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Migrating Relations

note
Fine Grained Authorization (FGA) is the early-stage product we are building at Okta 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 Okta FGA during the Developer Community Preview can be found here.

In the lifecycle of software development, you will need to make updates or changes to the authorization model. In this guide, you will learn best practices for changing your existing authorization model. With these recommendations, you will minimize downtime and ensure your relationship models stay up to date.

Before You Start

This guide assumes you are familiar with the following Okta 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 an object of the same type as the type definition and a user 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 Okta FGA
  • Intersection Operator: the intersection operator can be used to indicate a relationship exists if the user is in all the sets of users

Step By Step

The document below is an example of a relational authorization model. In this model, you can assign users to the editor relation. The editor relation has write privileges that regular users do not.

In this scenario, you will migrate the following model:

model
schema 1.1

type document
relations
define editor: [user]
define can_edit: editor

type user

There are existing relationship tuples associated with editor relation.

[
{
"user": "user:anne",
"relation": "editor",
"object": "document:roadmap",
},
{
"user": "user:charles",
"relation": "editor",
"object": "document:roadmap",
},
]

This is the authorization model that you will want to migrate to:

model
schema 1.1

type document
relations
define writer: [user]
define can_write: writer

type user

01. Create A Backwards Compatible Model

To avoid service disruption, you will create a backwards compatible model. The backwards compatible model ensures the existing relationship tuple will still work.

In the example below, user:Anne still has write privileges to the document:roadmap resource.

model
schema 1.1

type document
relations
define editor: [user]
define writer: [user] or editor
define can_write: writer
define can_edit: writer

type user

Test the can_edit definition. It should produce a value of true.

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_SCHEME = 'https'
// FGA_API_HOST = 'api.us1.fga.dev' for Dev Preview and Early Access / '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

const fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient({
apiScheme: process.env.FGA_API_SCHEME,
apiHost: process.env.FGA_API_HOST,
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: 'can_write',
object: 'document:roadmap',
}, {
authorization_model_id: '1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw',
});

// allowed = true
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_SCHEME = 'https'
// FGA_API_HOST = 'api.us1.fga.dev' for Dev Preview and Early Access / '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

const fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient({
apiScheme: process.env.FGA_API_SCHEME,
apiHost: process.env.FGA_API_HOST,
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: 'can_edit',
object: 'document:roadmap',
}, {
authorization_model_id: '1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw',
});

// allowed = true

02. Create a New Relationship Tuple

Now that you have a backwards compatible model, you can create new relationship tuples with a new relation.

In this example, you will add Bethany to the writer relationship.

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_SCHEME = 'https'
// FGA_API_HOST = 'api.us1.fga.dev' for Dev Preview and Early Access / '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

const fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient({
apiScheme: process.env.FGA_API_SCHEME,
apiHost: process.env.FGA_API_HOST,
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,
},
},
});

await fgaClient.write({
writes: [
// Bethany assigned writer instead of editor
{ user: 'user:bethany', relation: 'writer', object: 'document:roadmap'}]
},
}, {
authorization_model_id: "1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw"
});

Run a check in the API for Bethany to ensure correct access.

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_SCHEME = 'https'
// FGA_API_HOST = 'api.us1.fga.dev' for Dev Preview and Early Access / '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

const fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient({
apiScheme: process.env.FGA_API_SCHEME,
apiHost: process.env.FGA_API_HOST,
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:bethany',
relation: 'can_write',
object: 'document:roadmap',
}, {
authorization_model_id: '1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw',
});

// allowed = true

03. Migrate The Existing Relationship Tuples

Next, migrate the existing relationship tuples. The new relation makes this definition obsolete.

Use the read API to lookup all relationship tuples.

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_SCHEME = 'https'
// FGA_API_HOST = 'api.us1.fga.dev' for Dev Preview and Early Access / '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

const fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient({
apiScheme: process.env.FGA_API_SCHEME,
apiHost: process.env.FGA_API_HOST,
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,
},
},
});

// Execute a read
const { tuples } = await fgaClient.read({

});

// tuples = [{"key": {"user":"user:anne","relation":"editor","object":"document:planning"}, "timestamp": "2021-10-06T15:32:11.128Z"},{"key": {"user":"user:charles","relation":"editor","object":"document:planning"}, "timestamp": "2021-10-06T15:32:11.128Z"}]

Then filter out the tuples that do not match the object type or relation (in this case, document and editor respectively), and update the new tuples with the write relationship.

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_SCHEME = 'https'
// FGA_API_HOST = 'api.us1.fga.dev' for Dev Preview and Early Access / '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

const fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient({
apiScheme: process.env.FGA_API_SCHEME,
apiHost: process.env.FGA_API_HOST,
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,
},
},
});

await fgaClient.write({
writes: [
{ user: 'user:anne', relation: 'writer', object: 'document:roadmap'},
{ user: 'user:charles', relation: 'writer', object: 'document:roadmap'}]
},
}, {
authorization_model_id: "1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw"
});

Finally, remove the old relationship tuples.

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_SCHEME = 'https'
// FGA_API_HOST = 'api.us1.fga.dev' for Dev Preview and Early Access / '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

const fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient({
apiScheme: process.env.FGA_API_SCHEME,
apiHost: process.env.FGA_API_HOST,
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,
},
},
});

await fgaClient.write({
deletes: [
{ user: 'user:anne', relation: 'editor', object: 'document:roadmap'},
{ user: 'user:charles', relation: 'editor', object: 'document:roadmap'}]
},
}, {
authorization_model_id: "1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw"
});
info

Perform a write operation before a delete operation to ensure Anne still has access.

Confirm the tuples are correct by running a check on the user.

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_SCHEME = 'https'
// FGA_API_HOST = 'api.us1.fga.dev' for Dev Preview and Early Access / '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

const fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient({
apiScheme: process.env.FGA_API_SCHEME,
apiHost: process.env.FGA_API_HOST,
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: 'can_write',
object: 'document:roadmap',
}, {
authorization_model_id: '1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw',
});

// allowed = true

The old relationship tuple no longer exists.

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_SCHEME = 'https'
// FGA_API_HOST = 'api.us1.fga.dev' for Dev Preview and Early Access / '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

const fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient({
apiScheme: process.env.FGA_API_SCHEME,
apiHost: process.env.FGA_API_HOST,
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: 'editor',
object: 'document:roadmap',
}, {
authorization_model_id: '1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw',
});

// allowed = false