Usersets

What Is A Userset?

A userset represents a set or collection of users.

Usersets can be used to indicate that a group of users in the system have a certain relation with an object. This can be used to assign permissions to groups of users rather than specific ones, allowing us to represent the permissions in our system using less tuples and granting us flexibility in granting or denying access in bulk.

In Okta FGA, usersets are represented via this notation: object#relation, where object is made up of a type and an object identifier. For example:

• company:xyz#employee represents all users that are related to company:xyz as employee
• tweet:12345#viewer represents all users that are related to tweet:12345 as viewer

How Do Check Requests Work With Usersets?

Imagine the following authorization model:

DSL

model
  schema 1.1

type user

type org
  relations
    define member: [user]

type document
  relations
    define reader: [user, org#member]

JSON

{
  "schema_version": "1.1",
  "type_definitions": [
    {
      "type": "user"
    },
    {
      "type": "org",
      "relations": {
        "member": {
          "this": {}
        }
      },
      "metadata": {
        "relations": {
          "member": {
            "directly_related_user_types": [
              {
                "type": "user"
              }
            ]
          }
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "document",
      "relations": {
        "reader": {
          "this": {}
        }
      },
      "metadata": {
        "relations": {
          "reader": {
            "directly_related_user_types": [
              {
                "type": "user"
              },
              {
                "type": "org",
                "relation": "member"
              }
            ]
          }
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Now let us assume that the store has the following tuples:

[// Userset "Members of the xyz org" can read the budget document
  {
  "_description": "Userset \"Members of the xyz org\" can read the budget document",
  "user": "org:xyz#member",
  "relation": "reader",
  "object": "document:budget"
}// Anne is part of the userset "Members of the xyz org"
  {
  "_description": "Anne is part of the userset \"Members of the xyz org\"",
  "user": "user:anne",
  "relation": "member",
  "object": "org:xyz"
}]

If we call the check API to see if user anne has a reader relationship with document:budget, Okta FGA will check whether anne is part of the userset that does have a reader relationship. Because she is part of that userset, the request will return true:

Node.js

Initialize the SDK

// Checkout the "How to Setup the SDK Client" page for more details.
const { CredentialsMethod, OpenFgaClient } = require('@openfga/sdk'); // OR import { CredentialsMethod, OpenFgaClient } from '@openfga/sdk';

// Ensure the environment variables are set
// FGA_API_URL = 'https://api.us1.fga.dev' // 'https://api.eu1.fga.dev' for EU and 'https://api.au1.fga.dev' for AU
// FGA_STORE_ID = 'YOUR_STORE_ID' - Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page
// FGA_MODEL_ID = 'YOUR_MODEL_ID' - optional, can be overridden per request, helps reduce latency
// FGA_API_TOKEN_ISSUER = 'fga.us.auth0.com'
// FGA_API_AUDIENCE = 'https://api.us1.fga.dev/' // 'https://api.eu1.fga.dev/' for EU and 'https://api.au1.fga.dev/' for AU
// FGA_CLIENT_ID = 'YOUR_CLIENT_ID' - Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page
// FGA_CLIENT_SECRET = 'YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET' - Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page

const fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient({
    apiUrl: process.env.FGA_API_URL,
    storeId: process.env.FGA_STORE_ID,
    authorizationModelId: process.env.FGA_MODEL_ID,
    credentials: { // Credentials are not needed if connecting to the Playground API
      method: CredentialsMethod.ClientCredentials,
      config: {
        apiTokenIssuer: process.env.FGA_API_TOKEN_ISSUER,
        apiAudience: process.env.FGA_API_AUDIENCE,
        clientId: process.env.FGA_CLIENT_ID,
        clientSecret: process.env.FGA_CLIENT_SECRET,
      },
    },
});

// Run a check
const { allowed } = await fgaClient.check({
    user: 'user:anne',
    relation: 'reader',
    object: 'document:budget',
  }, {
  authorization_model_id: '01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA',
});

// allowed = true

Go

Initialize the SDK

// Checkout the "How to Setup the SDK Client" page for more details.
import (
    "os"

    openfga "github.com/openfga/go-sdk"
    . "github.com/openfga/go-sdk/client"
    "github.com/openfga/go-sdk/credentials"
)

