Managing User Access

In this guide you will learn how to grant a user access to a particular object.

When to use

Granting access with a relationship tuple is a core part of OpenFGA. Without any relationship tuples, any check will fail. You should use:

authorization model to represent what relations are possible between the users and objects in your 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 OpenFGA 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 tweet that can have a reader.

DSL
JSON

model
  schema 1.1

type user

type tweet
  relations
    define reader: [user]

{
  "schema_version": "1.1",
  "type_definitions": [
    {
      "type": "user"
    },
    {
      "type": "tweet",
      "relations": {
        "reader": {
          "this": {}
        }
      },
      "metadata": {
        "relations": {
          "reader": {
            "directly_related_user_types": [
              {
                "type": "user"
              }
            ]
          }
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

In addition, you will need to know the following:

Direct access

You need to know how to create an authorization model and create a relationship tuple to grant a user access to an object. Learn more →

OpenFGA 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 OpenFGA

Step by step

01. Adding direct relationship

For our application, we will give user Anne the reader relationship to a particular tweet. To do so we add a tuple as follows:

[// Anne can read tweet:1
  {
  "_description": "Anne can read tweet:1",
  "user": "user:anne",
  "relation": "reader",
  "object": "tweet:1"
}]

With the above, we have added a direct relationship between Anne and tweet:1. When we call the Check API to see if Anne has a reader relationship, OpenFGA will say yes.

Initialize the SDK

// ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.
// import the SDK
const { OpenFgaClient } = require('@openfga/sdk');

// Initialize the SDK with no auth - see "How to setup SDK client" for more options
const fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient({
  apiUrl: process.env.FGA_API_URL, // required, e.g. https://api.fga.example
  storeId: process.env.FGA_STORE_ID,
  authorizationModelId: process.env.FGA_MODEL_ID, // Optional, can be overridden per request
});

// Run a check
const { allowed } = await fgaClient.check({
    user: 'user:anne',
    relation: 'reader',
    object: 'tweet:1',
  }, {
  authorization_model_id: '01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA',
});

// allowed = true

Initialize the SDK

// ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.
import (
    "os"

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

func main() {
    // Initialize the SDK with no auth - see "How to setup SDK client" for more options
    fgaClient, err := NewSdkClient(&ClientConfiguration{
        ApiUrl:               os.Getenv("FGA_API_URL"), // required, e.g. https://api.fga.example
        StoreId:              os.Getenv("FGA_STORE_ID"), // optional, not needed for `CreateStore` and `ListStores`, required before calling for all other methods
        AuthorizationModelId: os.Getenv("FGA_MODEL_ID"),  // Optional, can be overridden per request
    })

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

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

body := ClientCheckRequest{
    User:     "user:anne",
    Relation: "reader",
    Object:   "tweet:1",
}

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

// data = { allowed: true }

Initialize the SDK

// ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.
// import the SDK
using OpenFga.Sdk.Client;
using OpenFga.Sdk.Client.Model;
using OpenFga.Sdk.Model;
using Environment = System.Environment;

namespace Example;

class Example {
    public static async Task Main() {
        // Initialize the SDK with no auth - see "How to setup SDK client" for more options
        var configuration = new ClientConfiguration() {
          ApiUrl = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_API_URL"), ?? "http://localhost:8080", // required, e.g. https://api.fga.example
          StoreId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_STORE_ID"), // optional, not needed for `CreateStore` and `ListStores`, required before calling for all other methods
          AuthorizationModelId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_MODEL_ID"), // Optional, can be overridden per request
        };
        var fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient(configuration);
    }
}

var options = new ClientCheckOptions {
    AuthorizationModelId = "01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA",
};
var body = new ClientCheckRequest {
    User = "user:anne",
    Relation = "reader",
    Object = "tweet:1",
    
};
var response = await fgaClient.Check(body, options);

// response.Allowed = true

Initialize the SDK

# ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.

import asyncio
import os
import json
from openfga_sdk.client import ClientConfiguration, OpenFgaClient

async def main():
    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="tweet:1",
)

response = await fga_client.check(body, options)

# response.allowed = true

Initialize the SDK

// ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.

import dev.openfga.sdk.api.client.OpenFgaClient;
import dev.openfga.sdk.api.configuration.ClientConfiguration;

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_AUTHORIZATION_MODEL_ID")); // Optional, can be overridden per request

      var fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient(config);
  }
}

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

var body = new ClientCheckRequest()
        .user("user:anne")
        .relation("reader")
        ._object("tweet:1");

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

// response.getAllowed() = true 

Set FGA_API_URL according to the service you are using (e.g. https://api.fga.example)

Set FGA_API_URL according to the service you are using (e.g. https://api.fga.example)

fga query check --store-id=$FGA_STORE_ID --model-id=01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA user:anne reader tweet:1

