Hosted Help Desk Authentication API - Autologin & SSO Integration

Jitbit's hosted help desk includes a lightweight authentication API that lets you add single sign-on to any website or application. Instead of forcing users to log in twice, you generate a secure autologin link on your server and redirect them straight into the helpdesk -- already authenticated. No SAML configuration required, no third-party identity broker, just a single URL with a hashed token.

If your infrastructure already supports the SAML single sign-on protocol, you may prefer the SAML integration guide instead. Otherwise, the authentication API described below is the fastest path to SSO.

How the Help Desk Autologin API Works

The autologin flow is straightforward. Your application builds a URL containing the user's name, email, and a SHA256 hash. When the user visits that URL, Jitbit either finds their existing account or creates a new one automatically -- then logs them in. The entire round-trip happens in a single redirect.

Autologin URL Format

Use this link format regardless of whether the user already exists in the helpdesk:

http://Helpdesk_Url/User/AutoLogin?username=xxx&email=yyy&userHash=HASH

URL Parameters

• Helpdesk_Url -- your full helpdesk address (e.g., foo.jitbit.com/helpdesk/ for the hosted version)
• username -- the user's display name
• email -- the user's email address
• userHash -- a SHA256-based security token (see below)

Calculating the Security Hash

The userHash parameter is calculated as follows:

SHA256(name + email + shared-secret + day + month)  // truncated to the first 28 characters

• The shared secret is configured in your helpdesk's admin panel under Administrator → General Settings. Use a strong secret -- at least 10 characters, the longer the better.
• The day and month values must be the current day of the month and current month, each formatted as two digits. January 1st becomes 0101.

Note: The previous MD5-based method has been deprecated and replaced with SHA256 for improved security.

Optional Parameters

You can append additional fields to the autologin URL to pre-populate user profiles:

• FirstName=xxx and LastName=xxx -- sets the first and last name for newly created accounts
• CompanyName=xxx -- assigns the user to a company in the helpdesk

Code Examples: Generating the Autologin Hash

Python

import hashlib
from datetime import datetime

name = "John"
email = "john@example.com"
secret = "mysharedsecret"
now = datetime.now()
day_month = now.strftime("%d%m")
raw = name + email + secret + day_month
hash = hashlib.sha256(raw.encode()).hexdigest()[:28]
print(hash)

JavaScript (Node.js)

const crypto = require('crypto');

const name = "John";
const email = "john@example.com";
const secret = "mysharedsecret";
const now = new Date();
const day = String(now.getDate()).padStart(2, '0');
const month = String(now.getMonth() + 1).padStart(2, '0');
const raw = name + email + secret + day + month;
const hash = crypto.createHash('sha256').update(raw).digest('hex').slice(0, 28);
console.log(hash);

C# (.NET)

using System;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Text;

string name = "John";
string email = "john@example.com";
string secret = "mysharedsecret";
string dayMonth = DateTime.Now.ToString("ddMM");
string raw = name + email + secret + dayMonth;

using (SHA256 sha = SHA256.Create())
{
    byte[] hashBytes = sha.ComputeHash(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(raw));
    string hash = BitConverter.ToString(hashBytes)
                    .Replace("-", "")
                    .ToLower()
                    .Substring(0, 28);
    Console.WriteLine(hash);
}

Advanced Redirect Options

The authentication API supports deep-linking so you can send users directly to the page they need after login:

• Open the "new ticket" form -- append &new_ticket=1 to the autologin URL.
• Redirect to any helpdesk page -- append &ReturnUrl=%2fhelpdesk%2fUser%2fProfile (URL-encoded path). The value can be a relative or absolute URL, so you can send users to a specific ticket, a report, the search page, or any other location within the helpdesk.

Other Single Sign-On Options

The autologin API is one of several SSO methods Jitbit supports. Depending on your infrastructure, you may also want to consider:

• SAML 2.0 -- works with Azure AD (Microsoft Entra ID), Okta, OneLogin, ADFS, and any SAML-compliant provider. See the full SAML setup guide.
• "Sign in with Microsoft" and "Sign in with Google" -- zero-configuration OAuth options you can enable with a single checkbox.
• Active Directory integration -- authenticate users against your on-premises LDAP directory using a lightweight IIS script. Read the AD setup guide.

The authentication API is the best choice when you need full programmatic control over the login flow -- for example, embedding the helpdesk inside a customer portal or a SaaS product where you manage your own user sessions.