// Ensure the environment variables are set
// FGA_API_URL = 'https://api.us1.fga.dev' // 'https://api.eu1.fga.dev' for EU and 'https://api.au1.fga.dev' for AU
// FGA_STORE_ID = 'YOUR_STORE_ID' - Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page
// FGA_MODEL_ID = 'YOUR_MODEL_ID' - optional, can be overridden per request, helps reduce latency
// FGA_API_TOKEN_ISSUER = 'fga.us.auth0.com'
// FGA_API_AUDIENCE = 'https://api.us1.fga.dev/' // 'https://api.eu1.fga.dev/' for EU and 'https://api.au1.fga.dev/' for AU
// FGA_CLIENT_ID = 'YOUR_CLIENT_ID' - Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page
// FGA_CLIENT_SECRET = 'YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET' - Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page

func main() {
    fgaClient, err := NewSdkClient(&ClientConfiguration{
        ApiUrl:               os.Getenv("FGA_API_URL"), 
        StoreId:              os.Getenv("FGA_STORE_ID"),
        AuthorizationModelId: os.Getenv("FGA_MODEL_ID"),
        Credentials: &credentials.Credentials{ // Credentials are not needed if connecting to the Playground API
            Method: credentials.CredentialsMethodClientCredentials,
            Config: &credentials.Config{
                ClientCredentialsClientId:       os.Getenv("FGA_CLIENT_ID"),
                ClientCredentialsClientSecret:   os.Getenv("FGA_CLIENT_SECRET"),
                ClientCredentialsApiAudience:    os.Getenv("FGA_API_AUDIENCE"),
                ClientCredentialsApiTokenIssuer: os.Getenv("FGA_API_TOKEN_ISSUER"),
            },
        },
    })

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

options := ClientCheckOptions{
    AuthorizationModelId: PtrString("01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA"),
}

body := ClientCheckRequest{
    User:     "user:anne",
    Relation: "reader",
    Object:   "document:budget",
}

data, err := fgaClient.Check(context.Background()).
    Body(body).
    Options(options).
    Execute()

// data = { allowed: true }

.NET

Initialize the SDK

// Checkout the "How to Setup the SDK Client" page for more details.
using OpenFga.Sdk.Client;
using OpenFga.Sdk.Client.Model;
using OpenFga.Sdk.Model;
using Environment = System.Environment;

namespace Example;

// Ensure the environment variables are set
// FGA_API_URL = 'https://api.us1.fga.dev' // 'https://api.eu1.fga.dev' for EU and 'https://api.au1.fga.dev' for AU
// FGA_STORE_ID = 'YOUR_STORE_ID' - Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page
// FGA_MODEL_ID = 'YOUR_MODEL_ID' - optional, can be overridden per request, helps reduce latency
// FGA_API_TOKEN_ISSUER = 'fga.us.auth0.com'
// FGA_API_AUDIENCE = 'https://api.us1.fga.dev/' // 'https://api.eu1.fga.dev/' for EU and 'https://api.au1.fga.dev/' for AU
// FGA_CLIENT_ID = 'YOUR_CLIENT_ID' - Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page
// FGA_CLIENT_SECRET = 'YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET' - Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page

class MyProgram {
    static async Task Main() {
        var configuration = new ClientConfiguration() {
            ApiUrl = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_API_URL"),
            StoreId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_STORE_ID"),
            AuthorizationModelId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_MODEL_ID"),
            Credentials = new Credentials() { // Credentials are not needed if connecting to the Playground API
                Method = CredentialsMethod.ClientCredentials,
                Config = new CredentialsConfig() {
                    ApiTokenIssuer = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_API_TOKEN_ISSUER"),
                    ApiAudience = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_API_AUDIENCE"),
                    ClientId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_CLIENT_ID"),
                    ClientSecret = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_CLIENT_SECRET"),
                }
            }
        };
        var fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient(configuration);
    }
}

var options = new ClientCheckOptions {
    AuthorizationModelId = "01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA",
};
var body = new ClientCheckRequest {
    User = "user:anne",
    Relation = "reader",
    Object = "document:budget",
    
};
var response = await fgaClient.Check(body, options);

// response.Allowed = true

Python

Initialize the SDK

# Checkout the "How to Setup the SDK Client" page for more details.

import os
import openfga_sdk
from openfga_sdk.client import OpenFgaClient, ClientConfiguration
from openfga_sdk.credentials import Credentials, CredentialConfiguration