# Response: {"allowed":true}

Set FGA_API_URL according to the service you are using (e.g. https://api.fga.example)

Set FGA_API_URL according to the service you are using (e.g. https://api.fga.example)

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":"tweet:1"}}'

# Response: {"allowed":true}

check(
  user = "user:anne", // check if the user `user:anne`
  relation = "reader", // has an `reader` relation
  object = "tweet:1", // with the object `tweet:1`
   authorization_id = "01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA"
);

Reply: true

02. Removing direct relationship

Now let's change this so that Anne no longer has a reader relationship to tweet:1 by deleting the tuple:

Initialize the SDK

// ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.
// import the SDK
const { OpenFgaClient } = require('@openfga/sdk');

// Initialize the SDK with no auth - see "How to setup SDK client" for more options
const fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient({
  apiUrl: process.env.FGA_API_URL, // required, e.g. https://api.fga.example
  storeId: process.env.FGA_STORE_ID,
  authorizationModelId: process.env.FGA_MODEL_ID, // Optional, can be overridden per request
});

await fgaClient.write({
  deletes: [
      { user: 'user:anne', relation: 'reader', object: 'tweet:1'}
  ],
}, {
  authorization_model_id: "01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA" 
});

Initialize the SDK

// ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.
import (
    "os"

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

func main() {
    // Initialize the SDK with no auth - see "How to setup SDK client" for more options
    fgaClient, err := NewSdkClient(&ClientConfiguration{
        ApiUrl:               os.Getenv("FGA_API_URL"), // required, e.g. https://api.fga.example
        StoreId:              os.Getenv("FGA_STORE_ID"), // optional, not needed for `CreateStore` and `ListStores`, required before calling for all other methods
        AuthorizationModelId: os.Getenv("FGA_MODEL_ID"),  // Optional, can be overridden per request
    })

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

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

body := ClientWriteRequest{
    Deletes: []ClientTupleKeyWithoutCondition{
        {
             User: "user:anne",
             Relation: "reader",
             Object: "tweet:1",
        }, 
    }, 
}

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

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

_ = data // use the response

Initialize the SDK

// ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.
// import the SDK
using OpenFga.Sdk.Client;
using OpenFga.Sdk.Client.Model;
using OpenFga.Sdk.Model;
using Environment = System.Environment;

namespace Example;

class Example {
    public static async Task Main() {
        // Initialize the SDK with no auth - see "How to setup SDK client" for more options
        var configuration = new ClientConfiguration() {
          ApiUrl = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_API_URL"), ?? "http://localhost:8080", // required, e.g. https://api.fga.example
          StoreId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_STORE_ID"), // optional, not needed for `CreateStore` and `ListStores`, required before calling for all other methods
          AuthorizationModelId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_MODEL_ID"), // Optional, can be overridden per request
        };
        var fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient(configuration);
    }
}

var options = new ClientWriteOptions {
    AuthorizationModelId = "01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA",
};
var body = new ClientWriteRequest() {
    Deletes = new List<ClientTupleKeyWithoutCondition>() {
    new() { User = "user:anne", Relation = "reader", Object = "tweet:1" }
  },
};
var response = await fgaClient.Write(body, options);

Initialize the SDK

# ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.

import asyncio
import os
import json
from openfga_sdk.client import ClientConfiguration, OpenFgaClient

async def main():
    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 = ClientWriteRequest(
        deletes=[
                ClientTuple(
                    user="user:anne",
                    relation="reader",
                    object="tweet:1",
                ),
        ],
)

response = await fga_client.write(body, options)

Initialize the SDK

// ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.

import dev.openfga.sdk.api.client.OpenFgaClient;
import dev.openfga.sdk.api.configuration.ClientConfiguration;

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_AUTHORIZATION_MODEL_ID")); // Optional, can be overridden per request

      var fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient(config);
  }
}

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

var body = new ClientWriteRequest() 
        .deletes(List.of(
                new ClientTupleKey()
                        .user("user:anne")
                        .relation("reader")
                        ._object("tweet:1")
        ));

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

Set FGA_API_URL according to the service you are using (e.g. https://api.fga.example)

Set FGA_API_URL according to the service you are using (e.g. https://api.fga.example)

curl -X POST $FGA_API_URL/stores/$FGA_STORE_ID/write \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FGA_API_TOKEN" \ # Not needed if service does not require authorization
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"deletes": { "tuple_keys" : [{"user":"user:anne","relation":"reader","object":"tweet:1"}] }, "authorization_model_id": "01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA"}'

Set FGA_API_URL according to the service you are using (e.g. https://api.fga.example)

Set FGA_API_URL according to the service you are using (e.g. https://api.fga.example)

fga tuple delete --store-id=${FGA_STORE_ID} user:anne reader tweet:1

delete([
    {
      "user":"user:anne",
      "relation":"reader",
      "object":"tweet:1"
    }
], authorization_model_id="01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA")

With this, we have removed the direct relationship between Anne and tweet:1. And because our type definition for reader does not include any other relations, a call to the Check API will now return a negative response.

