Overview

Cross-App Access (XAA) lets AI agents call the Datadog API on behalf of users your organization already authorized in Okta. Without it, every user authorizes the agent individually through a browser consent screen. With it, your Okta administrator grants that access once, centrally, and users skip the per-user consent step.

Okta issues the agent a short-lived token called an ID-JAG (Identity Assertion JWT Authorization Grant). The agent presents this token to Datadog, and Datadog exchanges it for an access token owned by the user who initiated the call. Because Okta mints the token, your administrators grant and revoke Datadog access for AI agents from Okta.

In Preview, Cross-App Access supports Okta as the only identity provider and Claude as the only agent.

Values you exchange

Setup moves values in both directions between Datadog and Okta. Two of them are issuer URLs that name different systems, so confirm you enter each one in the correct place.

Prerequisites

• Your organization uses Okta for SAML single sign-on to Datadog. Cross-App Access resolves users through your existing SAML connection, so it does not work without one. See Configure SAML single sign-on.
• Each user who uses Claude exists in your Datadog organization and is assigned to both the Claude application and the Datadog application in Okta.
• You have the org_management permission in Datadog. To configure Cross-App Access through the API instead of the UI, you also need a Personal Access Token (PAT), used as DD_TOKEN in the examples.
• Your Okta tenant has the AI Agent Identity Assertion and Agent to Agent Connections features enabled, and you have Okta Super Administrator access.

Configure Cross-App Access in Datadog

Complete the Datadog steps before the Okta steps. Datadog rejects tokens for organizations that have not enabled Cross-App Access, so configuring Okta first produces failures until you finish here.

Navigate to Organization Settings > Cross-App Access.

Enable Cross-App Access

Click Enable. This applies to your whole organization. Click Disable to turn Cross-App Access off later.

Set your Okta issuer URL

In the Issuer URL field, enter the issuer URL of your own Okta tenant, then click Save. Datadog derives the location of the token signing keys from this value, so it must be exact.

The issuer URL must meet all of the following, or Datadog rejects it:

• Use https.
• Use a subdomain of .okta.com, .oktapreview.com, or .okta-emea.com. Datadog rejects the apex domain, so example.okta.com works and okta.com does not work.

Click Remove to unset the issuer. Datadog stops accepting tokens after you remove it.

Copy your organization UUID

Copy the value in the Org UUID field. Okta sends this value as the aud_tenant claim, which tells Datadog which organization a token targets when several organizations share one Okta tenant. It is not the same as the company ID that Okta asks for elsewhere.

Copy the agent client ID

The Registered client IDs table lists every agent Datadog supports for Cross-App Access and the OAuth client ID each one uses. Copy the client ID for the agent you are setting up. You will enter it in Okta as Client ID at resource.

Datadog adds agents to this table as it supports them, so check the table rather than reusing a client ID from another source.

Click Manage app on a row to open the scope settings for that agent. See Control scopes in Datadog.

curl -X PATCH "<span class="js-region-param region-param" data-region-param="dd_api"></span>/api/v2/org_configs/mcp_cross_app_access_enabled" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${DD_TOKEN}" \
  -d '{
    "data": {
      "type": "org_configs",
      "attributes": {
        "value": true
      }
    }
  }'

curl -X PUT "<span class="js-region-param region-param" data-region-param="dd_api"></span>/api/v2/login/org_configs/mcp_cross_app_access_issuer_url" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${DD_TOKEN}" \
  -d '{
    "data": {
      "type": "org_config",
      "attributes": {
        "issuer_url": "https://<YOUR_OKTA_SUBDOMAIN>.okta.com"
      }
    }
  }'

Finish the setup in Okta

Complete the setup in the Okta Admin Console as a Super Administrator. This section lists the values Datadog expects and the Okta fields they belong in. See Okta’s Cross-App Access documentation for more details.

Configure the Datadog application as a resource server

On your Datadog application, open the Resource Server tab and enable Cross-app access (XAA). Set the following fields.

The issuer URL identifies the Datadog authorization server, not the token endpoint. Okta writes it into the aud claim of the tokens it issues, and Datadog accepts a token only when that claim matches.

Note: Changing the issuer URL later requires deleting and recreating the resource connection described in Connect Claude to the Datadog application.

Register Claude as an AI Agent

Create an AI Agent entry for Claude in Okta, then exchange keys with Anthropic. Anthropic signs the requests Okta receives, so Okta needs Anthropic’s public key before it issues any token.

1. Create the AI Agent entry for Claude.
2. Assign owners to the agent. Okta requires an owner before you can activate it.
3. Send the AI Agent ID that Okta generates to Anthropic.
4. Add the public key that Anthropic returns to the AI Agent entry, on the Credentials tab.

Until the public key is in place, token exchange fails even though every other value is correct. This exchange is manual, so start it early.

Connect Claude to the Datadog application

On the Claude AI Agent, add the Claude SAML application as a delegated caller, then connect the agent to your Datadog application.

1. On the Delegations tab, add the Claude SAML application as a caller.

2. On the Resource connections tab, add a resource connection. Select Application as the resource type, then select your Datadog application.

3. Set the following fields.

   Okta field	Value
   Client ID at resource	The Claude client ID you copied from Registered client IDs
   Scope Condition	Allow all, the only supported value. See Control scopes in Datadog

4. Activate the agent from the Actions menu.

Control scopes in Datadog

Allow all is the only supported Scope Condition for Cross-App Access. Set it in Okta, then restrict what Claude reaches from Datadog.

Okta does not filter scopes. With Allow all, Okta copies whatever Claude requests into the token, which makes Datadog the enforcement point.

To set the scopes Claude is allowed:

1. Navigate to Organization Settings > Mobile and Third-Party Access. You can also click Manage app next to Claude in the Registered client IDs table on the Cross-App Access page.
2. Select the Claude application, then select the Scopes tab.
3. Use the Allowed checkbox for each scope to control what Claude reaches.
4. Click Enable to save.

Adding or removing a scope affects every user in your organization, and removing a scope revokes existing authorizations that rely on it. See Application Scope Management.

A scope that is not allowed in Datadog is never granted, regardless of what the token requests.

Add Datadog as a connector in Claude

1. In Claude, click the + icon at the bottom of any prompt, then click Add Connector.
2. Find Datadog in the directory and enable the connector.
3. Complete the sign-in flow when prompted.

Use the Datadog connector from the directory, not a custom connector.

Verify the configuration

Sign in to Claude as a user assigned to both Okta applications, then run a request that calls Datadog. A successful call confirms the full path: Okta issues the token, Datadog accepts it, and Datadog resolves the user.

If a user signed in before you enabled Cross-App Access, have them sign out of Claude and sign back in through Okta. Sessions established earlier lack the identity token the agent needs.

Further reading

Additional helpful documentation, links, and articles:

Set up the Datadog MCP ServerDOCUMENTATION Mobile and Third-Party AccessDOCUMENTATION Configure SAML single sign-onDOCUMENTATION