# FGA_API_URL = 'https://api.us1.fga.dev' // 'https://api.eu1.fga.dev' for EU and 'https://api.au1.fga.dev' for AU
# FGA_STORE_ID = 'YOUR_STORE_ID' - Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page
# FGA_MODEL_ID = 'YOUR_MODEL_ID' - optional, can be overridden per request, helps reduce latency
# FGA_API_TOKEN_ISSUER = 'fga.us.auth0.com'
# FGA_API_AUDIENCE = 'https://api.us1.fga.dev/' // 'https://api.eu1.fga.dev/' for EU and 'https://api.au1.fga.dev/' for AU
# FGA_CLIENT_ID = 'YOUR_CLIENT_ID' - Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page
# FGA_CLIENT_SECRET = 'YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET' - Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page

async def main():
    credentials = Credentials(
      method='client_credentials',
      configuration=CredentialConfiguration(
          api_issuer= os.environ.get('FGA_API_TOKEN_ISSUER'),
          api_audience= os.environ.get('FGA_API_AUDIENCE'),
          client_id= os.environ.get('FGA_CLIENT_ID'),
          client_secret= os.environ.get('FGA_CLIENT_SECRET'),
      )
    )

    configuration = ClientConfiguration(
        api_url = os.environ.get('FGA_API_URL'), # required, e.g. https://api.fga.example
        store_id = os.environ.get('FGA_STORE_ID'), # optional, not needed for `CreateStore` and `ListStores`, required before calling for all other methods
        authorization_model_id = os.environ.get('FGA_MODEL_ID'), # Optional, can be overridden per request
    )

    # Enter a context with an instance of the OpenFgaClient
    async with OpenFgaClient(configuration) as fga_client:
        api_response = await fga_client.read_authorization_models()
        await fga_client.close()

asyncio.run(main())

options = {
    "authorization_model_id": "01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA"
}
body = ClientCheckRequest(
    user="user:anne",
    relation="reader",
    object="document:budget",
)

response = await fga_client.check(body, options)

# response.allowed = true

Java

Initialize the SDK

// ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.
import dev.openfga.sdk.api.client.OpenFgaClient;
import dev.openfga.sdk.api.configuration.ClientConfiguration;
import dev.openfga.sdk.api.configuration.ClientCredentials;
import dev.openfga.sdk.api.configuration.Credentials;

// FGA_API_URL = 'https://api.us1.fga.dev' for Dev Preview and Early Access / 'https://api.playground.fga.dev' for the FGA Playground
// FGA_STORE_ID = 'YOUR_STORE_ID' - Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page
// FGA_MODEL_ID = 'YOUR_MODEL_ID' - optional, can be overridden per request, helps reduce latency
// FGA_API_TOKEN_ISSUER = 'fga.us.auth0.com' for Dev Preview and Early Access / not needed for the FGA Playground
// FGA_API_AUDIENCE = 'https://api.us1.fga.dev/' for Dev Preview and Early Access / not needed for the FGA Playground
// FGA_CLIENT_ID = 'YOUR_CLIENT_ID' - Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page / not needed for the FGA Playground
// FGA_CLIENT_SECRET = 'YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET' - Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page / not needed for the FGA Playground

public class Example {
  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
      var config = new ClientConfiguration()
              .apiUrl(System.getenv("FGA_API_URL")) // If not specified, will default to "https://localhost:8080"
              .storeId(System.getenv("FGA_STORE_ID")) // Not required when calling createStore() or listStores()
              .authorizationModelId(System.getenv("FGA_MODEL_ID")) // Optional, can be overridden per request
              .credentials(new Credentials(
                  new ClientCredentials()
                          .apiTokenIssuer(System.getenv("FGA_API_TOKEN_ISSUER"))
                          .apiAudience(System.getenv("FGA_API_AUDIENCE"))
                          .clientId(System.getenv("FGA_CLIENT_ID"))
                          .clientSecret(System.getenv("FGA_CLIENT_SECRET"))
              ));

      var fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient(config);
  }
}

var options = new ClientCheckOptions()
        .authorizationModelId("01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA");

var body = new ClientCheckRequest()
        .user("user:anne")
        .relation("reader")
        ._object("document:budget");

var response = fgaClient.check(body, options).get();

// response.getAllowed() = true 

CLI

Set the environment variables according to the "How to get your API keys"

Set the required environment variables
# For all environments
export FGA_STORE_ID = 'YOUR_STORE_ID' # Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page
export FGA_MODEL_ID = 'YOUR_MODEL_ID' # optional, can be overridden per request, helps reduce latency

export FGA_API_URL = 'https://api.us1.fga.dev/' // 'https://api.eu1.fga.dev/' for EU and 'https://api.au1.fga.dev/' for AU
export FGA_API_TOKEN_ISSUER = 'fga.us.auth0.com'
export FGA_API_AUDIENCE = 'https://api.us1.fga.dev/' // 'https://api.eu1.fga.dev/' for EU and 'https://api.au1.fga.dev/' for AU
export FGA_CLIENT_ID = 'YOUR_CLIENT_ID' # Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page
export FGA_CLIENT_SECRET = 'YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET' # Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page

fga query check --store-id=$FGA_STORE_ID --model-id=01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA user:anne reader document:budget

