Why for external OIDC Identity Provider configured in Okta gives idp type as "SOCIAL" in api/v1/sessions/me api?

Questions API
1

api/v1/sessions/me shows, idp type as “SOCIAL” when authenticated with a custom built external OIDC Authorization server configured as an IDP in Okta tenant. It is not any social idp like Google, Microsoft or Facebook.

  1. Then why idp type shows as “SOCIAL”?
  2. How to make idp type as “FEDERATION”?
  3. What are the conditions for idp type to be set as “SOCIAL”?

{
“id”: “sess1234567890abcdef”,
“userId”: “00u1234567890abcdef”,
“login”: “``user@example.com``”,
“status”: “ACTIVE”,
“expiresAt”: “2026-02-18T07:24:00.000Z”,
“lastPasswordVerification”: “2026-02-18T06:54:00.000Z”,
“lastFactorVerification”: null,
“amr”: [
“pwd”
],
“idp”: {
“id”: “0oa1234567890abcdef”,
“type”: “SOCIAL”,
},
“mfaActive”: false,
“createdAt”: “2026-02-18T06:54:00.000Z”,
“expiresAt”: “2026-02-18T07:24:00.000Z”,
“status”: “ACTIVE”
}

2

Hi,

The type SOCIAL is assigned to a user if they are created via an OIDC or third-party social identity provider. Federated users are those who are created by a Federated Identity Provider like a SAML IDP. More details here

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