Opal + Okta Cross App Access: Secure Agent Access to Opal MCP

Today at Oktane, Okta announced the expanded Cross App Access ecosystem. Opal is joining that ecosystem by enabling external AI agents and MCP clients to securely connect to Opal’s MCP server using Cross App Access (XAA).

The integration is straightforward: XAA provides the trusted connection into Opal MCP. Once connected, the agent can use Opal to request access through the same governance workflows enterprises already use today.

This is also an important part of Opal Zero. The goal is not simply to authenticate an agent. It is to make it easier for agents to get the access they need without giving them broad, permanent access just to avoid a support ticket.

The problem with static credentials

AI agents increasingly need to connect to enterprise applications and MCP servers to get work done. A common approach is to give the agent an API key or other long-lived credential. That may be easy to implement, but it can create standing access that is difficult for Security and Identity teams to govern.

The alternative cannot be putting human approval in front of every agent action. The challenge is finding the right balance: give the agent enough access to do its job, keep that access scoped and time-bound where possible, and involve a human when the request is sensitive or outside policy.

What Cross App Access changes

Cross App Access is an open identity protocol that extends OAuth for agent-to-app and app-to-app connections. Instead of relying on a static credential or repeated end-user consent, an XAA-enabled client can use the enterprise identity layer to establish a managed connection to an XAA resource app.

For the Opal integration, the flow is:

1. An external AI Agent or MCP client is the XAA requesting app.

2. Okta evaluates whether that requesting app is permitted to connect to Opal.

3. The XAA flow results in scoped access that the client can use to call Opal MCP.

4. Opal MCP is the resource app. Once authenticated, the agent can use the capabilities exposed through Opal MCP.

Agent / MCP Client → Okta XAA → Opal MCP → Opal Zero

Where Opal Zero comes in

XAA is how the agent securely reaches Opal. Opal Zero determines what access the agent should receive once it gets there.

When an agent needs access, it can make that request through Opal’s MCP server rather than relying on broad standing permissions.

Paladin can evaluate the request using the context Opal has available: who owns the agent, its purpose, what it already has access to, the sensitivity of the resource being requested, existing risk, and applicable policy.

For example:

• Read access that is low risk and consistent with the agent’s purpose can be automated.

• A production write or other sensitive request can require human approval.

• A request that clearly violates policy or falls outside the agent’s purpose can be denied.

The result is a cleaner separation of responsibilities: Okta establishes the trusted XAA connection to Opal MCP, while Opal applies identity governance and policy to the access the agent is requesting.

Why this matters

Agentic access creates a tension enterprises will need to solve. If every request becomes a support ticket, agents cannot operate effectively. If every agent receives broad standing access, the security model breaks down.

Our view with Opal Zero is that the answer is contextual access: understand the agent, understand what it is asking for, apply policy at the point of the request, and give a human the decision only when the risk warrants it.

The goal is simple: reduce standing access without turning agent access into another manual approval queue.

Get started

• Explore Opal Zero

• Read Okta’s Cross App Access announcement