---
id: social-auth-core
version: "5.1.0"
license: BSD-3-Clause
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# social-auth-core — Python social authentication made simple.

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 6.2M/mo

## What it is and what it does

social-auth-core is the foundation of the python-social-auth ecosystem, providing the common authentication interface and backend architecture for integrating social login and registration. It defines how authentication backends connect to third-party services like OAuth 2.0, OpenID, and SAML providers, and establishes the contract for web framework integrations and storage solutions.

The package itself is framework-agnostic; it handles the core authentication logic, token management (via PyJWT and cryptography), and secure request handling (via oauthlib and requests-oauthlib). Developers use it by implementing framework-specific adapters and storage backends, then plugging in provider-specific authentication backends. Active development focuses on the core and Django integration, while other framework modules operate in maintenance mode.

Use it for:

- Add Google, GitHub, or Facebook login to a Django web application without building OAuth flows from scratch.
- Implement multi-provider social registration where users can sign up via their existing social accounts.
- Build a framework-agnostic authentication service that multiple web applications can consume.
- Integrate SAML-based enterprise authentication for internal or partner-facing applications.
- Migrate user authentication from custom OAuth handling to a standardized, maintained backend.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Provides a core framework for integrating social authentication and registration with third-party OAuth, OpenID, and SAML providers into Python web applications.

Yes. The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, supports current Python versions (3.10–3.14), and carries a permissive BSD license. Install friction is low. It is a foundational choice for social authentication in Python web projects, though you will need to implement or install a framework-specific adapter (e.g., social-auth-app-django) and configure provider backends for your use case.

## Install

pip install social-auth-core
uv add social-auth-core
poetry add social-auth-core

## Installing social-auth-core

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel distribution. Actively maintained with a recent release (8 days old) and active repository status, though only the core and Django modules are in active development; other integrations are in maintenance-only mode.

License in practice: BSD-3-Clause permissive license allows use in commercial and proprietary projects with minimal restrictions, requiring only license and copyright notice retention.

Quickstart:

pip install social-auth-core

from social_auth_core.backends.oauth import BaseOAuth2Backend
from social_auth_core.actions.auth import do_auth

Requires Python 3.10 or later; runtime dependencies include cryptography, oauthlib, PyJWT, requests, and defusedxml.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package provides pre-built backends for specific OAuth/SAML providers or requires custom backend implementation.
- How the core component integrates with web frameworks beyond Django (e.g., Flask, FastAPI support status).
- Storage backend abstraction details and supported database/ORM solutions.

## Package facts

- License: BSD-3-Clause (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 6.2M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

social authentication framework, oauth integration python, social login backend, third-party auth providers, openid saml authentication, user registration oauth, social auth core, authentication, oauth-saml, social-login

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