---
source_url: https://www.pubnub.com/docs/sdks/twisted/api-reference/access-manager
title: Access Manager API for Python-Twisted SDK
updated_at: 2026-09-30T07:20:08.000Z
---

# Access Manager API for Python-Twisted SDK

> For AI agents: documentation index at https://www.pubnub.com/llms-full.txt

:::note Access Manager v2
This is the outdated Access Manager v2 API. For details about the latest version, see [Access Manager v3](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/security/access-control/overview.md).
:::

:::note Deprecated
**NOTICE:** Based on current web trends and our own usage data, PubNub's Python Twisted SDK is **deprecated** as of May 1, 2019. Deprecation means we will no longer be updating the Python Twisted SDK but will continue to support users currently using it. Please feel free to use our other Python SDK offerings as they will continue to be supported and maintained. If you would like to use the Python Twisted SDK specifically, we would love to work with you on keeping this project alive!
:::

Access Manager v2 allows you to enforce secure controls for client access to resources within the PubNub network. With Access Manager, your servers can grant their clients access to individual PubNub resources for a limited duration, with the ability to extend access or add permissions for additional resources.

As soon as Access Manager is enabled, no publish/subscribe operations can be done without first explicitly providing an authorization token to the PubNub object. If an invalid token is provided, the requesting client will receive a Forbidden error.

For more information about Access Manager, refer to [Managing Permissions with Access Manager](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/migration-guides/access-manager-v3.md).

## Grant

:::note Requires Access Manager add-on
This method requires that the *Access Manager* add-on is enabled for your key in the [Admin Portal](https://admin.pubnub.com/). Read the [support page](https://support.pubnub.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051974791-How-do-I-enable-add-on-features-for-my-keys-) on enabling add-on features on your keys.
:::

:::warning Requires Secret Key authentication
Granting permissions to resources should be done by administrators whose SDK instance has been [initialized](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/sdks/twisted/api-reference/configuration.md) with a **Secret Key** (available on the [Admin Portal](https://admin.pubnub.com/) on your app's keyset).
:::

The `grant` method allows you to grant permissions for one or more resources to one or more `authKeys`. You may need to make multiple grant calls with an `authKey` so that you can specify explicit permissions for each `channel`, `channelGroup` and `uuid` resources. For common permissions, you can normally use a single request.

Privileges specifically granted to an application's `subscribe_key` always take precedence over privileges granted to `channel` or `auth_key`. Therefore an application that requires authentication at the user level should not grant access at either the Application or Channel levels. View the [Grant Levels](#grant) section for more details.

#### Permissions

The grant request allows your server to securely grant access for your clients on the following resources within the platform. Each resource allows a limited set of permissions that control the operations that can be performed by the clients. For permissions and API operations mapping information, refer to [Managing Permissions with Access Manager](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/migration-guides/access-manager-v3.md).

| Resource | Permissions |
| --- | --- |
| `channel` | `read`, `write`, `get`, `manage`, `update`, `join`, `delete` |
| `uuid` | `get`, `update`, `delete` |
| `channelGroup` | `read`, `manage` |

#### Wildcard permissions

Wildcard notation allows you to grant permissions to multiple channels at a time and later revoke these permissions in the same manner. You can only go one level deep using wildcards. In other words:

* `a.*` grants access on all channels that begin with `a.`.
* `*` or `a.b.*` won't work this way. If you grant on `*` or `a.b.*`, the grant treats `*` or `a.b.*` as a channel name, not a wildcard.

:::warning Wildcard revokes
You can revoke permissions with wildcards from one level deep, like `a.*`, only when you initially used wildcards to grant permissions to `a.*`.
:::

### Grant levels

When a user attempts to access a PubNub resource, Access Manager will evaluate any existing rules using the following order of precedence before access to a channel is granted to the user:

