Runtime configuration of authentication journeys
The disclosed technology teaches a method for customers of an organization to perform configuration at runtime for authentication journeys used by the customer's users, to simplify authentication trees, and to delegate configuration to the customer's administrators, wherein an authentication tree implements an authentication journey, the authentication tree including authentication nodes and edges connecting the authentication nodes. The method includes configuring an editable script and an authentication node used in the authentication tree in response to a user invocation of the authentication journey by executing a factory method that applies configuration parameters to the editable script and to parameters used to access an API.
1. A computer-implemented method for a customer of an organization to perform configuration at runtime for authentication journeys used by users of the customer, to simplify authentication trees and to delegate configuration to administrators of the customer,
wherein an authentication tree implements an authentication journey, the authentication tree including authentication nodes and edges connecting the authentication nodes,
the computer-implemented method including:
configuring an editable script and an authentication node used in the authentication tree in response to a user invocation of the authentication journey by executing a factory method that applies configuration parameters to the editable script and to parameters used to access an API,
wherein the configuration parameters for the factory method are stored in a parameter data structure that stores a set of connection configurations for authentication nodes, and for the API accessed by at least one of the authentication nodes;
wherein the factory method configures the editable script to switch among alternative connections to authentication nodes in the authentication tree; and
wherein the factory method performs configuration at runtime of at least one parameter used by an authentication node in the authentication tree to access the API.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further including applying the configuring to a customer instance of a legacy authentication node that, in a legacy implementation, was manually edited.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further including delegating configuration of the parameter data structure to the administrators of the customer and the administrators of the customer configuring a customer instance of a legacy authentication node by modifying data stored in the parameter data structure for use by the factory method.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the authentication tree is a legacy workflow or a workflow compatible with legacy workflows.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further including receiving edits to the parameters used to access the API from an administrator of the customer and persisting the edits for use in response to the user invocation of the authentication journey.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the alternative connections among authentication nodes in the authentication tree represent alternatives of authentication methods, alternative registration, or alternative branding.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further including a user of the customer journeying across the authentication tree starting at a root authentication node of the authentication tree and traversing one or more downstream authentication nodes to a terminal authentication node.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the authentication tree comprises one or more direct traversals created during execution of the authentication journey and the one or more direct traversals created during execution of the authentication journey represent a nested authentication tree child wrapped by an authentication node parent within the authentication tree.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein a connection configuration from the set of connection configurations is customized by the user of the customer through configuration data stored in a data model.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein a designated connection configuration is unique to a nested authentication tree child within the authentication tree, and wherein the designated connection configuration is unique to the customer.
11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the designated connection configuration is loaded into the nested authentication tree child in response to the user invocation of an authentication node parent to the nested authentication tree child.
12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further including a delegated administration structure, wherein the delegated administration structure is associated with a database that supports configuring alternative connections between the authentication nodes and APIs accessed by the authentication nodes in response to a user invocation of the authentication journey.
13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the alternative connections can use or customize a GUI or an API in a library that supports alternative authentication methods and alternative registration journeys.
14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein external services provide a cookie, and wherein the authentication node assigns data from the cookie for use in a downstream authentication node.
15. A tangible non-transitory computer readable storage media, including program instructions loaded into memory that, when executed on processors cause the processors to implement a method of performing configuration at runtime for authentication journeys used by users of a customer, to simplify authentication trees and to delegate configuration to administrators of the customer,
wherein an authentication tree implements an authentication journey, the authentication tree including authentication nodes and edges connecting the authentication nodes,
the method including:
configuring an editable script and an authentication node used in the authentication tree in response to a user invocation of the authentication journey by executing a factory method that applies configuration parameters to the editable script and to parameters used to access an API,
wherein the configuration parameters for the factory method are stored in a parameter data structure that stores a set of connection configurations for authentication nodes, and for the API accessed by at least one of the authentication nodes;
wherein the factory method configures the editable script to switch among alternative connections to authentication nodes in the authentication tree; and
wherein the factory method performs configuration at runtime for at least one parameter used by an authentication node in the authentication tree to access the API.
16. The tangible non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 15 , further including delegating configuration of the parameter data structure to the administrators of the customer and the administrators of the customer configuring a customer instance of a legacy authentication node by modifying data stored in the parameter data structure for use by the factory method.
17. The tangible non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein the authentication tree is a legacy workflow or a workflow compatible with legacy workflows.
18. The tangible non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 15 , further including receiving edits to the parameters used to access APIs or GUIs from an administrator of the customer and persisting the edits for use in response to the user invocation of the authentication journey.
19. The tangible non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein a connection configuration from the set of connection configurations is customized by a user of the customer through configuration data stored in a data model.
20. A system for performing configuration at runtime for authentication journeys used by users of a customer, to simplify authentication trees and to delegate configuration to administrators of the customer, the system including a processor, memory coupled to the processor and program instructions from the tangible non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 15 loaded into the memory.
21. The system of claim 20 , further including applying the configuring to a customer instance of a legacy authentication node that, in a legacy implementation, was manually edited.
22. The system of claim 20 , further including a delegated administration structure, wherein the delegated administration structure is associated with a database that supports configuring alternative connections between the authentication nodes and APIs accessed by the authentication nodes in response to a user invocation of the authentication journey.
23. The system of claim 20 , wherein the alternative connections among authentication nodes in the authentication tree represent alternatives of authentication methods, alternative registration, or alternative branding.