---
title: "Get Employee Leave Data from OneLogin API"
description: "Learn how to authenticate with the OneLogin API, fetch user data, and understand why employee leave data is not available directly through OneLogin. Includes steps, pitfalls, and FAQs."
source_url: "https://www.getknit.dev/blog/get-employee-leave-data-from-onelogin-api"
page_type: "blog"
---

_This is an educational blog post from Knit's blog: “Get Employee Leave Data from OneLogin API”._

# Get Employee Leave Data from OneLogin API

## Introduction

This article is part of a series on [HRIS APIs](https://www.getknit.dev/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-hris-api-integration). In this post, we focus on a common requirement, retrieving employee leave data—and explain how far the OneLogin API can support this use case.

### Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

*   Access to a OneLogin account with API permissions enabled
*   A valid OneLogin API client (Client ID and Client Secret)
*   Python installed on your system
*   The `requests` library available in your Python environment

### API Endpoints

*   **Base URL**  
    `https://api.onelogin.com`
*   **Authentication Endpoint**  
    `/auth/oauth2/v2/token`
*   **User Data Endpoint**  
    `/api/1/users`

#### Step 1: Authenticate and Obtain an Access Token

Use the OAuth 2.0 client credentials flow to retrieve an access token.

```
import requests

client_id = 'YOUR_CLIENT_ID'
client_secret = 'YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET'

auth_url = 'https://api.onelogin.com/auth/oauth2/v2/token'
auth_headers = {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}
auth_data = {
    'grant_type': 'client_credentials',
    'client_id': client_id,
    'client_secret': client_secret
}

response = requests.post(auth_url, headers=auth_headers, json=auth_data)
access_token = response.json().get('access_token')
```

#### Step 2: Fetch User Data

Once authenticated, use the access token to retrieve user records from OneLogin.

```
user_url = 'https://api.onelogin.com/api/1/users'
user_headers = {
    'Authorization': f'Bearer {access_token}'
}

user_response = requests.get(user_url, headers=user_headers)
users = user_response.json()
```

This endpoint returns identity-related information such as user IDs, names, email addresses, roles, and status.

#### Step 3: Extract Leave Data (Key Limitation)

At this stage, it’s important to set expectations clearly:

**OneLogin does not provide employee leave or attendance data through its API.**

If your use case requires leave information, you will need to:

*   Integrate with a dedicated HR or payroll system that manages leave
*   Use OneLogin user IDs or email addresses as a linking key between systems

## Common Pitfalls

*   Treating OneLogin as an HR system rather than an identity provider
*   Assuming leave or attendance data is available in user objects
*   Failing to refresh or reissue access tokens after expiration
*   Not validating API response status codes before processing data
*   Ignoring pagination when fetching large user directories
*   Hardcoding API credentials instead of securing them properly
*   Overlooking OneLogin API rate limits during bulk syncs

## FAQs

**Q: How do I get API credentials for OneLogin?**  
A: Log in to OneLogin and navigate to **Settings → API** to create a client and obtain your Client ID and Client Secret.

**Q: What happens when the access token expires?**  
A: You must re-run the authentication flow to obtain a new access token.

**Q: Can OneLogin provide employee leave or attendance data?**  
A: No. OneLogin does not manage or expose leave data via its API.

**Q: How should I handle pagination when fetching users?**  
A: Use the pagination parameters returned in the API response to iterate through user records.

**Q: Are there rate limits on the OneLogin API?**  
A: Yes. Rate limits apply and should be handled according to OneLogin’s API documentation.

**Q: Is this API suitable for production use?**  
A: Yes, provided you follow security best practices and handle tokens, rate limits, and errors correctly.

**Q: What response format does the OneLogin API use?**  
A: All responses are returned in JSON format.

## Knit for OneLogin API Integration

If you’re looking to avoid managing OAuth flows, token refresh logic, pagination, and long-term maintenance, Knit provides a streamlined alternative.

By integrating with Knit once, you can access OneLogin data through a unified API layer. Knit handles authentication, authorization, and ongoing integration upkeep, allowing teams to focus on downstream workflows rather than infrastructure complexity.


## Related pages

- [How Knit works](https://md.getknit.dev/how-knit-works)
- [Unified API product](https://md.getknit.dev/products/unified-api)