Initialize the SDK

// ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.
// import the SDK
const { OpenFgaClient } = require('@openfga/sdk');

// Initialize the SDK with no auth - see "How to setup SDK client" for more options
const fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient({
  apiUrl: process.env.FGA_API_URL, // required, e.g. https://api.fga.example
  storeId: process.env.FGA_STORE_ID,
  authorizationModelId: process.env.FGA_MODEL_ID, // Optional, can be overridden per request
});

// Run a check
const { allowed } = await fgaClient.check({
    user: 'user:anne',
    relation: 'reader',
    object: 'tweet:1',
  }, {
  authorization_model_id: '01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA',
});

// allowed = false

Initialize the SDK

// ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.
import (
    "os"

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

func main() {
    // Initialize the SDK with no auth - see "How to setup SDK client" for more options
    fgaClient, err := NewSdkClient(&ClientConfiguration{
        ApiUrl:               os.Getenv("FGA_API_URL"), // required, e.g. https://api.fga.example
        StoreId:              os.Getenv("FGA_STORE_ID"), // optional, not needed for `CreateStore` and `ListStores`, required before calling for all other methods
        AuthorizationModelId: os.Getenv("FGA_MODEL_ID"),  // Optional, can be overridden per request
    })

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

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

body := ClientCheckRequest{
    User:     "user:anne",
    Relation: "reader",
    Object:   "tweet:1",
}

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

// data = { allowed: false }

Initialize the SDK

// ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.
// import the SDK
using OpenFga.Sdk.Client;
using OpenFga.Sdk.Client.Model;
using OpenFga.Sdk.Model;
using Environment = System.Environment;

namespace Example;

class Example {
    public static async Task Main() {
        // Initialize the SDK with no auth - see "How to setup SDK client" for more options
        var configuration = new ClientConfiguration() {
          ApiUrl = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_API_URL"), ?? "http://localhost:8080", // required, e.g. https://api.fga.example
          StoreId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_STORE_ID"), // optional, not needed for `CreateStore` and `ListStores`, required before calling for all other methods
          AuthorizationModelId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_MODEL_ID"), // Optional, can be overridden per request
        };
        var fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient(configuration);
    }
}

var options = new ClientCheckOptions {
    AuthorizationModelId = "01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA",
};
var body = new ClientCheckRequest {
    User = "user:anne",
    Relation = "reader",
    Object = "tweet:1",
    
};
var response = await fgaClient.Check(body, options);

// response.Allowed = false

Initialize the SDK

# ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.

import asyncio
import os
import json
from openfga_sdk.client import ClientConfiguration, OpenFgaClient

async def main():
    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="tweet:1",
)

response = await fga_client.check(body, options)

# response.allowed = false

Initialize the SDK

// ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.

import dev.openfga.sdk.api.client.OpenFgaClient;
import dev.openfga.sdk.api.configuration.ClientConfiguration;

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_AUTHORIZATION_MODEL_ID")); // Optional, can be overridden per request

      var fgaClient = new OpenFgaClient(config);
  }
}

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

var body = new ClientCheckRequest()
        .user("user:anne")
        .relation("reader")
        ._object("tweet:1");

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

// response.getAllowed() = true 

Set FGA_API_URL according to the service you are using (e.g. https://api.fga.example)

Set FGA_API_URL according to the service you are using (e.g. https://api.fga.example)

fga query check --store-id=$FGA_STORE_ID --model-id=01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA user:anne reader tweet:1

# Response: {"allowed":false}

Set FGA_API_URL according to the service you are using (e.g. https://api.fga.example)

Set FGA_API_URL according to the service you are using (e.g. https://api.fga.example)

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":"tweet:1"}}'

# Response: {"allowed":false}

check(
  user = "user:anne", // check if the user `user:anne`
  relation = "reader", // has an `reader` relation
  object = "tweet:1", // with the object `tweet:1`
   authorization_id = "01HVMMBCMGZNT3SED4Z17ECXCA"
);

Reply: false

Direct Access

Learn about how to model granting user access to an object.

Modeling Public Access

Learn about how to model granting public access.

How to update relationship tuples

Learn about how to update relationship tuples in SDK.

Before you start​

Direct access​

OpenFGA concepts​

Step by step​

01. Adding direct relationship​

02. Removing direct relationship​

Related Sections​

Before you start

Direct access

OpenFGA concepts

Step by step

01. Adding direct relationship

02. Removing direct relationship

Related Sections