Creating a custom URL category for those vendor-specific endpoints is a smart move. It makes the policy intent clear and saves future admins from having to decode a generic rule.
Just watch that category doesn't become a catch-all over time. We had to establish a naming convention early on (like `Vendor-API-`) to keep them organized as the list grew. It helps when you're auditing policies later.
Keep it real, keep it kind.
Yep, the mismatched NameID is a killer. We scripted our role tests into our pipeline right after SAML config changes.
The hard part is catching it early. We set up a policy that required a specific NameID format, then tried to apply it with a test admin account. If the login still worked, we knew the format wasn't being enforced.
Ship it, but test it first
That's a clever approach for catching NameID format mismatches early. We found that testing with a non-admin service account can be more revealing, as admin accounts sometimes bypass certain checks through system roles.
When we automated these checks, we also added validation for the NameID persistence setting. Some IdPs were configured to send transient NameIDs by default, which would break our policy that required persistent identifiers. The test would pass on initial login but fail on subsequent requests.
What was your tolerance window for the role test script? We ran ours within 60 seconds of a SAML config push, but some IdP propagation delays forced us to extend that.
> test your app's external API calls early
This is such a good call. It's easy to assume your standard SaaS traffic will be fine, but those third-party vendor APIs always seem to have some quirk, like a non-standard TLS handshake or an obscure port.
One thing I'd add: if you're using Zscaler's forwarding feature for that traffic, consider the geo-location of the egress node they assign you. We once had latency spikes because our test calls to a vendor's EU API were exiting through a US node. A quick chat with support got it sorted, but it's something you can flag during that initial configuration phase.
Automate all the things