JS ACL

Provides a lightweight and flexible access control list (ACL) implementation for privileges management.

Inspired by Zend ACL.

Installation

Using npm

npm install @nicolabello/js-acl

Using yarn

yarn add @nicolabello/js-acl

Import

Using import (ES6 way, e.g. Angular, React)

import { Acl } from '@nicolabello/js-acl';

Using require (CommonJS way, e.g. Node.js)

const { Acl } = require('@nicolabello/js-acl');

Usage example

Create a new ACL

const acl = new Acl();

Add the roles to match the following structure

guest
authenticated
├── editor
└── admin

acl.addRole('guest');
acl.addRole('authenticated');
acl.addRole('editor', 'authenticated');
acl.addRole('admin', 'authenticated');

Add the resources to match the following structure

restricted-area
├── admin-area
└── articles
    └── created-articles

acl.addResource('restricted-area');
acl.addResource('admin-area', 'restricted-area');
acl.addResource('articles', 'restricted-area');
acl.addResource('created-articles', 'articles');

Allow/deny privileges

// Authenticated users can navigate to restricted area
acl.allow('authenticated', 'restricted-area', 'navigate');

// Admin only can navigate to admin area
acl.deny('authenticated', 'admin-area', 'navigate');
acl.allow('admin', 'admin-area', 'navigate');

// Editors can add articles and edit their own
acl.allow('editor', 'articles', 'add');
acl.allow('editor', 'created-articles', 'edit');

// Authenticated users can like all articles,
// but they can't like their own articles
acl.allow('authenticated', 'articles', 'like');
acl.deny('authenticated', 'created-articles', 'like');

Query privileges

acl.isAllowed('authenticated', 'restricted-area', 'navigate'); // true
acl.isAllowed('editor', 'restricted-area', 'navigate'); // true

acl.isAllowed('authenticated', 'admin-area', 'navigate'); // false
acl.isAllowed('admin', 'admin-area', 'navigate'); // true
acl.isAllowed('editor', 'admin-area', 'navigate'); // false

acl.isAllowed('authenticated', 'articles', 'add'); // false
acl.isAllowed('editor', 'articles', 'add'); // true

acl.isAllowed('authenticated', 'articles', 'like'); // true
acl.isAllowed('authenticated', 'created-articles', 'like'); // false
acl.isAllowed('editor', 'created-articles', 'like'); // false

Documentation

Create a new ACL

const acl = new Acl();

By default, you can use string or number types as roles, resources and privileges.

If you are using typescript then you can define your own types.

enum Roles {
  Guest,
  Authenticated,
  Editor,
  Admin,
}
enum Resources {
  RestrictedArea,
  AdminArea,
  Articles,
  CreatedArticles,
}
enum Privileges {
  Navigate,
  Add,
  Like,
}

const acl = new Acl<Roles, Resources, Privileges>();

Add roles

acl.addRole('guest');

Add a parent as second parameter to inherit all the parent's privileges

acl.addRole('editor', 'authenticated');

Use an array to add multiple roles at once, with or without parent

acl.addRole(['guest', 'authenticated']);
acl.addRole(['editor', 'publisher'], 'authenticated');

Add resources

acl.addResource('restricted-area');

Add a parent as second parameter to inherit all the parent's privileges

acl.addResource('created-articles', 'articles');

Use an array to add multiple resources at once, with or without parent

acl.addResource(['restricted-area', 'personal-area']);
acl.addResource(['admin-area', 'articles'], 'restricted-area');

Allow/deny privileges

By default, all privileges are denied if not explicitly allowed.

Allow/deny all privileges on all resources for all roles

acl.allow(null, null);
acl.deny(null, null);

Allow/deny a privilege on all resources for all roles

acl.allow(null, null, 'view');
acl.deny(null, null, 'view');

Allow/deny all privileges on all resources for a role

acl.allow('admin', null);
acl.deny('admin', null);

Allow/deny a privilege on all resources for a role

acl.allow('admin', null, 'edit');
acl.deny('admin', null, 'edit');

Allow/deny all privileges on a resource for all role

acl.allow(null, 'articles');
acl.deny(null, 'articles');

Allow/deny a privilege on a resource for all roles

acl.allow(null, 'articles', 'view');
acl.deny(null, 'articles', 'view');

Allow/deny all privileges on a resource for a role

acl.allow('admin', 'admin-area');
acl.deny('admin', 'admin-area');

Allow/deny a privilege on a resource for a role

acl.allow('admin', 'admin-area', 'navigate');
acl.deny('admin', 'admin-area', 'navigate');

Arrays can be used in any of the above to allow/deny multiple roles, resources and privileges

acl.allow(['admin', 'publisher'], null, ['add', 'remove']);
acl.deny(null, ['article', 'category'], ['add', 'remove']);

Query privileges

Query all privileges on all resources for all roles

acl.isAllowed(null, null);

Query a privilege on all resources for all roles

acl.isAllowed(null, null, 'view');

Query all privileges on all resources for a role

acl.isAllowed('admin', null);

Query a privilege on all resources for a role

acl.isAllowed('admin', null, 'edit');

Query all privileges on a resource for all roles

acl.isAllowed(null, 'articles');

Query a privilege on a resource for all roles

acl.isAllowed(null, 'articles', 'view');

Query all privileges on a resource for a role

acl.isAllowed('admin', 'admin-area');

Query a privilege on a resource for a role

acl.isAllowed('admin', 'admin-area', 'navigate');

License

Licensed under the terms of GNU General Public License Version 2 or later.