auth

Auth - Authentication and Authorization service

Auth service provides authentication features as an API for managing authentication keys as well as administering groups of entities - clients and users.

Authentication

User service is using Auth service gRPC API to obtain login token or password reset token. Authentication key consists of the following fields:

• ID - key ID
• Type - one of the three types described below
• IssuerID - an ID of the SuperMQ User who issued the key
• Subject - user ID for which the key is issued
• IssuedAt - the timestamp when the key is issued
• ExpiresAt - the timestamp after which the key is invalid

There are four types of authentication keys:

• Access key - keys issued to the user upon login request
• Refresh key - keys used to generate new access keys
• Recovery key - password recovery key
• API key - keys issued upon the user request
• Invitation key - keys used to invite new users

Authentication keys are represented and distributed by the corresponding JWT.

User keys are issued when user logs in. Each user request (other than registration and login) contains user key that is used to authenticate the user.

API keys are similar to the User keys. The main difference is that API keys have configurable expiration time. If no time is set, the key will never expire. For that reason, API keys are the only key type that can be revoked. This also means that, despite being used as a JWT, it requires a query to the database to validate the API key. The user with API key can perform all the same actions as the user with login key (can act on behalf of the user for Client, Channel, or user profile management), except issuing new API keys.

Recovery key is the password recovery key. It's short-lived token used for password recovery process.

For in-depth explanation of the aforementioned scenarios, as well as thorough understanding of SuperMQ, please check out the official documentation.

The following actions are supported:

• create (all key types)
• verify (all key types)
• obtain (API keys only)
• revoke (API keys only)

Domains

Domains are used to group users and clients. Each domain has a unique route that is associated with the domain. Domains are used to group users and their entities.

Domain consists of the following fields:

• ID - UUID uniquely representing domain
• Name - name of the domain
• Tags - array of tags
• Metadata - Arbitrary, object-encoded domain's data
• Route - unique route of the domain used in messaging
• CreatedAt - timestamp at which the domain is created
• UpdatedAt - timestamp at which the domain is updated
• UpdatedBy - user that updated the domain
• CreatedBy - user that created the domain
• Status - domain status

Configuration

The service is configured using the environment variables presented in the following table. Note that any unset variables will be replaced with their default values.

Deployment

The service itself is distributed as Docker container. Check the auth service section in docker-compose file to see how service is deployed.

Running this service outside of container requires working instance of the postgres database, SpiceDB, and Jaeger server. To start the service outside of the container, execute the following shell script:

# download the latest version of the service
git clone https://github.com/absmach/supermq

cd supermq

# compile the service
make auth

# copy binary to bin
make install

# set the environment variables and run the service
SMQ_AUTH_LOG_LEVEL=info \
SMQ_AUTH_DB_HOST=localhost \
SMQ_AUTH_DB_PORT=5432 \
SMQ_AUTH_DB_USER=supermq \
SMQ_AUTH_DB_PASSWORD=supermq \
SMQ_AUTH_DB_NAME=auth \
SMQ_AUTH_DB_SSL_MODE=disable \
SMQ_AUTH_DB_SSL_CERT="" \
SMQ_AUTH_DB_SSL_KEY="" \
SMQ_AUTH_DB_SSL_ROOT_CERT="" \
SMQ_AUTH_HTTP_HOST=localhost \
SMQ_AUTH_HTTP_PORT=8189 \
SMQ_AUTH_HTTP_SERVER_CERT="" \
SMQ_AUTH_HTTP_SERVER_KEY="" \
SMQ_AUTH_GRPC_HOST=localhost \
SMQ_AUTH_GRPC_PORT=8181 \
SMQ_AUTH_GRPC_SERVER_CERT="" \
SMQ_AUTH_GRPC_SERVER_KEY="" \
SMQ_AUTH_GRPC_SERVER_CA_CERTS="" \
SMQ_AUTH_GRPC_CLIENT_CA_CERTS="" \
SMQ_AUTH_SECRET_KEY=secret \
SMQ_AUTH_ACCESS_TOKEN_DURATION=1h \
SMQ_AUTH_REFRESH_TOKEN_DURATION=24h \
SMQ_AUTH_INVITATION_DURATION=168h \
SMQ_SPICEDB_HOST=localhost \
SMQ_SPICEDB_PORT=50051 \
SMQ_SPICEDB_PRE_SHARED_KEY=12345678 \
SMQ_SPICEDB_SCHEMA_FILE=./docker/spicedb/schema.zed \
SMQ_JAEGER_URL=http://localhost:14268/api/traces \
SMQ_JAEGER_TRACE_RATIO=1.0 \
SMQ_SEND_TELEMETRY=true \
SMQ_AUTH_ADAPTER_INSTANCE_ID="" \
SMQ_CALLOUT_URLS="" \
SMQ_CALLOUT_METHOD="POST" \
SMQ_CALLOUT_TLS_VERIFICATION=true \
$GOBIN/supermq-auth

