User Groups

In this guide you will learn how to add users to groups and grant groups access to an object using OpenFGA.

When to use

Adding a relationship tuple specifying that a group has a relation to an object is helpful in cases where you want to encompass a set of users with the same relation to an object. For example:

Grant a group of engineers viewer access to roadmap.doc
Create a block_list of members who can't access a document
Sharing a document with a team
Granting viewer access to a photo to followers only
Making a file viewable for all users within an organization
Restricting access from or to users in a certain locale

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 an object called document that users can be related to as an editor.

DSL
JSON

model
  schema 1.1
type user
type document
  relations
    define editor: [user]

{
  "schema_version": "1.1",
  "type_definitions": [
    {
      "type": "user"
    },
    {
      "type": "document",
      "relations": {
        "editor": {
          "this": {}
        }
      },
      "metadata": {
        "relations": {
          "editor": {
            "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

As we develop our application, we might encounter use cases where a group of users have a certain role or permission on an object. For example, members of a certain team might have an editor relation to a certain document.

In order to represent this in OpenFGA, we need:

Introduce the concept of a team to the authorization model
Add users as members to the team
Assign the team members a relation to an object
Checking an individual member's access to the object

01. Introduce The Concept Of A Team To The Authorization Model

We need to define the object team in our authorization model. In our use case, a team can have members, so we make the following changes to our authorization model:

DSL
JSON

model
  schema 1.1
type user
type document
  relations
    define editor: [team#member]
type team
  relations
    define member: [user]

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

02. Add Users As Members To The Team

We can now assign users as members of teams. Let's create a new relationship tuple that states alice is a member of team:writers.

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: 'user:alice', relation: 'member', object: 'team:writers'}
    ]
  },
  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: fgaSdk.PtrString("user:alice"),
				Relation: fgaSdk.PtrString("member"),
				Object: fgaSdk.PtrString("team:writers"),
			}, 
		},
	},
 	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>() {
    new() { User = "user:alice", Relation = "member", Object = "team:writers" }
  }),
  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="user:alice",
                    relation="member",
                    object="team:writers",
                ),
            ],
        ),
 	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:alice","relation":"member","object":"team:writers"}] }, "authorization_model_id": "1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw"}'

write([
    {
      "user":"user:alice",
      "relation":"member",
      "object":"team:writers"
    }
], authorization_model_id="1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw")

03. Assign The Team Members A Relation To An Object

To represent groups we use the type:object_id#relation format, which represents the set of users related to the type:object_id as a certain relation. For example, team:writers#members is used to represent the set of users related to the team:writers object as members.

In order to assign members of a team a relation to a document, we can create the following relationship tuple that states that members of team:writers are editors of document:meeting_notes.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: [
      // Set of users related to 'team:writers' as 'member'
      { user: 'team:writers#member', relation: 'editor', object: 'document:meeting_notes.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 { 
			{
				// Set of users related to 'team:writers' as 'member'
				User: fgaSdk.PtrString("team:writers#member"),
				Relation: fgaSdk.PtrString("editor"),
				Object: fgaSdk.PtrString("document:meeting_notes.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>() {
    // Set of users related to 'team:writers' as 'member'
    new() { User = "team:writers#member", Relation = "editor", Object = "document:meeting_notes.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(
                    # Set of users related to 'team:writers' as 'member'
                    user="team:writers#member",
                    relation="editor",
                    object="document:meeting_notes.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":"team:writers#member","relation":"editor","object":"document:meeting_notes.doc"}] }, "authorization_model_id": "1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw"}'

write([
    // Set of users related to 'team:writers' as 'member'
    {
      "user":"team:writers#member",
      "relation":"editor",
      "object":"document:meeting_notes.doc"
    }
], authorization_model_id="1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw")

04. Checking An Individual Member's Access To An Object

Now that we have:

a relationship tuple indicating that alice is an member of team:writers
a relationship tuple indicating that members of team:writers are editors of document:meeting_notes.doc

This means that if we *check*is alice an editor of document:meeting_notes.doc? We would get the following:

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:alice',
    relation: 'editor',
    object: 'document:meeting_notes.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:alice",
		Relation: "editor",
		Object: "document:meeting_notes.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:alice",
  Relation = "editor",
  Object = "document:meeting_notes.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:alice",
            relation="editor",
            object="document:meeting_notes.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:alice","relation":"editor","object":"document:meeting_notes.doc"}}'

# Response: {"allowed":true}

check(
  user = "user:alice", // check if the user `user:alice`
  relation = "editor", // has an `editor` relation
  object = "document:meeting_notes.doc", // with the object `document:meeting_notes.doc`
   authorization_id = "1uHxCSuTP0VKPYSnkq1pbb1jeZw"
);

Reply: true

The chain of resolution becomes:

alice is member of team:writers
members of team:writers are editors of document:meeting_notes
therefore, alice is editor of document:meeting_notes

caution

Note: When creating relationship tuples for OpenFGA 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.

Managing Group Membership

Learn how to add and remove users from groups

Modeling Google Drive

See how User Groups can be used to share documents within a domain in the Google Drive use-case.

Modeling GitHub

Granting teams permissions to a repo in the GitHub use-case.

User Groups

Before you start​

Direct Access​

OpenFGA Concepts​

Step By Step​

01. Introduce The Concept Of A Team To The Authorization Model​

02. Add Users As Members To The Team​

03. Assign The Team Members A Relation To An Object​

04. Checking An Individual Member's Access To An Object​

Related Sections​

Before you start

Direct Access

OpenFGA Concepts

Step By Step

01. Introduce The Concept Of A Team To The Authorization Model

02. Add Users As Members To The Team

03. Assign The Team Members A Relation To An Object

04. Checking An Individual Member's Access To An Object

Related Sections