1. **Application Level** - Access Manager privileges are always evaluated first at the `Application` level. If either `read` or `write` attribute is set to `True` for a `subscribe_key`, Access Manager will immediately grant access for that attribute without proceeding to check permissions at either `Channel` or `User` levels. If an attribute is set to `False` at the Application level, Access Manager proceeds to evaluate the attribute at the next most granular level.
2. **Channel Level** - After first verifying an attribute at the Application level, Access Manager evaluates the attribute at the Channel level. If an attribute is set to `True` for a combination of `subscribe_key`, and `channel`, Access Manager grants access for that attribute at the `Channel` level without proceeding to check whether there may be `user` level permissions.
3. **User Level (Recommended)** - As a final step Access Manager evaluates the attributes at the `User` level. If an attribute is set to `True` for `subscribe_key`, `channel` and `auth_key`, access is granted for that attribute. Similarly, user level grants also allow you granting an `auth_key` access to `channelGroups` and `uuids`. User level grants require `auth_key` and are the recommended approach if you need to manage permissions for individual users within your application. Each user should be assigned a unique `auth_key` and securely passed back to the user to perform operations on the platform.

### Method(s)

To `Grant Permissions on a Channel` you can use the following method(s) in the Python-Twisted SDK:

```python
pubnub.grant().auth_keys(String|List|Tuple).channels(String|List|Tuple).channel_groups(String|List|Tuple).read(Boolean).write(Boolean).manage(Boolean).delete(Boolean).ttl(Int)
```

| Parameter | Type | Required | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| auth_keys | String \| List \| Tuple | Optional |  | Specifies `auth` Key to grant permissions. It is possible to specify multiple `auth` keys as comma separated list in combination with a single `channel` name. You can also grant access to a single `auth` key for multiple `channels` at the same time. Zero or more `channels` with zero or more `auth` tokens are allowed. |
| channels | String \| List \| Tuple | Optional |  | Specifies the `channels` on which to `grant` permissions. If no `channels/channelGroups` are specified, then the `grant` applies to any and all `channels/channelGroups` that have been or will be created for that `publish/subscribe` key set. Furthermore, any existing or future grants on specific `channels` are ignored, until the `all channels` grant is revoked. It is possible to `grant` permissions to multiple `channels` simultaneously by specifying the `channels` as a comma separated list. Wildcard notation like `a.*` can be used to `grant` access on channels. You can `grant` one level deep. a.* - you can grant on this., * and a.b.* - grant will not work on these levels. If you grant on * or a.b.*, the grant will treat * or a.b.* as a single channel named either * or a.b.*. |
| channel_groups | String \| List \| Tuple | Optional |  | Specifies the `channelGroups` to `grant` permissions. If no `channels/channelGroups` are specified, then the `grant` applies to any and all `channels/channelGroups` that have been or will be created for that `publish/subscribe` key set. Furthermore, any existing or future grants on specific `channelGroups` are ignored, until the `all channelGroups` grant is revoked. It is possible to `grant` permissions to multiple `channelGroups` simultaneously by specifying the `channelGroups` as a comma separated list. |
| read | Boolean | Optional | `False` | `Read` permissions. |
| write | Boolean | Optional | `False` | `Write` permissions. |
| manage | Boolean | Optional | `False` | `Manage` permissions. |
| delete | Boolean | Optional | `False` | `Delete` permissions. |
| ttl | Int | Optional | `None` | `Time to live` for permission to be valid. |

### Sample code

#### Grant Access Manager permissions for channel and auth_key

```python
d = pubnub.grant().channels(["ch1", "ch2", "ch3"]).\
    channel_groups(["cg1", "cg2"]).\
    auth_keys(["key1", "key2"]).\
    read(True).write(True).manage(True).\
    deferred()

d.addCallback(my_callback)
```

### Returns

#### The grant() operation returns a PNAccessManagerGrantResult which contains the following fields

| Field | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `level` | String | Permissions level, one of `subkey`, `subkey`+`auth`, `channel`, `channel-group`, `channel-group`+`auth` level. |
| `ttl` | Int | `ttl` of grant |
| `subscribe_key` | String | The `subscribe key`. |
| `channels` | Dict | Access rights per channel. See [PNAccessManagerChannelData](#pnaccessmanagerchanneldata-and-pnaccessmanagergroupdata-has-the-same-fields-structure) for more details. |
| `groups` | Dict | Access rights per group. See [PNAccessManagerGroupData](#pnaccessmanagerchanneldata-and-pnaccessmanagergroupdata-has-the-same-fields-structure) for more details. |
| `read_enabled` | Boolean | subkey level `read` permissions. |
| `write_enabled` | Boolean | subkey level `write` permissions. |
| `manage_enabled` | Boolean | subkey level `manage` permissions. |
| `delete_enabled` | Boolean | subkey level `delete` permissions. |
| `ttl` | Int | Time to live value. |