Setting SMQ_AUTH_HTTP_SERVER_CERT and SMQ_AUTH_HTTP_SERVER_KEY will enable TLS against the service. The service expects a file in PEM format for both the certificate and the key. Setting SMQ_AUTH_GRPC_SERVER_CERT and SMQ_AUTH_GRPC_SERVER_KEY will enable TLS against the service. The service expects a file in PEM format for both the certificate and the key. Setting SMQ_AUTH_GRPC_SERVER_CA_CERTS will enable TLS against the service trusting only those CAs that are provided. The service expects a file in PEM format of trusted CAs. Setting SMQ_AUTH_GRPC_CLIENT_CA_CERTS will enable TLS against the service trusting only those CAs that are provided. The service expects a file in PEM format of trusted CAs.

Personal Access Tokens (PATs)

Personal Access Tokens (PATs) provide a secure way to authenticate with SuperMQ APIs without using your primary credentials. They are particularly useful for automation, CI/CD pipelines, and integrating with third-party services.

Overview

PATs in SuperMQ are designed with the following features:

• Scoped Access: Each token can be limited to specific operations on specific resources
• Expiration Control: Set custom expiration times for tokens
• Revocable: Tokens can be revoked at any time
• Auditable: Track when tokens were last used
• Secure: Tokens are stored as hashes, not in plaintext

Token Structure

A PAT consists of three parts separated by underscores:

pat_<encoded-user-and-pat-id>_<random-string>

Where:

• pat is a fixed prefix
• <encoded-user-and-pat-id> is a base64-encoded combination of the user ID and PAT ID
• <random-string> is a randomly generated string for additional security

PAT Operations

SuperMQ supports the following operations for PATs:

Entity Types

PATs can be scoped to the following entity types:

API Examples

Creating a PAT

curl --location 'http://localhost:9001/pats' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <access_token>' \
--data '{
    "name": "test pat",
    "description": "testing pat",
    "duration": "24h"
}'

Response:

{
  "id": "a2500226-95dc-4285-87e2-e693e4a0a976",
  "user_id": "user123",
  "name": "pat 1",
  "description": "for creating any client or channel",
  "secret": "pat_dXNlcjEyM19hMjUwMDIyNi05NWRjLTQyODUtODdlMi1lNjkzZTRhMGE5NzY=_randomstring...",
  "issued_at": "2025-02-27T11:20:59Z",
  "expires_at": "2025-02-28T11:20:59Z"
}

Adding Scopes to a PAT

curl --location --request PATCH 'http://localhost:9001/pats/a2500226-95dc-4285-87e2-e693e4a0a976/scope/add' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <access_token>' \
--data '{
    "scopes": [
        {
            "optional_domain_id": "c16c980a-9d4c-4793-8fb2-c81304cf1d9f",
            "entity_type": "clients",
            "operation": "create",
            "entity_id": "*"
        },
        {
            "optional_domain_id": "c16c980a-9d4c-4793-8fb2-c81304cf1d9f",
            "entity_type": "channels",
            "operation": "create",
            "entity_id": "cfbc6936-5748-4339-a8ef-37b64b02bc96"
        },
        {
            "entity_type": "dashboards",
            "optional_domain_id": "c16c980a-9d4c-4793-8fb2-c81304cf1d9f",
            "operation": "read",
            "entity_id": "*"
        }
    ]
}'

Listing PATs

curl --location 'http://localhost:9001/pats' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <access_token>'

Listing Scopes for a PAT

curl --location 'http://localhost:9001/pats/a2500226-95dc-4285-87e2-e693e4a0a976/scopes' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <access_token>'

Revoking a PAT

curl --location --request PATCH 'http://localhost:9001/pats/a2500226-95dc-4285-87e2-e693e4a0a976/revoke' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <access_token>'

