Migrate from Auth0 to ZITADEL with Password Hashes

1. Introduction

This guide will walk you through the steps to migrate users from Auth0 to ZITADEL, including password hashes (which requires Auth0's support assistance), so users don't need to reset their passwords.

What you'll learn with this guide

• How to prepare your data from Auth0
• Use of the ZITADEL migration tooling
• Performing the user import via ZITADEL's API
• Troubleshooting and validating the migration

2. Prerequisites

2.1. Install Go

The migration tool is written in Go. Download and install the latest version of Go from the official Go website.

2.2. Create a ZITADEL Instance and Organization

You'll need a target organization in ZITADEL to import your users. You can create a new organization or use an existing one.

If you don't have a ZITADEL instance, you can sign up for free here to create a new one for you. See: Managing Organizations in ZITADEL.

Note: Copy your Organization ID since you will use the id in the later steps.

3. Preparing Auth0 Data

3.1. Export hashed passwords

Auth0 does not export hashed passwords as part of the bulk user export. You must create a support ticket to download password hashes and password-related information. Please also refer to the Auth0 guide on how to Export Data.

1. Go to https://support.auth0.com/tickets and click on Open Ticket
2. Issue Type: I have a question regarding my Auth0 account
3. What can we help you with?: I would like to obtain an export of my tenant password hashes
4. Fill out the form: Request password hashes as bcrypt
5. Submit ticket

You will receive a JSON file including the password hashes. See this community post for more information about the contents and format.

Reference: Export hashed passwords from Auth0

3.2. Export all user data

Create a bulk user export from the Auth0 Management API, or use the User Import/Export extension. You will receive a newline-delimited JSON with the requested user data.

This is an example request, we have included the user id, the email and the name of the user, but you can also export all the available user profile attributes. Make sure to export the users in a json format.

curl --request POST \
  --url $AUTH0_DOMAIN/api/v2/jobs/users-exports \
  --header 'authorization: Bearer $TOKEN' \
  --header 'content-type: application/json' \
  --data '{
	"connection_id": "$CONNECTION_ID",
	"format": "json",
	"fields": [
		{"name": "user_id"},
		{"name": "email"},
		{"name": "name"},
	]
}'

4. Running the ZITADEL Migration Tool

We have developed a tool that combines your exported user data with their corresponding passwords to generate the import request body for ZITADEL.

4.1. Install the Migration Tool

Follow the installation instructions to set up the ZITADEL migration tool from ZITADEL Tools.

4.2. Generate Import JSON

Use the migration tool to convert the Auth0 export file to a ZITADEL-compatible JSON. Step-by-step instructions can be found here: Migration Tool for Auth0

Typical steps:

• Run the migration tool with your exported Auth0 files as input.
• The tool generates a JSON file ready for import into ZITADEL.

Example: After obtaining the 2 required input files (passwords and profile) in JSON lines format, you can run the following command:

Sample passwords.ndjson content, as obtained from the Auth0 Support team:

{"_id":{"$oid":"emxdpVxozXeFb1HeEn5ThAK8"},"email_verified":true,"email":"[email protected]","passwordHash":"$2b$10$d.GvZhGwTllA7OdAmsA75uGGzqr/mhdQoU88M3zD.fX3Vb8Rcf33.","password_set_date":{"$date":"2025-06-30T00:00:00.000Z"},"tenant":"test","connection":"Username-Password-Authentication","_tmp_is_unique":true}

Sample profiles.json content, as obtained from the Auth0 Management API:

{"user_id":"auth0|emxdpVxozXeFb1HeEn5ThAK8","email_verified":true,"name":"Tommie Krajcik","email":"[email protected]"}

Run the following command in your terminal (replace ORG_ID with your own organization ID):

zitadel-tools migrate auth0 --org=<ORG_ID> --users=./profiles.json --passwords=./passwords.ndjson --multiline --email-verified --output=./importBody.json --timeout=5m0s

The tool will merge both objects into a single one in the importBody.json output, this will be used in the next step to complete the import process.

5. Importing Users into ZITADEL

5.1. Obtain Access Token (or PAT) for API Access

To call the ZITADEL Admin API, you need to authenticate using a Service Account with the IAM_OWNER Manager permissions.

There are two recommended authentication methods:

• Client Credentials Flow Learn how to authenticate with client credentials.

• Personal Access Token (PAT) Learn how to create and use a PAT.

Reference: Service Accounts & API Authentication

5.2. Import Data with the ZITADEL API

• Use your access token or PAT to authorize the request.
• Call the Admin API – Import Data endpoint, passing your generated JSON file.
• Verify that the users were imported successfully in the ZITADEL console.

Import Endpoint:

• POST /admin/v1/import
• Authorization: Bearer <token>
• Body: Generated in step 4.2

Example cURL request

curl --location 'https://${CUSTOM_DOMAIN}/admin/v1/import' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Accept: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <access-token>' \
--data-raw '{
  "dataOrgs": {
    "orgs": [
      {
        "orgId": "<your-org-id>",
        "humanUsers": [
          {
            "userId": "auth0|emxdpVxozXeFb1HeEn5ThAK8",
            "user": {
              "userName": "[email protected]",
              "profile": {
                "firstName": "Tommie Krajcik",
                "lastName": "Tommie Krajcik"
              },
              "email": {
                "email": "[email protected]",
                "isEmailVerified": true
              },
              "hashedPassword": {
                "value": "$2b$10$d.GvZhGwTllA7OdAmsA75uGGzqr/mhdQoU88M3zD.fX3Vb8Rcf33."
              }
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "timeout": "5m0s"
}'

6. Testing the Migration

6.1. Test User Login

Use the ZITADEL login page or your integrated app to test logging in with one of the imported users.

Password for the sample user: Password1!

Confirm that the migrated password works as expected.

6.2. Troubleshooting

Common issues:

• Missing password hashes
• Malformed JSON
• Invalid or incomplete user data

The import endpoint returns an errors array which can help you identify any issues with the import.

Where to check logs and get help

You can also verify that a user was imported by calling the events endpoint and checking for the following event type:

"user.human.added"

7. Q&A and Further Resources

Q: What is the maximum number of users that can be imported in a single batch? A: There is no hard limit on the number of users. However, there is a timeout. For ZITADEL Cloud deployments, the timeout is 5 minutes, which typically allows for importing around 5,000 users per batch.