Public Access

In this guide you will learn how to grant public access to an object, such as a certain document, using type bound public access.

When to use

Public access allows your application to grant every user in the system access to an object. You would add a relationship tuple with type-bound public access when:

sharing a document publicly to indicate that everyone can view it
a public poll is created to indicate that anyone can vote on it
a blog post is published and anyone should be able to read it
a video is made public for anyone to watch

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 document that can have a view relation.

DSL
JSON

model
  schema 1.1
type user
type document
  relations
    define view: [user,user:*]

{
  "schema_version": "1.1",
  "type_definitions": [
    {
      "type": "user"
    },
    {
      "type": "document",
      "relations": {
        "view": {
          "this": {}
        }
      },
      "metadata": {
        "relations": {
          "view": {
            "directly_related_user_types": [
              {
                "type": "user"
              },
              {
                "type": "user",
                "wildcard": {}
              }
            ]
          }
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

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
A Type Bound Public Access: is a special OpenFGA concept (represented by <type>:*) can be used in relationship tuples to represent every object of that type

caution

Make sure to use unique ids for each object and user within your application domain when creating relationship tuples for OpenFGA. We are using first names and simple ids to just illustrate an easy-to-follow example.

Step By Step

In previous guides, we have shown how to indicate that objects are related to users or objects. In some cases, you might want to indicate that everyone is related to an object (for example when sharing a document publicly).

01. Create A Relationship Tuple

To do this we need to create a relationship tuple using the type bound public access. The type bound public access syntax is used to indicate that all users of a particular type have a relation to a specific object.

Let us create a relationship tuple that states: any user can view document:company-psa.doc

Initialize the SDK

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

// Initialize the SDK with no auth - see "How to setup SDK client" for more options
const fgaClient = new OpenFgaApi({
  apiScheme: process.env.FGA_API_SCHEME, // Either "http" or "https", defaults to "https"
  apiHost: process.env.FGA_API_HOST, // required, define without the scheme (e.g. api.openfga.example instead of https://api.openfga.example)
  storeId: process.env.FGA_STORE_ID, // Either "http" or "https", defaults to "https"
});

await fgaClient.write({
  writes: {
    tuple_keys: [
      // user:* denotes every object of type user
      { user: 'user:*', relation: 'view', object: 'document:company-psa.doc'}
    ]
  },
  authorization_model_id: "1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw" 
});

Initialize the SDK

// ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.
import (
    fgaSdk "github.com/openfga/go-sdk"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    // Initialize the SDK with no auth - see "How to setup SDK client" for more options
    configuration, err := fgaSdk.NewConfiguration(fgaSdk.UserConfiguration{
        ApiScheme:      os.Getenv("FGA_SCHEME"), // Either "http" or "https", defaults to "https"
        ApiHost:        os.Getenv("FGA_API_HOST"), // required, define without the scheme (e.g. api.openfga.example instead of https://api.openfga.example)
        StoreId:        os.Getenv("FGA_STORE_ID"), // optional, not needed for `CreateStore` and `ListStores`, required before calling for all other methods
    })

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

    fgaClient := fgaSdk.NewAPIClient(configuration)
}

body := fgaSdk.WriteRequest{
	Writes:  &fgaSdk.TupleKeys{
		TupleKeys: []fgaSdk.TupleKey { 
			{
				// user:* denotes every object of type user
				User: fgaSdk.PtrString("user:*"),
				Relation: fgaSdk.PtrString("view"),
				Object: fgaSdk.PtrString("document:company-psa.doc"),
			}, 
		},
	},
 	AuthorizationModelId: fgaSdk.PtrString("1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw")}

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

Initialize the SDK

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

namespace ExampleApp;

class MyProgram {
    static async Task Main() {
        // Initialize the SDK with no auth - see "How to setup SDK client" for more options
        var configuration = new Configuration() {
          ApiScheme = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_API_SCHEME"), // Either "http" or "https", defaults to "https"
          ApiHost = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_API_HOST"), // required, define without the scheme (e.g. api.openfga.example instead of https://api.openfga.example)
          StoreId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_STORE_ID"), // optional, not needed for `CreateStore` and `ListStores`, required before calling for all other methods
        };
        var fgaClient = new OpenFgaApi(configuration);
    }
}

await fgaClient.Write(new WriteRequest{
  Writes = new TupleKeys(new List<TupleKey>() {
    // user:* denotes every object of type user
    new() { User = "user:*", Relation = "view", Object = "document:company-psa.doc" }
  }),
  AuthorizationModelId = "1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw"
});

