Access control & data security

Authentication and authorization mechanisms in your chat app let you decide who can access what resources based on identity and permissions.

Required keyset configuration

To use the GetChannels(), GetChannelSuggestions(), GetUsers(), and GetUserSuggestions() methods in the Chat SDKs with Access Manager, you must uncheck the Disallow Get All Channel Metadata and Disallow Get All User Metadata checkboxes in the App Context section of your keyset configuration in the Admin Portal.

Additional security measures let you send and receive messages and files through your chat app, preventing unauthorized users from accessing that data.

Custom origin

A custom origin is a subdomain configured specifically for your application, such as abc.pubnubapi.com. Using a custom origin allows PubNub to route traffic uniquely for your application.

Contact support

To request a custom origin, contact PubNub Support.

Set origin

The SetPubnubOrigin() method in Unreal Chat SDK allows client devices to configure a custom origin for their PubNub requests.

Method signature

1UPubnubAccessManager::SetPubnubOrigin(FString Origin)

Input

* required

Parameter	Description
Origin * Type: FString	The custom origin to be set for PubNub requests.

Output

Type	Description
int	0 if the origin is set successfully, +1 if it will be applied on reconnect, -1 if setting the origin is not enabled.

Sample code

1#include "Kismet/GameplayStatics.h"
2#include "PubnubChatSubsystem.h"
3#include "PubnubAccessManager.h"
4

5UGameInstance* GameInstance = UGameplayStatics::GetGameInstance(ContextObject);
6UPubnubChatSubsystem* PubnubChatSubsystem = GameInstance->GetSubsystem<UPubnubChatSubsystem>();
7UPubnubChat* Chat = PubnubChatSubsystem->InitChat("demo", "demo", "my_user");
8

9// Get the Access Manager
10UPubnubAccessManager* AccessManager = Chat->GetAccessManager();
11

12// Set a new custom origin
13FString CustomOrigin = "abc.pubnubapi.com";
14int Result = AccessManager->SetPubnubOrigin(CustomOrigin);
15

16if (Result == 0)
17{
18  UE_LOG(LogTemp, Log, TEXT("Custom origin set successfully."));
19}
20else if (Result == 1)
21{
22  UE_LOG(LogTemp, Log, TEXT("Custom origin will be applied on reconnect."));
23}
24else
25{
26  UE_LOG(LogTemp, Warning, TEXT("Setting custom origin is not enabled."));
27}

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User authentication

In your chat app, you need to have a process of verifying the identity of all users, ensuring that they are who they claim to be.

Unreal Chat SDK doesn't provide a built-in authentication mechanism, and you'll need to implement user verification in your app on your own. Typically, this could involve a login system where users provide their credentials (username and password), token-based authentication, Single Sign-On (SSO), two-factor authentication (2FA), or external authentication services like OAuth.

User authorization

A chat app will require an authorization mechanism granting or denying access to specific PubNub resources or functionalities based on the authenticated user's permissions and privileges.

This way, you don't let your chat users delete or modify each other's metadata, publish messages on private channels, or remove messages that other chat members wrote.

Unreal Chat SDK provides authorization in your chat app through Access Manager - a secure, token-based permission administrator that lets you regulate clients' access to such PubNub resources as channels and users. By making a single call to Access Manager API, you can define multiple user permissions saying who can do what with your client or server app data.

Depending on whether you create a client or server app, there are three possible actors involved in the authorization cycle: PubNub (server), your own server, and a client device. For more details, read the authorization workflow.

Access Manager

Access Manager is available in Unreal SDK, not Unreal Chat SDK.

As long as the tokens with correct permissions are granted and set in the client that uses Unreal Chat SDK, it doesn't matter which SDK grants them.

Token permissions

When you use Access Manager, your client application will receive a token that governs the access levels and types of operations you can perform. The AccessManager->CanI() method checks if a client has permissions to perform a specific action on a given resource.

Method signature

Blueprint

C++ / Input parameters

1AccessManager->CanI(
2  EPubnubAccessManagerPermission Permission, EPubnubAccessManagerResourceType ResourceType, 
3  FString ResourceName
4);

* required

Parameter	Description
User * Type: EPubnubAccessManagerPermission	The operation type to check if the current user has permissions for.
ChannelID * Type: EPubnubAccessManagerResourceType	The resource type to check if the current user has permissions for.
ResourceName * Type: FString	The name of the resource, for example, a channel name or a user ID.

EPubnubAccessManagerPermission

Enum Value	Description
PAMP_READ	Read permission for a channel.
PAMP_WRITE	Write permission for a channel.
PAMP_MANAGE	Manage permission for a channel.
PAMP_DELETE	Delete permission for a channel.
PAMP_GET	Permission to get details of a channel.
PAMP_JOIN	Permission to join a channel.
PAMP_UPDATE	Permission to update a channel's details.

EPubnubAccessManagerResourceType

Enum Value	Description
PAMRT_UUIDS	Resource type for UUIDs.
PAMRT_CHANNELS	Resource type for Channels.

Output

Type	Description
bool	Whether or not the client has permissions to perform the requested operation on the requested resource.

Sample code

Check if the current user can send messages to the customer_XYZ channel.

