Zoho SSO and Access Setup: IT Admin Guide

Bolt Enterprise · single sign-on, group provisioning and desktop rollout. Setup time is about 15 minutes.

SPARCLE
Bolt Enterprise
rev. 2026-09-14

1 · Create the application in Zoho API Console

Zoho API Console → Zoho API Console → Add Client → Server-based Applications.
Name it Bolt. Grant types: Authorization Code plus Refresh Token.
Sign-in redirect URI:
https://bolt.<yourdomain>/api/auth/callback
Sign-out redirect URI: https://bolt.<yourdomain>/
Scopes: openid email profile offline_access. Bolt requests nothing else from Zoho.

Zoho Directory groups: Control who may sign in from Zoho Directory. Bolt reads group membership from the Zoho Directory API at login.
Copy the values Bolt needs: Client ID, Client secret, and datacenter com.

That is the whole IdP side. Bolt never calls back into Zoho with an admin token, and nothing is written into your directory. Issuer resolved by Bolt: https://accounts.zoho.<datacenter> (com, eu, in, com.au, jp).

2 · Give the credentials to Bolt

Nothing here is needed to try Bolt. For a pilot, people install the desktop app from sparcle.app/download and use it. This page is for when you want a shared deployment with single sign-on behind it, and the enterprise bundle referenced below is sent by Sparcle at that point.

A · Setup wizard (no file editing)

The installer and first-run admin wizard walk this step: pick Zoho, paste the values above, click through. SAML uses the same wizard. Self-hosted installs can instead run enterprise/setup.sh, which writes a .env.prod for you.

B · Configuration file (self-hosted)

APP__PLATFORM__IDENTITY__PROVIDER=zoho
APP__PLATFORM__IDENTITY__DATACENTER=com
APP__PLATFORM__IDENTITY__CLIENT_ID=<client-id>
APP__PLATFORM__IDENTITY__CLIENT_SECRET=<client-secret>
APP__PLATFORM__IDENTITY__REDIRECT_URI=\
  https://bolt.example.com/api/auth/callback

DATACENTER must match the region your Zoho org lives in, or discovery resolves to the wrong issuer and every login fails.

C · SAML 2.0

Bolt supports SAML 2.0, but Zoho is normally wired over OIDC as above. Use the generic SAML page if you need the SAML path.

D · Verify

curl https://bolt.example.com/health  → {"status":"healthy", ...}

status is healthy, degraded or critical. Then sign in at https://bolt.<domain> with a corporate account. A failed login names its cause: redirect-URI mismatch, unassigned user, or clock skew.

3 · Granting access: four separate levers

Lever	Where you set it	What it controls
Who can sign in	Zoho → Bolt app → Zoho Directory groups	The primary gate. Remove the assignment to revoke.
Who is a Bolt admin	Bolt Admin → access allowlist (`allowed_users`, `allowed_groups`)	The admin console, audit log, policy and connector settings. Changes apply live, no restart.
Joiner, mover, leaver	Zoho → Bolt app → Provisioning (SCIM 2.0) Base URL `https://bolt.<domain>/scim/v2`	Push Users and Push Groups. Deactivating in Zoho deactivates in Bolt.
What data Bolt can read	Workspace and connector consent (section 4)	Which sources are reachable per user: Mail, Calendar, Drive, Confluence and so on.

SCIM token: issue it in Bolt (Admin → SCIM → New token). It is displayed once only, so paste it straight into the provisioning screen as the bearer token. Groups: Bolt reads group membership from the Zoho directory API at login, so groups are available without any extra provisioning step.

4 · What Bolt is able to read

Read-only, always. Where Bolt reads mail, calendar or files it asks for gmail.readonly, calendar.readonly, drive.readonly, tasks.readonly and contacts.readonly. There is no write scope to grant.
One surface at a time. Signing in asks only for openid, email and profile. Each surface asks for its own permission when first opened, so a person can be signed in and reach nothing.
Each source's own permissions are enforced at retrieval, for any caller, including an MCP gateway. Confluence page restrictions that override space permissions, Drive sharing, and the equivalent elsewhere.

Zoho also carries the mail, calendar and files. Signing in and reading your work data are the same provider here, so one connection covers both.

5 · Rolling the desktop app onto laptops (pick one)

Method	Configuration	Notes
MDM (macOS) Jamf, Mosyle, Kandji	Payload `com.sparcle.bolt`: `EnterpriseApiUrl` = `https://bolt.<domain>`, `ForceManagedMode` = true	Recommended. Users never type a URL. Push your internal CA here too, if Bolt uses one.
Group Policy (Windows)	`HKLM\Software\Sparcle\Bolt`, with `EnterpriseApiUrl` and `ForceManagedMode = 1`	Same effect as MDM.
DNS SRV	`_bolt._tcp.<domain>. SRV 10 5 443 bolt.<domain>.`	No MDM required.
First-launch wizard	User pastes the endpoint once	Fine for a pilot.