Modeling Basics

note

Auth0 Fine Grained Authorization (FGA) is the early-stage product we are building at Auth0 to solve fine-grained authorization at scale. Sign up for the Developer Community Preview to try it out, and join our Discord community if you are interested in learning more about our plans.

Please note that at this point in time, it is not considered production-ready and does not come with any SLAs; availability and uptime are not guaranteed. Limitations of Auth0 FGA during the Developer Community Preview can be found here.

In this guide you will learn how to grant a user access to an object (such as a certain document) in Auth0 FGA.

When to use

Granting access with relationship tuple is a core part of Auth0 FGA. Without them, any checks will fail. You should use:

authorization model to represent what relations are possible between the users and objects in the system
relationship tuples to represent the facts about the relationships between users and objects in your system.

Before you start

In order to understand this guide correctly you must be familiar with some Auth0 FGA Concepts and know how to develop the things that we will list below.

Assume that you have the following authorization model.
You have a type called document that can have a viewer and/or an editor.

DSL
JSON

type document
  relations
    define viewer as self
    define editor as self

{
  "type_definitions": [
    {
      "type": "document",
      "relations": {
        "viewer": {
          "this": {}
        },
        "editor": {
          "this": {}
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

In addition, you will need to know the following:

Auth0 FGA Concepts

A Type: a class of objects that have similar characteristics
A User: an entity in the system that can be related to an object
A Relation: is a string defined in the type definition of an authorization model that defines the possibility of a relationship between objects of this type and other users in the system
An Object: represents an entity in the system. Users' relationships to it can be define through relationship tuples and the authorization model
A Relationship Tuple: a grouping consisting of a user, a relation and an object stored in Auth0 FGA

Try this guide out on the Auth0 FGA Playground

Step by Step

For our applications to understand that user x has access to document y, we need to provide Auth0 Fine Grained Authorization (FGA) that information through relationship tuples. Each relationship tuple has three basic parameters, a user, a relation and an object.

01. Create a relationship tuple

Let us add a relationship tuple to indicate that bob who is an editor of document:meeting_notes.doc. This is represented by adding the following:

Node.js
Go
.NET
curl
Pseudocode

Initialize the SDK

// FGA_ENVIRONMENT can be "us" (default if not set) for Developer Community Preview or "playground" for the Playground API
// import the SDK
const { Auth0FgaApi } = require('@auth0/fga');

// Initialize the SDK
const fgaClient = new Auth0FgaApi({
  environment: process.env.FGA_ENVIRONMENT,
  storeId: process.env.FGA_STORE_ID,
  clientId: process.env.FGA_CLIENT_ID,
  clientSecret: process.env.FGA_CLIENT_SECRET,
});

await fgaClient.write({
  writes: {
    tuple_keys: [
      { user: 'bob', relation: 'editor', object: 'document:meeting_notes.doc'}
    ]
  }
});

Initialize the SDK

// FGA_ENVIRONMENT can be "us" (default if not set) for Developer Community Preview or "playground" for the Playground API
import (
    fgaSdk "github.com/auth0-lab/fga-go-sdk"
    "os"
)

func Main() {
    configuration, err := fgaSdk.NewConfiguration(fgaSdk.UserConfiguration{
        Environment:  os.Getenv("FGA_ENVIRONMENT"),
        StoreId:      os.Getenv("FGA_STORE_ID"),
        ClientId:     os.Getenv("FGA_CLIENT_ID"),
        ClientSecret: os.Getenv("FGA_CLIENT_SECRET"),
    })

    if err != nil {
    // .. Handle error
    }

    fgaClient := fgaSdk.NewAPIClient(configuration)
}

body := fgaSdk.WriteRequest{
	Writes:  &fgaSdk.TupleKeys{
		TupleKeys: []fgaSdk.TupleKey { 
			{
				User: fgaSdk.PtrString("bob"),
				Relation: fgaSdk.PtrString("editor"),
				Object: fgaSdk.PtrString("document:meeting_notes.doc"),
			}, 
		},
	},
}

