Implementing Role-Based Access Control in Feathers.js

Feathers.js is a popular Node.js framework for building real-time applications and RESTful APIs. One of the key features of any robust application is access control, which ensures that users can only perform actions they are authorized to do. In this article, we will explore how to implement role-based access control (RBAC) in Feathers.js.

What is Role-Based Access Control?

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is a security approach that restricts system access to authorized users based on their roles within an organization. In RBAC, users are assigned to roles, and each role is associated with a set of permissions or access rights. This approach simplifies the management of access control by allowing administrators to manage roles rather than individual user permissions.

Setting Up Feathers.js for RBAC

To implement RBAC in Feathers.js, we will use the following components:

• Authentication: We will use the built-in authentication mechanism in Feathers.js to authenticate users.
• Authorization: We will use the feathers-authentication and feathers-permissions plugins to manage user roles and permissions.

Installing Required Plugins

To get started, we need to install the required plugins:

npm install feathers-authentication feathers-permissions

Configuring Authentication and Authorization

Next, we need to configure authentication and authorization in our Feathers.js application:

const feathers = require('@feathersjs/feathers');
const authentication = require('@feathersjs/authentication');
const permissions = require('feathers-permissions');

const app = feathers();

app.configure(authentication({
  // Authentication configuration
}));

app.configure(permissions({
  // Permissions configuration
}));

Defining Roles and Permissions

To implement RBAC, we need to define roles and permissions for our application. We can do this by creating a roles and permissions configuration file:

// roles.js
module.exports = {
  admin: {
    permissions: ['create', 'read', 'update', 'delete']
  },
  moderator: {
    permissions: ['read', 'update']
  },
  user: {
    permissions: ['read']
  }
};

Assigning Roles to Users

Once we have defined our roles and permissions, we need to assign roles to users. We can do this by creating a users service that assigns a role to each user:

// users.service.js
const { Service } = require('@feathersjs/feathers');

class UsersService extends Service {
  async create(data) {
    // Assign a role to the user
    data.role = 'user';
    return super.create(data);
  }
}

module.exports = UsersService;

Enforcing Role-Based Access Control

Finally, we need to enforce role-based access control in our application. We can do this by using the feathers-permissions plugin to restrict access to certain routes and services based on user roles:

// app.js
const app = feathers();

app.use('/admin', {
  before: {
    all: [
      authentication.express.authenticate('jwt'),
      permissions.express.restrictToRoles('admin')
    ]
  }
});

Conclusion

In this article, we have explored how to implement role-based access control in Feathers.js using the feathers-authentication and feathers-permissions plugins. By defining roles and permissions, assigning roles to users, and enforcing role-based access control, we can ensure that our application is secure and only allows authorized users to perform certain actions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is role-based access control?

A: Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is a security approach that restricts system access to authorized users based on their roles within an organization.

Q: How do I define roles and permissions in Feathers.js?

A: You can define roles and permissions in Feathers.js by creating a roles and permissions configuration file.

Q: How do I assign roles to users in Feathers.js?

A: You can assign roles to users in Feathers.js by creating a users service that assigns a role to each user.

Q: How do I enforce role-based access control in Feathers.js?

A: You can enforce role-based access control in Feathers.js by using the feathers-permissions plugin to restrict access to certain routes and services based on user roles.

Q: What plugins do I need to install to implement RBAC in Feathers.js?

A: You need to install the feathers-authentication and feathers-permissions plugins to implement RBAC in Feathers.js.