Initialize the SDK

# ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.

import os
import json
import openfga_sdk
from openfga_sdk.api import open_fga_api

configuration = openfga_sdk.Configuration(
    api_scheme = os.environ.get('FGA_API_SCHEME'), # Either "http" or "https", defaults to "https"
    api_host = os.environ.get('FGA_API_HOST'), # required, define without the scheme (e.g. api.openfga.example instead of https://api.openfga.example)
    store_id = os.environ.get('FGA_STORE_ID') # optional, not needed for `CreateStore` and `ListStores`, required before calling for all other methods
)

# Create an instance of the API class
fga_client_instance = open_fga_api.OpenFgaApi(openfga_sdk.ApiClient(configuration))

# from openfga_sdk.models.tuple_key import TupleKey
# from openfga_sdk.models.tuple_keys import TupleKeys
# from openfga_sdk.models.write_request import WriteRequest

async def write():
    body = WriteRequest(
        writes=TupleKeys(
            tuple_keys=[
                TupleKey(
                    # user:* denotes every object of type user
                    user="user:*",
                    relation="view",
                    object="document:company-psa.doc",
                ),
            ],
        ),
 	authorization_model_id="1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw",
    )
    await fga_client_instance.write(body)

Get the Bearer Token and set up the FGA_API_URL environment variable

Set FGA_API_URL according to the service you are using

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":"user:*","relation":"view","object":"document:company-psa.doc"}] }, "authorization_model_id": "1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw"}'

write([
    // user:* denotes every object of type user
    {
      "user":"user:*",
      "relation":"view",
      "object":"document:company-psa.doc"
    }
], authorization_model_id="1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw")

Wildcard syntax usage

Please note that type-bound public access is not a wildcard or a regex expression.

You cannot use the <type>:* syntax in the tuple's object field.

The following syntax is invalid:

[
  // It is invalid to use this syntax in the object field. The below relationship tuple is invalid and does not mean that Bob can view all documents.
  {
    "user": "user:bob",
    "relation": "view",
    "object": "document:*",
  },
]

Wildcard syntax usage

You cannot use <type>:* as part of a userset in the tuple's user field.

The following syntax is invalid:

[
  // It is invalid to use this syntax as part of a userset. The below relationship tuple is invalid and does not mean that members of any org can view the company-psa document.
  {
    "user": "org:*#member",
    "relation": "view",
    "object": "document:company-psa.doc",
  },
]

02. Check That The Relationship Exists

Once the above relationship tuple is added, we can check if bob cab view document:company-psa.doc. OpenFGA will return { "allowed": true } even though no relationship tuple linking bob to the document was added. That is because the relationship tuple with user:* as the user made it so every object of type user (such as user:bob) can view the document, making it public.

Initialize the SDK

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

// Initialize the SDK with no auth - see "How to setup SDK client" for more options
const fgaClient = new OpenFgaApi({
  apiScheme: process.env.FGA_API_SCHEME, // Either "http" or "https", defaults to "https"
  apiHost: process.env.FGA_API_HOST, // required, define without the scheme (e.g. api.openfga.example instead of https://api.openfga.example)
  storeId: process.env.FGA_STORE_ID, // Either "http" or "https", defaults to "https"
});

// Run a check
const { allowed } = await fgaClient.check({
  authorization_model_id: '1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw',
  tuple_key: {
    user: 'user:bob',
    relation: 'view',
    object: 'document:company-psa.doc',
  },
});