_, response, err := fgaClient.Auth0FgaApi.Write(context.Background()).Body(body).Execute()
if err != nil {
    // .. Handle error
}

Initialize the SDK

// FGA_ENVIRONMENT can be "us" (default if not set) for Developer Community Preview or "playground" for the Playground API
// import the SDK
using Auth0.Fga.Api;
using Auth0.Fga.Configuration;
using Environment = System.Environment;

namespace ExampleApp;

class MyProgram {
    static async Task Main() {
        var storeId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_STORE_ID");
        var environment = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_ENVIRONMENT")
        var configuration = new Configuration(storeId, environment) {
            ClientId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_CLIENT_ID"),
            ClientSecret = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_CLIENT_SECRET"),
        };
        var fgaClient = new Auth0FgaApi(configuration);
    }
}

await fgaClient.Write(new WriteRequest{
  Writes = new TupleKeys(new List<TupleKey>() {
    new() { User = "bob", Relation = "editor", Object = "document:meeting_notes.doc" }
  })
});

Get the Bearer Token and set up the FGA_API_URL environment variable

# Not needed when calling the Playground API
curl -X POST \
   https://fga.us.auth0.com/oauth/token \
   -H 'content-type: application/json' \
   -d '{"client_id":"'$FGA_CLIENT_ID'","client_secret":"'$FGA_CLIENT_SECRET'","audience":"https://api.us1.fga.dev/","grant_type":"client_credentials"}'

# The response will be returned in the form
# {
#  "access_token": "eyJ...Ggg",
#  "expires_in": 86400,
#  "scope": "read:tuples write:tuples check:tuples ... write:authorization-models",
#  "token_type": "Bearer"
# }
# Store this `access_token` value in environment variable `FGA_BEARER_TOKEN`

# For non-playground environment
FGA_API_URL='https://api.us1.fga.dev'
# For playground environment
# FGA_API_URL='https://api.playground.fga.dev'

curl -X POST $FGA_API_URL/stores/$FGA_STORE_ID/write \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FGA_BEARER_TOKEN" \ # Not needed if service does not require authorization
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"writes": { "tuple_keys" : [{"user":"bob","relation":"editor","object":"document:meeting_notes.doc"}] }}'

write([
    {
      "user":"bob",
      "relation":"editor",
      "object":"document:meeting_notes.doc"
    }
])

02. Check that the relationship exists

Once that relationship tuple is added to Auth0 FGA, we can check if the relationship is valid by asking the following: "is bob an editor of document:meeting_notes.doc?"

Initialize the SDK

// FGA_ENVIRONMENT can be "us" (default if not set) for Developer Community Preview or "playground" for the Playground API
// import the SDK
const { Auth0FgaApi } = require('@auth0/fga');

// Initialize the SDK
const fgaClient = new Auth0FgaApi({
  environment: process.env.FGA_ENVIRONMENT,
  storeId: process.env.FGA_STORE_ID,
  clientId: process.env.FGA_CLIENT_ID,
  clientSecret: process.env.FGA_CLIENT_SECRET,
});

// Run a check
const { allowed } = await fgaClient.check({
  tuple_key: {
    user: 'bob',
    relation: 'editor',
    object: 'document:meeting_notes.doc',
  },});

// allowed = true

Initialize the SDK

// FGA_ENVIRONMENT can be "us" (default if not set) for Developer Community Preview or "playground" for the Playground API
import (
    fgaSdk "github.com/auth0-lab/fga-go-sdk"
    "os"
)

func Main() {
    configuration, err := fgaSdk.NewConfiguration(fgaSdk.UserConfiguration{
        Environment:  os.Getenv("FGA_ENVIRONMENT"),
        StoreId:      os.Getenv("FGA_STORE_ID"),
        ClientId:     os.Getenv("FGA_CLIENT_ID"),
        ClientSecret: os.Getenv("FGA_CLIENT_SECRET"),
    })

    if err != nil {
    // .. Handle error
    }

    fgaClient := fgaSdk.NewAPIClient(configuration)
}

body := fgaSdk.CheckRequest{
	TupleKey: &fgaSdk.TupleKey{
		User: fgaSdk.PtrString("bob"),
		Relation: fgaSdk.PtrString("editor"),
		Object: fgaSdk.PtrString("document:meeting_notes.doc"),
	},
data, response, err := fgaClient.Auth0FgaApi.Check(context.Background()).Body(body).Execute()