# Response: {"allowed":true}

curl

Set the environment variables according to the "How to get your API keys"

Set the required environment variables
# For all environments
export FGA_STORE_ID = 'YOUR_STORE_ID' # Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page
export FGA_MODEL_ID = 'YOUR_MODEL_ID' # optional, can be overridden per request, helps reduce latency

export FGA_API_URL = 'https://api.us1.fga.dev/' // 'https://api.eu1.fga.dev/' for EU and 'https://api.au1.fga.dev/' for AU
export FGA_API_TOKEN_ISSUER = 'fga.us.auth0.com'
export FGA_API_AUDIENCE = 'https://api.us1.fga.dev/' // 'https://api.eu1.fga.dev/' for EU and 'https://api.au1.fga.dev/' for AU
export FGA_CLIENT_ID = 'YOUR_CLIENT_ID' # Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page
export FGA_CLIENT_SECRET = 'YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET' # Get this from your store settings in the dashboard, refer to the "How to get your API Keys" page

curl -X POST $FGA_API_URL/stores/$FGA_STORE_ID/check \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FGA_API_TOKEN" \ # Not needed if service does not require authorization
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"authorization_model_id": "01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA", "tuple_key":{"user":"user:anne","relation":"reader","object":"document:budget"}}'

# Response: {"allowed":true}

Pseudocode

check(
  user = "user:anne", // check if the user `user:anne`
  relation = "reader", // has an `reader` relation
  object = "document:budget", // with the object `document:budget`
   authorization_id = "01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA"
);

Reply: true

How Do Expand Requests Work With Usersets?

Imagine the following authorization model:

DSL

model
  schema 1.1

type user

type document
  relations
    define writer: [user, org#member]
    define reader: [user, org#member] or writer

JSON

{
  "schema_version": "1.1",
  "type_definitions": [
    {
      "type": "user"
    },
    {
      "type": "document",
      "relations": {
        "writer": {
          "this": {}
        },
        "reader": {
          "union": {
            "child": [
              {
                "this": {}
              },
              {
                "computedUserset": {
                  "relation": "writer"
                }
              }
            ]
          }
        }
      },
      "metadata": {
        "relations": {
          "reader": {
            "directly_related_user_types": [
              {
                "type": "user"
              },
              {
                "type": "org",
                "relation": "member"
              }
            ]
          },
          "writer": {
            "directly_related_user_types": [
              {
                "type": "user"
              },
              {
                "type": "org",
                "relation": "member"
              }
            ]
          }
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

If we wanted to see which users and usersets have a reader relationship with document:budget, we can call the Expand API. The response will contain a userset tree where the leaf nodes are specific user IDs and usersets. For example:

{
  "tree": {
    "root": {
      "type": "document:budget#reader",
      "union": {
        "nodes": [
          {
            "type": "document:budget#reader",
            "leaf": {
              "users": {
                "users": ["user:bob"]
              }
            }
          },
          {
            "type": "document:budget#reader",
            "leaf": {
              "computed": {
                "userset": "document:budget#writer"
              }
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

As you can see from the response above, with usersets we can express unions of user groups. We can also express intersections and exclusions.

Internals

Using the type definitions in the authorization model, some of the situations we can represent are:

• that a user is not in a set of users having a certain relation to an object, even if a relationship tuple exists in the system. See Disabling Direct Relationships
• that a user has a certain relationship with an object if they are in the union, intersection or exclusion of usersets.
• that a user being in a set of users having a certain relation to an object can result in them having another relation to the object. See Concentric Relationships
• that the user being in a set of users having a certain relation to an object and that object is in a set of users having a certain relation to another object, can imply that the original user has a certain relationship to the final object. See Object-to-Object Relationships

When executing the Check API of the form check(user, relation, object), Okta FGA will perform the following steps:

1. In the authorization model, look up type and its relation. Start building a tree where the root node will be the definition of that relation, which can be a union, exclusion, or intersection of usersets, or it can be direct users.
2. Expand all the usersets involved into new nodes in the tree. This means recursively finding all the users that are members of the usersets. If there are direct relationships with users, create leaf nodes.
3. Check whether user is a leaf node in the tree. If the API finds one match, it will return immediately and will not expand the remaining nodes.

Related Sections

See the following sections for more information:

Managing Group Membership

How to add users to a userset

• More

Managing Group Access

How to add permissions to a userset

• More