SSO Human Identity Enforcement

Shared database credentials are an audit liability: when five engineers share the same app_user connection, there is no way to determine who ran a query. Safe Boundary maps each engineer's verified SSO identity to the database connection, so every query is logged under a real human identity, with no database extensions and no changes to how engineers work.

The credential problem

Shared passwords are an audit failure

Most production databases still sit behind a single application password that every engineer on the team knows by heart. When the SOC 2 auditor asks who ran a particular DELETE last Tuesday, the honest answer is "we cannot tell." Safe Boundary closes that gap by forcing every human connection to come from a verified SSO identity, so the audit log finally lines up with the org chart.

OAuth 2.0 / OIDC device flow for database access

Engineers authenticate through your existing identity provider using the standard device flow, the same flow used for CLI tools and developer utilities. Safe Boundary verifies the token, maps the identity to an authorized database role, and opens the connection on the engineer's behalf.

Engineers continue to use the tools they already know, psql, pgAdmin, DBeaver, the IDE plugin, without reading a new manual. The first connection of the day surfaces a short device-code prompt; refresh tokens keep subsequent sessions seamless until the policy says otherwise.

Standard device flow

Familiar CLI prompt, open the URL, approve in your IdP, you are in.

No password to share

No connection string with embedded credentials. Authentication happens through the IdP.

Token validated at the proxy

Safe Boundary verifies the token signature and claims on every connection attempt.

No shared service accounts in the query log

Every SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE issued by a human engineer is attributed to their verified SSO identity in the audit log. When an auditor asks who accessed the payments table on a given date, you have a precise answer, not a shared credential name.

The audit trail is structured for compliance review out of the box: each record carries the SSO subject, the IdP-issued group claims, the resolved database role, and the full query text, ready to export into your existing SIEM or evidence pipeline.

Per-engineer attribution

Every query is tagged with the engineer who issued it. No more guessing from app_user.

Session-bound queries

Each session is sealed to one verified identity for its full lifetime, no impersonation.

Tamper-proof audit trail

Audit records are written before the query reaches the database and cannot be edited after.

Standards-based

Works with any OIDC-compatible identity provider

Safe Boundary integrates with any identity provider that supports OAuth 2.0 / OIDC, including Okta, Azure AD, Google Workspace, and Auth0. There is no proprietary authentication agent to deploy and no database extension required on the database side.

Set up a project

Set up a project with your IdP and configure Safe Boundary as an OIDC client. Takes a few minutes.

Map roles with group mapping

Map any IdP group membership to the authorized database role your engineers need for their work.

Test the flow

Safe Boundary issues an initial challenge and logs the flow. Run a psql through the proxy to verify.

Go live with confidence

No IdP plugins required. We speak the standard flow. See the full integration guide in our docs.

Policy enforcement

Access is gated by policy, not by connection string knowledge

An engineer's ability to connect does not depend on knowing a password. Access is gated by their presence in the identity provider, their group memberships, and the policies defined in Safe Boundary.

Restrict by IdP group to specific ports

Only members of the on-call group can reach the production database port. Everyone else gets a clear denial at the proxy.

Delegate access via workflows

Route sensitive connections through approval workflows that exist in your IdP, no new tool for engineers to learn.

Context-aware policy decisions

Define precise policies based on group, time of day, resource sensitivity and enforce them centrally.

Offboarding a developer in your IdP removes their database access automatically.

Replace shared database credentials with verified SSO identity, set up Safe Boundary in your enviroment today.

Free for 1 database. No credit. No Time limit. Full AI SQL Injection prevention.