// data = { allowed: true }

Initialize the SDK

// FGA_ENVIRONMENT can be "us" (default if not set) for Developer Community Preview or "playground" for the Playground API
// import the SDK
using Auth0.Fga.Api;
using Auth0.Fga.Configuration;
using Environment = System.Environment;

namespace ExampleApp;

class MyProgram {
    static async Task Main() {
        var storeId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_STORE_ID");
        var environment = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_ENVIRONMENT")
        var configuration = new Configuration(storeId, environment) {
            ClientId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_CLIENT_ID"),
            ClientSecret = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_CLIENT_SECRET"),
        };
        var fgaClient = new Auth0FgaApi(configuration);
    }
}

// Run a check
var response = await fgaClient.Check(new CheckRequest(new TupleKey {
  User = "bob",
  Relation = "editor",
  Object = "document:meeting_notes.doc"
});

// response.Allowed = true

Get the Bearer Token and set up the FGA_API_URL environment variable

# Not needed when calling the Playground API
curl -X POST \
   https://fga.us.auth0.com/oauth/token \
   -H 'content-type: application/json' \
   -d '{"client_id":"'$FGA_CLIENT_ID'","client_secret":"'$FGA_CLIENT_SECRET'","audience":"https://api.us1.fga.dev/","grant_type":"client_credentials"}'

# The response will be returned in the form
# {
#  "access_token": "eyJ...Ggg",
#  "expires_in": 86400,
#  "scope": "read:tuples write:tuples check:tuples ... write:authorization-models",
#  "token_type": "Bearer"
# }
# Store this `access_token` value in environment variable `FGA_BEARER_TOKEN`

# For non-playground environment
FGA_API_URL='https://api.us1.fga.dev'
# For playground environment
# FGA_API_URL='https://api.playground.fga.dev'

curl -X POST $FGA_API_URL/stores/$FGA_STORE_ID/check \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FGA_BEARER_TOKEN" \ # Not needed if service does not require authorization
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"tuple_key":{"user":"bob","relation":"editor","object":"document:meeting_notes.doc"}}'

# Response: {"allowed":true}

check(
  "bob", // check if the user `bob`
  "editor", // has an `editor` relation
  "document:meeting_notes.doc", // with the object `document:meeting_notes.doc`
  
);

Reply: true

is bob related to document:meeting_notes.doc as editor?

# Response: A green path from the user to the object indicating that the response from the API is `{"allowed":true}`

If we were to check the following: "is bob a viewer of document:meeting_notes.doc?" it would return false since that relationship tuple does not exist within Auth0 FGA yet.

Initialize the SDK

// FGA_ENVIRONMENT can be "us" (default if not set) for Developer Community Preview or "playground" for the Playground API
// import the SDK
const { Auth0FgaApi } = require('@auth0/fga');

// Initialize the SDK
const fgaClient = new Auth0FgaApi({
  environment: process.env.FGA_ENVIRONMENT,
  storeId: process.env.FGA_STORE_ID,
  clientId: process.env.FGA_CLIENT_ID,
  clientSecret: process.env.FGA_CLIENT_SECRET,
});

// Run a check
const { allowed } = await fgaClient.check({
  tuple_key: {
    user: 'bob',
    relation: 'viewer',
    object: 'document:meeting_notes.doc',
  },});