1#include "Kismet/GameplayStatics.h"
2#include "PubnubChatSubsystem.h"
3#include "PubnubAccessManager.h"
4

5UGameInstance* GameInstance = UGameplayStatics::GetGameInstance(ContextObject);
6UPubnubChatSubsystem* PubnubChatSubsystem = GameInstance->GetSubsystem<UPubnubChatSubsystem>();
7UPubnubChat* Chat = PubnubChatSubsystem->InitChat("demo", "demo", "my_user");
8

9// Get the Access Manager
10UPubnubAccessManager* AccessManager = Chat->GetAccessManager();
11

12// Define the channel name and resource type
13FString ChannelName = "customer_XYZ";
14EPubnubAccessManagerResourceType ResourceType = EPubnubAccessManagerResourceType::PAMRT_CHANNELS;
15

16// Define the permission type
17EPubnubAccessManagerPermission Permission = EPubnubAccessManagerPermission::PAMP_WRITE;
18

19// Check if the current user can send messages to the specified channel
20bool bCanSendMessage = AccessManager->CanI(Permission, ResourceType, ChannelName);

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Token management

The UPubnubAccessManager class in Unreal Chat SDK provides methods for managing the authentication token of an initialized UPubnubChat instance.

Set token

The SetAuthToken() method allows client devices to update their authentication token. This token, granted by the server, contains embedded permissions that define the client's access to PubNub resources. By setting a new token, the client ensures that its requests to PubNub are authorized according to the permissions specified in the updated token.

Method signature

1void UPubnubAccessManager::SetAuthToken(FString Token)

Input

* required

Parameter	Description
Token * Type: FString	The authentication token with embedded permissions.

Sample code

1#include "Kismet/GameplayStatics.h"
2#include "PubnubChatSubsystem.h"
3#include "PubnubAccessManager.h"
4

5UGameInstance* GameInstance = UGameplayStatics::GetGameInstance(ContextObject);
6UPubnubChatSubsystem* PubnubChatSubsystem = GameInstance->GetSubsystem<UPubnubChatSubsystem>();
7UPubnubChat* Chat = PubnubChatSubsystem->InitChat("demo", "demo", "my_user");
8

9// Get the Access Manager
10UPubnubAccessManager* AccessManager = Chat->GetAccessManager();
11

12// Set a new authentication token
13FString AuthToken = "p0thisAkFl043rhDdHRsCkNyZXisRGNoYW6hanNlY3JldAFDZ3Jwsample3KgQ3NwY6BDcGF0pERjaGFuoENnctokenVzcqBDc3BjoERtZXRhoENzaWdYIGOAeTyWGJI";
14AccessManager->SetAuthToken(AuthToken);

This method does not return any response value. If the operation fails, ensure the token is valid and properly formatted.

Parse token

The ParseToken() method decodes an existing token and returns a string containing the permissions embedded in that token. This method is useful for debugging purposes, allowing you to inspect the token's permissions and other metadata, such as its time-to-live (TTL) and authorized user ID.

Method signature

1FString UPubnubAccessManager::ParseToken(FString Token)

Input

* required

Parameter	Description
Token * Type: FString	The authentication token to decode.

Output

Type	Description
FString	A string containing the token's permissions and metadata.

Sample code

1#include "Kismet/GameplayStatics.h"
2#include "PubnubChatSubsystem.h"
3#include "PubnubAccessManager.h"
4

5UGameInstance* GameInstance = UGameplayStatics::GetGameInstance(ContextObject);
6UPubnubChatSubsystem* PubnubChatSubsystem = GameInstance->GetSubsystem<UPubnubChatSubsystem>();
7UPubnubChat* Chat = PubnubChatSubsystem->InitChat("demo", "demo", "my_user");
8

9// Get the Access Manager
10UPubnubAccessManager* AccessManager = Chat->GetAccessManager();
11

12// Parse an existing token
13FString Token = "p0thisAkFl043rhDdHRsCkNyZXisRGNoYW6hanNlY3JldAFDZ3Jwsample3KgQ3NwY6BDcGF0pERjaGFuoENnctokenVzcqBDc3BjoERtZXRhoENzaWdYIGOAeTyWGJI";
14FString TokenDetails = AccessManager->ParseToken(Token);
15

16// Output the token details
17UE_LOG(LogTemp, Log, TEXT("Token Details: %s"), *TokenDetails);

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Example output

The server returns the permissions in a CBOR format. You can Base 64 decode it, and parse with any a CBOR parser.

1{
2   "v":2,
3   "t":1619718521,
4   "ttl":15,
5   "res":{
6      "usr":{},
7      "spc":{},
8      "chan":{{"ch1":19}},
9      "grp":{}
10   },
11   "pat":{
12      "usr":{},
13      "spc":{},
14      "chan":{},
15      "grp":{}
16   },
17   "meta":{},
18   "sig":"signature"
19}

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Operations-to-permissions mapping

The type of access level you grant on a given resource type defines which operations users can perform in your app. For example, write access given to a user for the channels resource type (either specific channels or channel patterns) lets them send messages to this channel/these channels (calling the PubNub Pub/Sub API underneath and the Unreal Chat SDK's SendText() method).

Chat SDK method to required Access Manager permission mapping

For information about which Chat SDK methods require what Access Manager permissions, refer to Security and permissions.