RBAC

Docket uses resource-based access control. Each memory carries its own authorization rules: an owner, a list of readers, a list of writers, and an access policy.

Enabling RBAC

Set docket.memory.rbac.enabled: true in config/config.yaml:

memory:
  rbac:
    enabled: true
    authStrategy: "header"      # header | jwt | apiKey
    principalHeader: "X-Principal"
    defaultPolicy: "owner-only"

Once enabled, every data-plane request must identify a principal or it will receive a 401 Unauthorized response.

Authentication strategies

Header (default)

Send the principal in a header:

curl -H "X-Principal: user:alice" http://localhost:3000/query \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"question": "What did I do last week?"}'

JWT

memory:
  rbac:
    authStrategy: "jwt"
    jwtSecret: "${DOCKET_JWT_SECRET}"

Send a Bearer token signed with HS256. The sub claim (or principal claim) becomes the principal.

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" ...

API key

memory:
  rbac:
    authStrategy: "apiKey"
    apiKeys:
      "dk_abc123": "user:alice"

curl -H "X-Api-Key: dk_abc123" ...

Memory access rules

A memory has these fields:

{
  "owner": "user:alice",
  "readers": ["user:bob"],
  "writers": ["user:carol"],
  "accessPolicy": "owner-only"
}

Rules by policy:

Policy	Read	Update	Delete
owner-only	owner	owner	owner
public	anyone	owner + writers	owner
any other value	owner + readers	owner + writers	owner

If no owner is provided at creation time, the current principal becomes the owner.

Named policies

Define reusable policies in config:

memory:
  rbac:
    policies:
      team:
        readers: ["user:alice", "user:bob"]
        writers: ["user:alice"]

Reference them on a memory:

{
  "accessPolicy": "team"
}

Named policies are evaluated after the built-in policies and only grant access to principals listed in the policy.

Query filtering

When RBAC is enabled, GET /memories/:id, POST /query, and /memories/:id/relations only return memories the principal is allowed to read. Writes and deletes are rejected with 403 Forbidden if the principal lacks permission.

Control plane

RBAC only applies to the data plane. The control plane (/admin/*) is intended for operators and should be secured at the network or proxy level.