Share via

What’s the most efficient way to support Just-In-Time user provisioning with Microsoft Entra ID?

code-vj 75 Reputation points
2025-12-01T06:24:28.02+00:00

We’re exploring efficient ways to implement JIT (Just-In-Time) provisioning for Microsoft Entra ID users in a multi-tenant application. We currently route authentication through an SSO connection layer (like the one SSOJet uses) and want to make sure users are created/updated instantly when they log in—without SCIM or pre-provisioning.

A few areas we’re thinking about:

Best practices for mapping Entra attributes to internal user models

Whether you rely entirely on SAML/OIDC claims or enrich them using Microsoft Graph

Handling missing attributes when different tenants send different claim sets

Normalizing attributes when the customer uses custom claims

Avoiding repetitive configuration when onboarding many tenants

If you’ve implemented JIT provisioning behind an SSO proxy or aggregator (similar to SSOJet), what design patterns or pitfalls should we be aware of? Any recommendations for keeping it scalable and low-maintenance?

Moved from: Community Center | Discuss the Q&A site | Get started on Q&A

Microsoft Security | Microsoft Entra | Microsoft Entra ID

1 answer

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Rukmini 8,600 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-12-01T17:29:41.5733333+00:00

    Hello code-vj,

    The best method for implementing JIT (Just-In-Time) user provisioning with Microsoft Entra ID in a multi-tenant application is to follow a tenant-agnostic mapping layer and a claims-first approach with optional Graph enrichment, particularly when utilizing an SSO proxy/aggregator.

    • Make claims the source of truth (SCIM shouldn't be required for JIT).
      • Extract a canonical ID → oid (recommended), with sub or nameidentifier as a backup.
      • Email should never be the unique key; instead, use this as the reliable internal user key.
      • Create/update the user record on every login (idempotent upsert).
    • Best methods for attribute mapping:
      • Have a single internal user schema and map external claims into it.
      • Use a mapping profile per tenant (JSON-based), for example:
        1. email ← [email, upn, mail, preferred_username]
        2. first_name ← [given_name, givenname]
        3. last_name ← [family_name, surname]
      • Normalize values using Unicode normalization, trimming, and lowercase emails.
    • Handle missing or inconsistent claims:
      • Consider only treat canonical ID and email ID (if required) as mandatory.
      • If the client sends custom claims, update the mapping profile. The code remains unchanged.
      • Store raw claim keys from the first login to auto-suggest mappings (reduces setup).
    • Run all enrichment asynchronously to speed up logins, and only use Microsoft Graph when necessary, or example, when full group membership is needed or when critical attributes are absent.
    • Keep it scalable:
      • Idempotent upserts keyed by (tenant_id + oid) should be used. T
      • Tenant mapping profiles should be cached.
      • Give common IdPs (Azure, Okta, etc.) onboarding templates.
      • Keep mapping data-driven and steer clear of per-tenant proprietary logic.

    Avoid common mistakes like hardcoding claim names per tenant, ignoring long/overflow group claims, preventing login on slow Graph calls, and utilizing email as the unique ID.

    If the resolution was helpful, kindly take a moment to accept the answer and upvote it 👍 it as a token of appreciation.

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.