Resetting a PAT Secret

curl --location --request PATCH 'http://localhost:9001/pats/a2500226-95dc-4285-87e2-e693e4a0a976/reset' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <access_token>' \
--data '{
    "duration": "720h"
}'

Using PATs for Authentication

When making API requests, include the PAT in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer pat_<encoded-user-and-pat-id>_<random-string>

Example: Creating a Client Using PAT

curl --location 'http://localhost:9006/c16c980a-9d4c-4793-8fb2-c81304cf1d9f/clients' \
--header 'accept: application/json' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer pat_etKoiXKTR6a0zdgsBHC00qJQAiaV3EKFh+Lmk+SgqXY=_u7@5fyjgti9V@#Bw^bS*SPmX3OnH=HTvKwmIbxIuyBjoI|6FASo9egjKD^u-M$b|2Dpt3CXZtv&4k+hmYYjk&C$57AV59P%-iDV0' \
--data '{
  "name": "test client",
  "tags": [
    "tag1",
    "tag2"
  ],
  "metadata":{"units":"km"},
  "status": "enabled"
}'

This example shows how to create a client in a specific domain (c16c980a-9d4c-4793-8fb2-c81304cf1d9f) using a PAT for authentication. The PAT must have the appropriate scope (e.g., clients entity type with create operation) for this domain.

Wildcard Entity IDs

When defining scopes for PATs, you can use the wildcard character * for the entity_id field to grant permissions for all entities of a specific type. This is particularly useful for automation tasks that need to operate on multiple resources.

For example:

• "entity_id": "*" - Grants permission for all entities of the specified type
• "entity_id": "specific-id" - Grants permission only for the entity with the specified ID

Using wildcards should be done carefully, as they grant broader permissions. Always follow the principle of least privilege by granting only the permissions necessary for the intended use case.

Scope Examples

Allow Creating Any Client in a Domain

{
  "optional_domain_id": "domain_id",
  "entity_type": "clients",
  "operation": "create",
  "entity_id": "*"
}

This scope allows the PAT to create any client within the specified domain. The wildcard * for entity_id means the token can create any client, not just a specific one.

Allow Publishing to a Specific Channel

{
  "optional_domain_id": "domain_id",
  "entity_type": "channels",
  "operation": "publish",
  "entity_id": "channel_id"
}

This scope restricts the PAT to only publish to a specific channel (channel_id) within the specified domain. No wildcard is used, so the permission is limited to just this one channel.

Allow Reading All Dashboards

{
  "optional_domain_id": "domain_id",
  "entity_type": "dashboards",
  "operation": "read",
  "entity_id": "*"
}

This scope allows the PAT to read all dashboards within the specified domain. The wildcard * for entity_id means the token can read any dashboard in that domain.

Best Practices

1. Limit Scope: Always use the principle of least privilege when creating PATs
2. Set Expirations: Use reasonable expiration times for tokens
3. Rotate Regularly: Reset token secrets periodically
4. Audit Usage: Monitor when tokens are used
5. Revoke Unused: Remove tokens that are no longer needed

Implementation Details

PATs are stored in the database with the following schema:

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS pats (
    id              VARCHAR(36) PRIMARY KEY,
    name            VARCHAR(254) NOT NULL,
    user_id         VARCHAR(36),
    description     TEXT,
    secret          TEXT,
    issued_at       TIMESTAMPTZ,
    expires_at      TIMESTAMPTZ,
    updated_at      TIMESTAMPTZ,
    revoked         BOOLEAN,
    revoked_at      TIMESTAMPTZ,
    last_used_at    TIMESTAMPTZ,
    UNIQUE          (id, name, secret)
)

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS pat_scopes (
    id                  VARCHAR(36) PRIMARY KEY,
    pat_id              VARCHAR(36) REFERENCES pats(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
    optional_domain_id  VARCHAR(36),
    entity_type         VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
    operation           VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
    entity_id           VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
    UNIQUE (pat_id, optional_domain_id, entity_type, operation, entity_id)
)

Authorization

When a PAT is used for authentication:

1. The system parses the token to extract the user ID and PAT ID
2. It verifies the token hasn't been revoked or expired
3. It checks if the requested operation is allowed by the token's scopes
4. If all checks pass, the operation is authorized

Usage

For more information about service capabilities and its usage, please check out the API documentation.