docs: Correct the Group SSO redirect for Minimal Access users

What does this MR do?

Corrects the Group SSO sentence in "Minimal access users receive 404 errors". A Minimal Access user signing in with Group SAML has been redirected to the groups dashboard, not the parent group page, since GitLab 17.7.

Why

!172226 (merged) ("Route minimal access user to groups dashboard", milestone 17.7) changed ee/app/controllers/groups/omniauth_callbacks_controller.rb. When the SAML sign-in target is the group path and the user cannot read_group, the redirect goes to dashboard_groups_path:

path = saml_redirect_path

# Ensure that if redirecting to the SAML group path, check the user has access first.
if path == group_path(@unauthenticated_group)
  path = safe_group_path(@unauthenticated_group) || dashboard_groups_path
end

That code is current on master, and the spec the same MR shipped pins the behaviour in ee/spec/controllers/groups/omniauth_callbacks_controller_spec.rb, under "when user has minimal access to the group":

  • No RelayState: redirects to dashboard_groups_path.
  • RelayState set to the group path: redirects to dashboard_groups_path.
  • RelayState set to another page: redirects to that page.

The second case is the one the current wording describes. The page says the user "receive[s] a 404 error immediately because they are redirected to the parent group page", and the spec asserts that even when the relay state points at the group, they land on the dashboard.

The standard web authentication case is unchanged, so that sentence and the link to #267996 stay. Only the Group SSO sentence moves.

The replacement sentence describes a sign-in that targets the group, which is the flow this section is about. A RelayState pointing elsewhere takes precedence, and that felt like more detail than a permissions page needs. Say if you would rather it were stated.

@bbodenmiller raised this in #267996 in December 2025 and it has not been answered. The groups dashboard has its own open issues, #506280 and #507968, so the replacement text links them.

Testing

The behaviour is pinned by ee/spec/controllers/groups/omniauth_callbacks_controller_spec.rb, which runs in CI on every pipeline. I have not exercised a Group SAML sign-in myself; the three cases above are read from that spec and from the controller on master.

Related to #267996 Related to #506280 Related to #507968

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AI-Generated Content Disclosure: This MR was prepared with assistance from Claude Code. The output has been reviewed for correctness, verified against source, and validated against the documentation style guide.

Edited by Andrew Dunn

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