// allowed = false

Initialize the SDK

// FGA_ENVIRONMENT can be "us" (default if not set) for Developer Community Preview or "playground" for the Playground API
import (
    fgaSdk "github.com/auth0-lab/fga-go-sdk"
    "os"
)

func Main() {
    configuration, err := fgaSdk.NewConfiguration(fgaSdk.UserConfiguration{
        Environment:  os.Getenv("FGA_ENVIRONMENT"),
        StoreId:      os.Getenv("FGA_STORE_ID"),
        ClientId:     os.Getenv("FGA_CLIENT_ID"),
        ClientSecret: os.Getenv("FGA_CLIENT_SECRET"),
    })

    if err != nil {
    // .. Handle error
    }

    fgaClient := fgaSdk.NewAPIClient(configuration)
}

body := fgaSdk.CheckRequest{
	TupleKey: &fgaSdk.TupleKey{
		User: fgaSdk.PtrString("bob"),
		Relation: fgaSdk.PtrString("viewer"),
		Object: fgaSdk.PtrString("document:meeting_notes.doc"),
	},
data, response, err := fgaClient.Auth0FgaApi.Check(context.Background()).Body(body).Execute()

// data = { allowed: false }

Initialize the SDK

// FGA_ENVIRONMENT can be "us" (default if not set) for Developer Community Preview or "playground" for the Playground API
// import the SDK
using Auth0.Fga.Api;
using Auth0.Fga.Configuration;
using Environment = System.Environment;

namespace ExampleApp;

class MyProgram {
    static async Task Main() {
        var storeId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_STORE_ID");
        var environment = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_ENVIRONMENT")
        var configuration = new Configuration(storeId, environment) {
            ClientId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_CLIENT_ID"),
            ClientSecret = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_CLIENT_SECRET"),
        };
        var fgaClient = new Auth0FgaApi(configuration);
    }
}

// Run a check
var response = await fgaClient.Check(new CheckRequest(new TupleKey {
  User = "bob",
  Relation = "viewer",
  Object = "document:meeting_notes.doc"
});

// response.Allowed = false

Get the Bearer Token and set up the FGA_API_URL environment variable

# Not needed when calling the Playground API
curl -X POST \
   https://fga.us.auth0.com/oauth/token \
   -H 'content-type: application/json' \
   -d '{"client_id":"'$FGA_CLIENT_ID'","client_secret":"'$FGA_CLIENT_SECRET'","audience":"https://api.us1.fga.dev/","grant_type":"client_credentials"}'

# The response will be returned in the form
# {
#  "access_token": "eyJ...Ggg",
#  "expires_in": 86400,
#  "scope": "read:tuples write:tuples check:tuples ... write:authorization-models",
#  "token_type": "Bearer"
# }
# Store this `access_token` value in environment variable `FGA_BEARER_TOKEN`

# For non-playground environment
FGA_API_URL='https://api.us1.fga.dev'
# For playground environment
# FGA_API_URL='https://api.playground.fga.dev'

curl -X POST $FGA_API_URL/stores/$FGA_STORE_ID/check \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FGA_BEARER_TOKEN" \ # Not needed if service does not require authorization
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"tuple_key":{"user":"bob","relation":"viewer","object":"document:meeting_notes.doc"}}'

# Response: {"allowed":false}

check(
  "bob", // check if the user `bob`
  "viewer", // has an `viewer` relation
  "document:meeting_notes.doc", // with the object `document:meeting_notes.doc`
  
);

Reply: false

is bob related to document:meeting_notes.doc as viewer?

# Response: A red object indicating that the response from the API is `{"allowed":false}`

caution

Note: When creating relationship tuples for Auth0 Fine Grained Authorization (FGA) make sure to use unique ids for each object and user within your application domain. We're using first names and simple ids to just illustrate an easy-to-follow example.

Auth0 FGA Concepts

Learn about the Auth0 FGA Concepts.

Modeling: Getting Started

Learn about how to get started with modeling.

Configuration Language

Learn about Auth0 FGA Configuration Language.

Modeling Basics

note

Before you start

Auth0 FGA Concepts

The Playground

Step by Step

01. Create a relationship tuple

02. Check that the relationship exists

caution

Have Feedback?

Modeling Basics

note

Before you start​

Auth0 FGA Concepts​

The Playground

Step by Step​

01. Create a relationship tuple​

02. Check that the relationship exists​

caution

Related Sections​

Have Feedback?

Before you start

Auth0 FGA Concepts

Step by Step

01. Create a relationship tuple

02. Check that the relationship exists

Related Sections