RBAC in NestJS

This tutorial adds role-based access control (RBAC) to a NestJS API with node-casbin. Each route declares the permission it needs with a decorator, a global guard asks Casbin whether the current user has it, and roles inherit from each other, so an admin automatically gets everything an editor can do.

The permissions are named after resources and actions (articles, delete) instead of URL paths, which fits NestJS controllers well. For path-based rules, see the Express version.

1. Install

Start from a NestJS project (nest new my-app) and add Casbin:

npm install casbin

2. Write the model

Save this as model.conf in the project root:

[request_definition]
r = sub, obj, act

[policy_definition]
p = sub, obj, act

[role_definition]
g = _, _

[policy_effect]
e = some(where (p.eft == allow))

[matchers]
m = g(r.sub, p.sub) && r.obj == p.obj && r.act == p.act

• r = sub, obj, act: each request is a user, a resource, and an action.
• g = _, _: users can be assigned to roles, and roles to other roles.
• g(r.sub, p.sub) is true when the user has the role in the policy rule, either directly or through inherited roles.

3. Write the policy

Save this as policy.csv:

p, viewer, articles, read
p, editor, articles, create
p, editor, articles, update
p, admin, articles, delete

g, editor, viewer
g, admin, editor

g, alice, admin
g, bob, editor
g, carol, viewer

The first block grants each role only what is new at that level. The second block builds the hierarchy: an editor is also a viewer, and an admin is also an editor. The last block assigns users to roles. As a result:

User	Role	read	create	update	delete
alice	admin	yes	yes	yes	yes
bob	editor	yes	yes	yes	no
carol	viewer	yes	no	no	no
dave	(none)	no	no	no	no

4. Add a permission decorator

src/permission.decorator.ts

import { SetMetadata } from '@nestjs/common';

export const PERMISSION_KEY = 'permission';

export interface Permission {
  resource: string;
  action: string;
}

// Declares which permission a route needs, for example @RequirePermission('articles', 'delete').
export const RequirePermission = (resource: string, action: string) =>
  SetMetadata(PERMISSION_KEY, { resource, action } as Permission);

5. Add the guard

The guard reads the permission from the route's metadata and asks Casbin. Routes without the decorator stay public.

src/casbin.guard.ts

import { CanActivate, ExecutionContext, ForbiddenException, Inject, Injectable } from '@nestjs/common';
import { Reflector } from '@nestjs/core';
import { Enforcer } from 'casbin';
import { Request } from 'express';
import { Permission, PERMISSION_KEY } from './permission.decorator';

export const ENFORCER = 'CASBIN_ENFORCER';

@Injectable()
export class CasbinGuard implements CanActivate {
  constructor(
    private readonly reflector: Reflector,
    @Inject(ENFORCER) private readonly enforcer: Enforcer,
  ) {}

  async canActivate(context: ExecutionContext): Promise<boolean> {
    const permission = this.reflector.getAllAndOverride<Permission>(PERMISSION_KEY, [
      context.getHandler(),
      context.getClass(),
    ]);
    if (!permission) {
      return true; // Routes without @RequirePermission are public.
    }

    const request = context.switchToHttp().getRequest<Request>();
    // Replace this with the user your authentication guard puts on the request, such as request.user.
    const user = request.header('X-User') ?? '';

    const allowed = await this.enforcer.enforce(user, permission.resource, permission.action);
    if (!allowed) {
      throw new ForbiddenException();
    }
    return true;
  }
}

หมายเหตุ

The X-User header keeps the example short. Casbin handles authorization only. In a real application, an authentication guard, such as one based on @nestjs/passport, runs first and sets request.user; read the user name or ID from there.

6. Use it in a controller

src/articles.controller.ts

import { Controller, Delete, Get, Param, Post, Put } from '@nestjs/common';
import { RequirePermission } from './permission.decorator';

@Controller('articles')
export class ArticlesController {
  @Get()
  @RequirePermission('articles', 'read')
  findAll() {
    return { articles: [] };
  }

  @Post()
  @RequirePermission('articles', 'create')
  create() {
    return { created: true };
  }

  @Put(':id')
  @RequirePermission('articles', 'update')
  update(@Param('id') id: string) {
    return { updated: id };
  }

  @Delete(':id')
  @RequirePermission('articles', 'delete')
  remove(@Param('id') id: string) {
    return { deleted: id };
  }
}

7. Register the enforcer and the guard

The enforcer is created once by a factory provider and injected into the guard. Registering the guard with APP_GUARD applies it to every route in the application.

src/app.module.ts

import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { APP_GUARD } from '@nestjs/core';
import { newEnforcer } from 'casbin';
import { ArticlesController } from './articles.controller';
import { CasbinGuard, ENFORCER } from './casbin.guard';

@Module({
  controllers: [ArticlesController],
  providers: [
    {
      provide: ENFORCER,
      useFactory: () => newEnforcer('model.conf', 'policy.csv'),
    },
    {
      provide: APP_GUARD,
      useClass: CasbinGuard,
    },
  ],
})
export class AppModule {}

8. Try it

npm run start

curl -i -X DELETE -H "X-User: alice" http://localhost:3000/articles/1   # 200, admins can delete
curl -i -X DELETE -H "X-User: bob"   http://localhost:3000/articles/1   # 403, editors cannot
curl -i -X PUT    -H "X-User: bob"   http://localhost:3000/articles/1   # 200, editors can update
curl -i -X POST   -H "X-User: carol" http://localhost:3000/articles     # 403, viewers are read-only
curl -i           -H "X-User: carol" http://localhost:3000/articles     # 200
curl -i           -H "X-User: dave"  http://localhost:3000/articles     # 403, no role

9. Manage roles at runtime

Inject the enforcer anywhere you need it, for example in an admin service, with @Inject(ENFORCER):

await enforcer.addRoleForUser('dave', 'editor');          // dave becomes an editor
await enforcer.getImplicitRolesForUser('alice');          // [ 'admin', 'editor', 'viewer' ]
await enforcer.getImplicitPermissionsForUser('bob');
// [ [ 'editor', 'articles', 'create' ], [ 'editor', 'articles', 'update' ], [ 'viewer', 'articles', 'read' ] ]

getImplicitPermissionsForUser is handy for a "what can I do" endpoint that the frontend uses to show or hide buttons. The full list is in the RBAC API.

Next steps

• Store the policy in a database. Replace policy.csv with an adapter, for example TypeORM, Prisma, Sequelize, or MongoDB. Policy changes made through the API are then saved automatically.
• Several instances. Use a watcher so every instance reloads the policy when one of them changes it.
• Ownership rules. "Authors may edit only their own articles" depends on the article, not just the role. Load the article in the handler and check it with an ABAC model.
• Multi-tenant applications. RBAC with domains gives a user different roles in different tenants; add the tenant as a fourth argument to enforce.
• Ready-made modules. The middleware list links community NestJS modules such as nest-authz.