Role-based access control

📋 Product Requirements Document

PRD: Role-based access control

Issue: #143
Milestone: Phase 4: Security
Labels: authentication-authorization, hacktoberfest

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PRD: Role-based Access Control

Issue: #143
Milestone: Phase 4: Security
Labels: authentication-authorization, hacktoberfest
Owner: Anthony Ettinger (Profullstack)
License: MIT

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Overview

The implementation of Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is a critical feature for enhancing the security and flexibility of the MeshHook platform. By enabling fine-grained access control, MeshHook can offer users tailored access to resources and operations based on their roles within an organization. This feature aligns with MeshHook's core goals of multi-tenant RLS security and robust authentication and authorization mechanisms.

Objectives:

• To ensure secure and flexible access control to different parts of the MeshHook platform.
• To align with MeshHook's commitment to security, scalability, and user-centric design.

Requirements

Functional Requirements

1. Role Definition: Implement the ability to define roles with specific permissions.
2. User-Role Assignment: Allow for the assignment of roles to users.
3. Permission Checks: Integrate permission checks into API endpoints and UI components.
4. Role Management API: Provide APIs for creating, reading, updating, and deleting roles.
5. Auditing: Log all role management activities for auditing purposes.

Non-Functional Requirements

• Performance: Role resolution and permission checking should not significantly impact response times.
• Reliability: Ensure high availability of role management and enforcement mechanisms.
• Security: Implement robust validation and sanitization to prevent injection attacks and unauthorized access.
• Maintainability: Code should be modular, well-documented, and easy to extend with new roles and permissions.

Technical Specifications

Architecture Context

MeshHook uses a combination of SvelteKit for the frontend and Supabase (Postgres) for backend services, including data storage and real-time updates. Role-based access control requires integration at both the API layer for backend enforcement and the UI layer for frontend display and management.

Implementation Approach

1. Analysis: Examine current authentication flows and identify areas requiring integration with RBAC.
2. Design:
   • Define a roles table in Postgres to store role definitions and permissions.
   • Update the users table schema to include role assignments.
   • Design API endpoints for role management.
   • Plan integration with existing frontend components for role management UI.
3. Implementation:
   • Implement backend logic for RBAC, including database models, API endpoints, and permission checks.
   • Add frontend components for role management and enforce visibility and access based on roles.
4. Integration: Ensure RBAC logic is integrated with existing authentication and authorization flows.
5. Testing: Perform thorough testing, including unit, integration, and E2E tests for RBAC features.
6. Documentation: Update project documentation to reflect RBAC capabilities and usage.

Data Model

• Roles Table: id, name, permissions (JSONB to store permission definitions).
• User Roles Relation: Add a role_id foreign key to the users table or create a join table if many-to-many relations are needed.

API Endpoints

• POST /roles: Create a new role.
• GET /roles: List all roles.
• GET /roles/{id}: Get details of a specific role.
• PUT /roles/{id}: Update a role.
• DELETE /roles/{id}: Delete a role.
• POST /users/{userId}/roles/{roleId}: Assign a role to a user.
• DELETE /users/{userId}/roles/{roleId}: Remove a role from a user.

Acceptance Criteria

• Role management APIs implemented and functioning as expected.
• Users can be assigned roles, and these roles dictate access levels.
• Permission checks are implemented and integrated into the existing system without significant performance degradation.
• Frontend components for role management are implemented and user-friendly.
• All new code is covered by tests (unit, integration, and, where applicable, E2E).
• Documentation is updated to include details on role management and assignment.
• Security reviews have been conducted, focusing on RBAC implementation.

Dependencies

• Access to the current MeshHook codebase and development environment.
• Supabase (Postgres) for backend storage.

Implementation Notes

Development Guidelines

• Follow the existing project structure and coding standards.
• Implement RBAC in a modular way to allow for extensibility.
• Use environment variables for configuration to facilitate deployment in different environments.

Testing Strategy

• Unit Tests: Focus on model logic and permission resolution.
• Integration Tests: Test API endpoints and their integration with the frontend.
• E2E Tests: Simulate user interactions with the role management UI and validate access control across the application.

Security Considerations

• Validate and sanitize all inputs to the role management APIs.
• Ensure that role management APIs are accessible only to authenticated users with administrative privileges.
• Use parameterized queries to interact with the database and prevent SQL injection.

Monitoring & Observability

• Log all role management operations for auditing purposes.
• Monitor API response times and error rates to ensure RBAC does not negatively impact performance.
• Set up alerts for critical RBAC failures or unauthorized access attempts.

Related Documentation

• Main PRD
• Architecture
• Security Guidelines
• Operations Guide

Last updated: YYYY-MM-DD

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This PRD was AI-generated using gpt-4-turbo-preview from GitHub issue #143
Generated: 2025-10-10

📎 Generated Documentation

• 📄 PRD Document: 143-role-based-access-control.md
• 🎨 PlantUML Diagram: 143-role-based-access-control.puml
• 🖼️ Diagram Image: 143-role-based-access-control.png

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This issue body was auto-generated from the PRD. Original issue content is preserved in the PRD document.
Last updated: 2025-10-10

Start with docs/PRDs/143-role-based-access-control.md and the linked Architecture.md, Security.md, and Operations.md documents to understand the proposed RBAC design. Then inspect the existing authentication flows and API/UI entry points; done means the listed role APIs, assignments, permission checks, tests, auditing, frontend management, and documentation all satisfy the acceptance criteria.