Service Provider (SP)

Software application or service that provides access to resources or services to users who have been authenticated by an Identity Provider (IdP).

The SP is responsible for enforcing access control policies and determining which resources or services the user is authorized to access. It may also provide additional features such as user authentication, authorization, and session management.

When a user attempts to access an SP, the SP requests authentication information from an IdP. If the user is successfully authenticated, the IdP sends a security assertion to the SP, which includes information about the user's identity and authorization to access the requested resource or service.