Access Manager v3 API for PubNub JavaScript SDK

Access Manager allows you to enforce security controls for client access to resources within the PubNub Platform. With Access Manager v3, your servers can grant their clients tokens with embedded permissions that provide access to individual PubNub resources:

For a limited period of time.
Through resource lists or patterns (regular expressions).
In a single API request, even if permission levels differ (read to channel1 and write to channel2).

You can add the authorizedUuid parameter to the grant request to restrict the token usage to one client with a given userId. Once specified, only this authorizedUuid will be able to use the token to make API requests for the specified resources, according to permissions given in the grant request.

User ID / UUID

User ID is also referred to as UUID/uuid in some APIs and server responses but holds the value of the userId parameter you set during initialization.

Supported and recommended asynchronous patterns

PubNub supports Callbacks, Promises, and Async/Await for asynchronous JS operations. The recommended pattern is Async/Await and all sample requests in this document are based on it. This pattern returns a status only on detecting an error. To receive the error status, you must add the try...catch syntax to your code.

Grant Token

Requires Access Manager add-on

This method requires that the Access Manager add-on is enabled for your key in the Admin Portal. Read the support page on enabling add-on features on your keys.

The grantToken() method generates a time-limited authorization token with an embedded access control list. The token defines time to live (ttl), authorized_uuid, and a set of permissions giving access to one or more resources:

channels
groups (channel groups)
uuids (other users' object metadata, such as their names or avatars)

Only this authorized_uuid will be able to use the token with the defined permissions. The authorized client will send the token to PubNub with each request until the token's ttl expires. Any unauthorized request or a request made with an invalid token will return a 403 with a respective error message.

Permissions

The grant request allows your server to securely grant your clients access to the resources within the PubNub Platform. There is a limited set of operations the clients can perform on every resource:

Resource	Permissions
`channel`	`read`, `write`, `get`, `manage`, `update`, `join`, `delete`
`group`	`read`, `manage`
`uuids`	`get`, `update`, `delete`

For permissions and API operations mapping, refer to Manage Permissions with Access Manager v3.

TTL

The ttl (time to live) parameter is the number of minutes before the granted permissions expire. The client will require a new token to be granted before expiration to ensure continued access. ttl is a required parameter for every grant call and there is no default value set for it. The max value for ttl is 43,200 (30 days).

danger

Recommended ttl value

For security reasons, it's recommended to set ttl between 10 and 60, and create a new token before this ttl elapses.

For more details, see TTL in Access Manager v3.

RegEx

If you prefer to specify permissions by setting patterns, rather than listing all resources one by one, you can use regular expressions. To do this, set RegEx permissions under the patterns key before making a grant request.

For more details, see RegEx in Access Manager v3.

Authorized UUID

Setting an authorized_uuid in the token helps you specify which client device should use this token in every request to PubNub. This will ensure that all requests to PubNub are authorized before PubNub processes them. If authorized_uuid isn't specified during the grant request, the token can be used by any client with any uuid. It's recommended to restrict tokens to a single authorized_uuid to prevent impersonation.

For more details, see Authorized UUID in Access Manager v3.

Method(s)

pubnub.grantToken({
    ttl: number,
    authorized_uuid: string,
    resources: any,
    patterns: any,
    meta: any
})

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
`ttl`	`number`	Yes	n/a	Total number of minutes for which the token is valid. The minimum allowed value is `1`. The maximum is `43,200` minutes (30 days).
`authorized_uuid`	`string`	Optional	n/a	Single `uuid` which is authorized to use the token to make API requests to PubNub.
`resources`	`any`	Optional	n/a	Object containing resource permissions.
`resources.uuids`	`any`	Optional	n/a	Object containing `uuid` metadata permissions, for example: `{"uuid-1": {get: true, update: true, delete: true},"uuid-2": {...}}`.
`resources.channels`	`any`	Optional	n/a	Object containing channel permissions, for example: `{"channel-id-1": {read: true, write: true, manage: true, delete: true, get: true, update: true, join: true},"channel-id-2": {...}}`.
`resources.groups`	`any`	Optional	n/a	Object containing channel group permissions, for example: `{"group-id-1": {read: true, manage: true},"group-id-2": {...}}`.
`patterns`	`any`	Optional	n/a	Object containing permissions to multiple resources specified by a RegEx pattern.
`patterns.uuids`	`any`	Optional	n/a	Object containing `uuid` metadata permissions to apply to all `uuid`s matching the RegEx pattern, for example: `{"uuid-pattern-1": {get: true, update: true, delete: true},"uuid-pattern-2": {...}}`.
`patterns.channels`	`any`	Optional	n/a	Object containing channel permissions to apply to all `channel`s matching the RegEx pattern, for example: `{"channel-pattern-1": {read: true, write: true, manage: true, delete: true, get: true, update: true, join: true}, "channel-pattern-2": {...}}`.
`patterns.groups`	`any`	Optional	n/a	Object containing channel group permissions to apply to all channel groups matching the pattern, for example: `{"group-pattern-1": {read: true, manage: true}, "group-pattern-2": {...}}`.
`meta`	`any`	Optional	n/a	Extra metadata to be published with the request. Values must be scalar only; arrays or objects aren't supported.

