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OpenID Connect

Your homeserver can be configured to authenticate its users with an OpenID Connect provider. Here we list the most popular providers and how to configure them.

Google

For detailed information, read Google's guide on OpenID.

  1. Create a new application on Google.
  2. Click Create credentials and OAuth client ID.
  3. Select the application type Web application.
  4. Choose a name for you and your users to recognize.
  5. Add an authorized redirect URI with your homeserver URL, like https://my-host.ems.host/_synapse/client/oidc/callback.
  6. Save and note the client ID and client secret. Those are needed when adding the OpenID Connect integration in our interface.

In the Element Matrix Services configuration form

Use the preset Google for a simplified form or use Custom with the following values:

  • Issuer must be https://accounts.google.com/.
  • Use the client id and secret from above.
  • Discover must be turned on.
  • The scopes should be openid,profile,email,name.
  • Leave Subject Claim empty.
  • Username attribute can be email. This means your Matrix addresses will include the server domain of the user's e-mail address.
  • Display name attribute can be name.

If you want shorter usernames and are not worried about username collisions within your domain, please consider using SAML2 to authenticate with Google.

GitHub

For detailed information, read GitHub's guide on OpenID.

  1. Create a new application on GitHub.com.
  2. Choose a name for you and your users to recognize.
  3. Choose a homepage URL. You can pick any URL. If your company maintains a guide on how to use Matrix, this would be most helpful.
  4. The Authorization callback URL needs to be https://my-host.ems.host. Adapt the URL to match your homeserver's address.
  5. Save and note the client ID and client secret. Those are needed when adding the OpenID Connect integration in our interface.

In the Element Matrix Services configuration form

Use the preset GitHub for a simplified form or use Custom with the following values:

  • Issuer must be https://github.com/
  • Use the client id and secret from above.
  • Discover must be turned off.
  • Authorization URI must be https://github.com/login/oauth/authorize.
  • Token URI must be https://github.com/login/oauth/authorize.
  • User Info URI must be https://api.github.com/user.
  • JWKS URI is not required, because the scope profile will be requested.
  • The scopes should be openid,profile,read:user.
  • Subject Claim must be id.
  • Username attribute should be login.
  • The display name can be name (GitHub's display name) or login (GitHub's user handle).

GitLab

For detailed information, read GitLab's guide on OpenID.

  1. Create a new application on GitLab.com.
  2. Choose a name for you and your users to recognize.
  3. Choose a homepage URL. You can pick any URL. If your company maintains a guide on how to use Matrix, this would be most helpful.
  4. The Redirect URL needs to be https://my-host.ems.host/_synapse/client/oidc/callback. Adapt the URL to match your homeserver's address.
  5. Check the scopes read_user, openid and profile.
  6. Save and note the client ID and client secret. Those are needed when adding the OpenID Connect integration in our interface.

To connect your own GitLab instance, simply adapt the URL path.

In the Element Matrix Services configuration form

  • Issuer must be https://gitlab.com/ or the URL of your GitLab instance.
  • Use the client id and secret from above.
  • Discover must be turned on.
  • The scopes should be openid,profile,read_user.
  • Leave Subject Claim empty.
  • Username attribute should be nickname.
  • Display name attribute can be name (GitLab's display name) or nickname (GitLab's user handle).
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