// allowed = true

Initialize the SDK

// ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.
import (
    fgaSdk "github.com/openfga/go-sdk"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    // Initialize the SDK with no auth - see "How to setup SDK client" for more options
    configuration, err := fgaSdk.NewConfiguration(fgaSdk.UserConfiguration{
        ApiScheme:      os.Getenv("FGA_SCHEME"), // Either "http" or "https", defaults to "https"
        ApiHost:        os.Getenv("FGA_API_HOST"), // required, define without the scheme (e.g. api.openfga.example instead of https://api.openfga.example)
        StoreId:        os.Getenv("FGA_STORE_ID"), // optional, not needed for `CreateStore` and `ListStores`, required before calling for all other methods
    })

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

    fgaClient := fgaSdk.NewAPIClient(configuration)
}

body := fgaSdk.CheckRequest{
	AuthorizationModelId: fgaSdk.PtrString("1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw"),
	TupleKey: fgaSdk.TupleKey{
		User: "user:bob",
		Relation: "view",
		Object: "document:company-psa.doc",
	},
}
data, response, err := fgaClient.OpenFgaApi.Check(context.Background()).Body(body).Execute()

// data = { allowed: true }

Initialize the SDK

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

namespace ExampleApp;

class MyProgram {
    static async Task Main() {
        // Initialize the SDK with no auth - see "How to setup SDK client" for more options
        var configuration = new Configuration() {
          ApiScheme = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_API_SCHEME"), // Either "http" or "https", defaults to "https"
          ApiHost = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_API_HOST"), // required, define without the scheme (e.g. api.openfga.example instead of https://api.openfga.example)
          StoreId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("FGA_STORE_ID"), // optional, not needed for `CreateStore` and `ListStores`, required before calling for all other methods
        };
        var fgaClient = new OpenFgaApi(configuration);
    }
}

// Run a check
var response = await fgaClient.Check(new CheckRequest
{
TupleKey = new TupleKey() {
  User = "user:bob",
  Relation = "view",
  Object = "document:company-psa.doc"
}, AuthorizationModelId = "1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw"});

// response.Allowed = true

Initialize the SDK

# ApiTokenIssuer, ApiAudience, ClientId and ClientSecret are optional.

import os
import json
import openfga_sdk
from openfga_sdk.api import open_fga_api

configuration = openfga_sdk.Configuration(
    api_scheme = os.environ.get('FGA_API_SCHEME'), # Either "http" or "https", defaults to "https"
    api_host = os.environ.get('FGA_API_HOST'), # required, define without the scheme (e.g. api.openfga.example instead of https://api.openfga.example)
    store_id = os.environ.get('FGA_STORE_ID') # optional, not needed for `CreateStore` and `ListStores`, required before calling for all other methods
)

# Create an instance of the API class
fga_client_instance = open_fga_api.OpenFgaApi(openfga_sdk.ApiClient(configuration))

# from openfga_sdk.models.check_request import CheckRequest
# from openfga_sdk.models.tuple_key import TupleKey
# from openfga_sdk.models.contextual_tuple_keys import ContextualTupleKeys

# Run a check
async def check():
    body = CheckRequest(
        tuple_key=TupleKey(
            user="user:bob",
            relation="view",
            object="document:company-psa.doc",
        ), 
        authorization_model_id="1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw",
    )
    response = await fga_client_instance.check(body)
    # response.allowed = true

Get the Bearer Token and set up the FGA_API_URL environment variable

Set FGA_API_URL according to the service you are using

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 '{"authorization_model_id": "1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw", "tuple_key":{"user":"user:bob","relation":"view","object":"document:company-psa.doc"}}'

# Response: {"allowed":true}

check(
  user = "user:bob", // check if the user `user:bob`
  relation = "view", // has an `view` relation
  object = "document:company-psa.doc", // with the object `document:company-psa.doc`
   authorization_id = "1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw"
);

Reply: true

Modeling: Getting Started

Learn about how to get started with modeling.

Configuration Language

Learn about OpenFGA Configuration Language.

Modeling Blocklists

Learn about model block lists.

Public Access

Before You Start​

Direct Access​

OpenFGA Concepts​

Step By Step​

01. Create A Relationship Tuple​

02. Check That The Relationship Exists​

Related Sections​

Before You Start

Direct Access

OpenFGA Concepts

Step By Step

01. Create A Relationship Tuple

02. Check That The Relationship Exists

Related Sections