Required key/value mappings

For a successful grant request, you must specify permissions for at least one uuid, channel, or group, either as a resource sequence (resources) or as a regular expression (patterns).

Basic Usage

try {
    const token = await pubnub.grantToken({
        ttl: 15,
        authorized_uuid: "my-authorized-uuid",
        resources: {
            channels: {
                "my-channel": {
                    read: true,
                },
            },
        },
    });
} catch (status) {
    console.log(status);
}

Returns

"p0thisAkFl043rhDdHRsCkNyZXisRGNoYW6hanNlY3JldAFDZ3Jwsample3KgQ3NwY6BDcGF0pERjaGFuoENnctokenVzcqBDc3BjoERtZXRhoENzaWdYIGOAeTyWGJI"

Other Examples

Grant an authorized client different levels of access to various resources in a single call

The code below grants my-authorized-uuid:

Read access to channel-a, channel-group-b, and get to uuid-c.
Read/write access to channel-b, channel-c, channel-d, and get/update to uuid-d.

try {
    const token = await pubnub.grantToken({
        ttl: 15,
        authorized_uuid: "my-authorized-uuid",
        resources: {
            channels: {
                "channel-a": {
                    read: true,
                },
                "channel-b": {
                    read: true,
                    write: true,
                },
                "channel-c": {
                    read: true,
show all 41 lines

Grant an authorized client read access to multiple channels using RegEx

The code below grants my-authorized-uuid read access to all channels that match the channel-[A-Za-z0-9] RegEx pattern.

try {
    const token = await pubnub.grantToken({
        ttl: 15,
        authorized_uuid: "my-authorized-uuid",
        patterns: {
            channels: {
                "^channel-[A-Za-z0-9]$": {
                    read: true,
                },
            },
        },
    });
} catch (status) {
    console.log(status);
}

Grant an authorized client different levels of access to various resources and read access to channels using RegEx in a single call

The code below grants the my-authorized-uuid:

Read access to channel-a, channel-group-b, and get to uuid-c.
Read/write access to channel-b, channel-c, channel-d, and get/update to uuid-d.
Read access to all channels that match the channel-[A-Za-z0-9] RegEx pattern.

try {
    const token = await pubnub.grantToken({
        ttl: 15,
        authorized_uuid: "my-authorized-uuid",
        resources: {
            channels: {
                "channel-a": {
                    read: true,
                },
                "channel-b": {
                    read: true,
                    write: true,
                },
                "channel-c": {
                    read: true,
show all 48 lines

Error responses

If you submit an invalid request, the server returns the 400 error status code with a descriptive message informing which of the provided arguments is missing or incorrect. These can include, for example, issues with a RegEx, a timestamp, or permissions. The server returns the details of the error in the JSON format.

Grant Token - Spaces & Users

Requires Access Manager add-on

This method requires that the Access Manager add-on is enabled for your key in the Admin Portal. Read the support page on enabling add-on features on your keys.

Server only operation

Granting a token requires the SDK to be initialized with a secretKey and should only be used on the server. You should not use a secretKey in client SDKs such as React Native and Web. For more details on server usage, see Access Manager.

The grantToken() method generates a time-limited authorization token with an embedded access control list. The token defines time to live (ttl), authorizedUserId, and a set of permissions giving access to one or more resources:

spaces
users (other users' metadata, such as their names or avatars)

Only this authorizedUserId will be able to use the token with the defined permissions. The authorized client will send the token to PubNub with each request until the token's ttl expires. Any unauthorized request or a request made with an invalid token will return a 403 with a respective error message.

Permissions

The grant request allows your server to securely grant your clients access to the resources within the PubNub Platform. There is a limited set of operations the clients can perform on every resource:

Resource	Permissions
`space`	`read`, `write`, `get`, `manage`, `update`, `join`, `delete`
`user`	`get`, `update`, `delete`

For permissions and API operations mapping, refer to Manage Permissions with Access Manager v3.

TTL

Recommended ttl value

For security reasons, it's recommended to set ttl between 10 and 60, and create a new token before this ttl elapses.

For more details, see TTL in Access Manager v3.

RegEx

If you prefer to specify permissions by setting patterns, rather than listing all resources one by one, you can use regular expressions. To do this, set RegEx permissions as patterns before making a grant request.

For more details, see RegEx in Access Manager v3.

