone logs in, Circle uses this address to confirm their identity and get secure access tokens.

• User Info API URL: This is where Circle requests basic information about the person logging in, such as their name or email address, to complete the login.

This is the API URL for Circle to fetch user profile information such as email, name, and profile picture after authentication. Your OAuth provider should be able to provide these.

Response paths refer to nested information in your JSON API response. For example, if a user's email is returned by your API inside a "user" object, the response path should be user/email. In JSON, this will look something like:

{
  user: {
    email: "a-user@email.com",
    ...
  }
}

Once your keys are generated, you may need to reference the callback URL, which is provided at the top of the page.

Click Save changes once the fields are completed.

Once you are ready, turn on the Enable SSO toggle at the top of the page and click Save changes.

You’re ready to test your SSO integration. If you have also toggled on “Allow members with a Circle account to sign in,” you will see both options on your login page and can use the Circle option if your initial SSO setup does not work.

As an admin, you'll need to ensure that your existing Circle email has a corresponding account in your custom OAuth setup with the same email — we'll automatically match up the two accounts when you log in, and you'll be able to use the account from your OAuth provider going forward.

🏁 If the setup was successful, you and your members will see a page like this if logged out. And when you click on the "Continue with [Provider name]" button, you'll be taken to the login page for your custom OAuth provider!

Once you have enabled the SSO for your community, you can also verify the SSO connection using our verification feature anytime! To do this, click Verify SSO connection on the header of the SSO settings page and log in through your SSO provider.

The tool will then verify your connection and provide logs for each verification step.

📚 For more information, see Verify your SSO connection.

• Access Circle API documentation

• Onboarding members to your SSO-enabled community

• Automate SSO member onboarding using Zapier

• Disabling SSO