Authorized User ID

Setting an authorizedUserId in the token helps you specify which client device should use this token in every request to PubNub. This will ensure that all requests to PubNub are authorized before PubNub processes them. If authorizedUserId isn't specified during the grant request, the token can be used by any client with any userId. It's recommended to restrict tokens to a single authorizedUserId to prevent impersonation.

For more details, see Authorized UUID in Access Manager v3.

Method(s)

pubnub.grantToken({
    ttl: number,
    authorizedUserId: string,
    resources: any,
    patterns: any,
    meta: any
})

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
`ttl`	`number`	Yes	n/a	Total number of minutes for which the token is valid. The minimum allowed value is `1`. The maximum is `43,200` minutes (30 days).
`authorizedUserId`	`string`	Optional	n/a	Single `userId` which is authorized to use the token to make API requests to PubNub.
`resources`	`any`	Optional	n/a	Object containing resource permissions.
`resources.users`	`any`	Optional	n/a	Object containing User permissions, for example: `{"userId-1": {get: true, update: true, delete: true},"userId-2": {...}}`.
`resources.spaces`	`any`	Optional	n/a	Object containing Space permissions, for example: `{"space-id-1": {read: true, write: true, manage: true, delete: true, get: true, update: true, join: true},"space-id-2": {...}}`.
`patterns`	`any`	Optional	n/a	Object containing permissions to multiple resources specified by a RegEx pattern.
`patterns.users`	`any`	Optional	n/a	Object containing User permissions to apply to all Users matching the RegEx pattern, for example: `{"userId-pattern-1": {get: true, update: true, delete: true},"userId-pattern-2": {...}}`.
`patterns.spaces`	`any`	Optional	n/a	Object containing Space permissions to apply to all Spaces matching the RegEx pattern, for example: `{"space-pattern-1": {read: true, write: true, manage: true, delete: true, get: true, update: true, join: true}, "space-pattern-2": {...}}`.
`meta`	`any`	Optional	n/a	Extra metadata to be published with the request. Values must be scalar only; arrays or objects aren't supported.

Required key/value mappings

For a successful grant request, you must specify permissions for at least one userId or space, either as a resource sequence (resources) or as a regular expression (patterns).

Basic Usage

try {
    const token = await pubnub.grantToken({
        ttl: 15,
        authorizedUserId: "my-authorized-userId",
        resources: {
            spaces: {
                "my-space": {
                    read: true,
                },
            },
        },
    });
} catch (status) {
    console.log(status);
}

Returns

"p0thisAkFl043rhDdHRsCkNyZXisRGNoYW6hanNlY3JldAFDZ3Jwsample3KgQ3NwY6BDcGF0pERjaGFuoENnctokenVzcqBDc3BjoERtZXRhoENzaWdYIGOAeTyWGJI"

Other Examples

Grant an authorized client different levels of access to various resources in a single call

The code below grants my-authorized-userId:

Read access to space-a, and get to userId-c.
Read/write access to space-b, space-c, space-d, and get/update to userId-d.

try {
    const token = await pubnub.grantToken({
        ttl: 15,
        authorizedUserId: "my-authorized-userId",
        resources: {
            spaces: {
                "space-a": {
                    read: true,
                },
                "space-b": {
                    read: true,
                    write: true,
                },
                "space-c": {
                    read: true,
show all 36 lines

Grant an authorized client read access to multiple channels using RegEx

The code below grants my-authorized-userId read access to all channels that match the space-[A-Za-z0-9] RegEx pattern.

try {
    const token = await pubnub.grantToken({
        ttl: 15,
        authorizedUserId: "my-authorized-userId",
        patterns: {
            spaces: {
                "^space-[A-Za-z0-9]$": {
                    read: true,
                },
            },
        },
    });
} catch (status) {
    console.log(status);
}

Grant an authorized client different levels of access to various resources and read access to channels using RegEx in a single call

The code below grants the my-authorized-userId:

Read access to space-a and userId-c.
Read/write access to space-b, space-c, space-d, and get/update to userId-d.
Read access to all channels that match the space-[A-Za-z0-9] RegEx pattern.

try {
    const token = await pubnub.grantToken({
        ttl: 15,
        authorizedUserId: "my-authorized-userId",
        resources: {
            spaces: {
                "space-a": {
                    read: true,
                },
                "space-b": {
                    read: true,
                    write: true,
                },
                "space-c": {
                    read: true,
show all 43 lines

Error responses

Revoke Token

Enable token revoke

This method requires that the Access Manager add-on is enabled for your key in the Admin Portal. Also, to revoke tokens, you must first enable this feature. To do that, navigate to your app's keyset and mark the Revoke v3 Token checkbox in the ACCESS MANAGER section.

The revokeToken() method allows you to disable an existing token and revoke all permissions embedded within. You can only revoke a valid token previously obtained using the grantToken() method.

Use this method for tokens with ttl less than or equal to 30 days. If you need to revoke a token with a longer ttl, contact support.

For more information, refer to Revoke permissions.

Method(s)

pubnub.revokeToken(
    token: string
);

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
`token`	`string`	Yes	n/a	Existing token with embedded permissions.

Basic Usage

try {
    const token = await pubnub.revokeToken("p0AkFl043rhDdHRsple3KgQ3NwY6BDcENnctokenVzcqBDczaWdYIGOAeTyWGJI");
} catch (status) {
    console.log(status);
}

Returns

When the token revocation request is successful, this method returns a 200 OK.

Error Responses

If you submit an invalid request, the server returns an error status code with a descriptive message informing which of the provided arguments is missing or incorrect. Depending on the root cause, this operation may return the following errors:

400 Bad Request
403 Forbidden
503 Service Unavailable

Parse Token

The parseToken() method decodes an existing token and returns the object containing permissions embedded in that token. The client can use this method for debugging to check the permissions to the resources or find out the token's ttl details.

Method(s)

pubnub.parseToken(
    token: string
)

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
`token`	`string`	Yes	n/a	Current token with embedded permissions.

Basic Usage

pubnub.parseToken("p0thisAkFl043rhDdHRsCkNyZXisRGNoYW6hanNlY3JldAFDZ3Jwsample3KgQ3NwY6BDcGF0pERjaGFuoENnctokenVzcqBDc3BjoERtZXRhoENzaWdYIGOAeTyWGJI")

Returns

{
   "version":2,
   "timestamp":1629394579,
   "ttl":15,
   "authorized_uuid": "user1",
   "resources":{
      "uuids":{
         "user1":{
            "read":false,
            "write":false,
            "manage":false,
            "delete":false,
            "get":true,
            "update":true,
            "join":false
show all 76 lines

Error Responses

If you receive an error while parsing the token, it may suggest that the token is damaged. In that case, request the server to issue a new one.

Set Token

The setToken() method is used by the client devices to update the authentication token granted by the server.

Method(s)

pubnub.setToken(
    token: string
)

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
`token`	`string`	Yes	n/a	Current token with embedded permissions.

Basic Usage

pubnub.setToken("p0thisAkFl043rhDdHRsCkNyZXisRGNoYW6hanNlY3JldAFDZ3Jwsample3KgQ3NwY6BDcGF0pERjaGFuoENnctokenVzcqBDc3BjoERtZXRhoENzaWdYIGOAeTyWGJI")

Returns

This method doesn't return any response value.

User ID / UUID

Supported and recommended asynchronous patterns

Grant Token​

Requires Access Manager add-on

Permissions​

TTL​

danger

RegEx​

Authorized UUID​

Method(s)​

Required key/value mappings

Basic Usage​

Returns​

Other Examples​

Grant an authorized client different levels of access to various resources in a single call​

Grant an authorized client read access to multiple channels using RegEx​

Grant an authorized client different levels of access to various resources and read access to channels using RegEx in a single call​

Error responses​

Grant Token - Spaces & Users​

Requires Access Manager add-on

Server only operation

Permissions​

TTL​

Recommended ttl value

RegEx​

Authorized User ID​

Method(s)​

Required key/value mappings

Basic Usage​

Returns​

Other Examples​

Grant an authorized client different levels of access to various resources in a single call​

Grant an authorized client read access to multiple channels using RegEx​

Grant an authorized client different levels of access to various resources and read access to channels using RegEx in a single call​

Error responses​

Revoke Token​

Enable token revoke

Method(s)​

Basic Usage​

Returns​

Error Responses​

Parse Token​

Method(s)​

Basic Usage​

Returns​

Error Responses​

Set Token​

Method(s)​

Basic Usage​

Returns​

Grant Token

Permissions

TTL

RegEx

Authorized UUID

Method(s)

Basic Usage

Returns

Other Examples

Grant an authorized client different levels of access to various resources in a single call

Grant an authorized client read access to multiple channels using RegEx

Grant an authorized client different levels of access to various resources and read access to channels using RegEx in a single call

Error responses

Grant Token - Spaces & Users

Permissions

TTL

RegEx

Authorized User ID

Method(s)

Basic Usage

Returns

Other Examples

Grant an authorized client different levels of access to various resources in a single call

Grant an authorized client read access to multiple channels using RegEx

Grant an authorized client different levels of access to various resources and read access to channels using RegEx in a single call

Error responses

Revoke Token

Method(s)

Basic Usage

Returns

Error Responses

Parse Token

Method(s)

Basic Usage

Returns

Error Responses

Set Token

Method(s)

Basic Usage

Returns