#### PNAccessManagerChannelData and PNAccessManagerGroupData has the same fields structure

| Field | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `auth_keys` | List | Access rights per `auth-key`. See [PNAccessManagerKeyData](#pnaccessmanagerkeydata) for more details. |
| `name` | String | Channel or group `name`. |
| `read_enabled` | Boolean | Channel or group level `read` permissions. |
| `write_enabled` | Boolean | Channel or group level `write` permissions. |
| `manage_enabled` | Boolean | Channel or group level `manage` permissions. |
| `delete_enabled` | Boolean | Channel or group level `delete` permissions. |
| `ttl` | Int | Time to live value. |

#### PNAccessManagerKeyData

| Field | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `read_enabled` | Boolean | `read` permissions |
| `write_enabled` | Boolean | `write` permissions |
| `manage_enabled` | Boolean | `manage` permissions |
| `delete_enabled` | Boolean | `delete` permissions |
| `ttl` | Int | Time to live value |

`read`, `write`, `manage`, and `delete` permissions have 3 states:

* `True` if enabled.
* `False` if disabled.
* `None` if not explicitly set.

:::warning Caution
Access Manager grant or revoke requests must be less than ~32 KiB at a time, or the client will return an error. For requests greater than 32 KiB, break them into smaller batched requests. When the message size exceeds 32 KiB the server returns the HTTP Error code 500, instead of the correct error code 414.
:::

:::warning
For NTP synchronization, please ensure that you have configured NTP on your server to keep the clock in sync. This is to prevent system clock drift leading to 400 `Invalid Timestamp` error response.
[https://support.pubnub.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051973331-Why-do-I-get-Invalid-Timestamp-when-I-try-to-grant-permission-using-Access-Manager-](https://support.pubnub.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051973331-Why-do-I-get-Invalid-Timestamp-when-I-try-to-grant-permission-using-Access-Manager-)
:::

### Other examples

#### Grant subscribe privileges to all users on all channel(s) with default ttl (1440 minutes)

```python
d = pubnub.grant().read(True).write(True).deferred()
d.addCallback(my_callback)
```

#### Allow subscribe and publish to a specific grant subscribe and publish to a specific channel for all users (no auth_key required) with default ttl (1440 minutes)

```python
d = pubnub.grant().channels("my_channel").read(True).write(True).deferred()
d.addCallback(my_callback)
```

#### Grant subscribe access to a channel only for clients with a specific auth_key with a 5 minute ttl

```python
d = pubnub.grant().channels("my_channel").read(True).write(False).\
    auth_keys("my_ro_authkey").ttl(5).deferred()
d.addCallback(my_callback)
```

The above code would return the following response to the client:

```json
{
    "status" : 200,
    "message" : "Success",
    "payload" : {
        "ttl" : 5,
        "auths" : {
            "my_ro_authkey" : {
                "r" : 1,
                "w" : 0,
                "d" : 0
            }
        },
        "subscribe_key" : "my_subkey",
        "level" : "user",
        "channel" : "my_channel"
    },
    "service" : "Access Manager"
}
```

#### Allow access to a specific channel for Presence

```python
d = pubnub.grant().\
    channels("my_channel-pnpres").read(True).write(True).deferred()
```

#### Grant Access Manager permissions for channel group

```python
d = pubnub.grant().\
    channel_groups(["cg1", "cg2", "cg3"]).\
    auth_keys(["auth1", "auth2", "auth3"]).\
    read(True).write(True).manage(True).\
    ttl(12237).\
    .deferred()

d.addCallback(my_callback)
```

The above code would return the following response to the client:

```json
{
    "status":200,
    "message":"Success",
    "payload":{
        "ttl":5,
        "auths":{
            "my_rw_authkey":{
                "r":1,
                "w":1,
                "d":1
            }
        },
        "subscribe_key":"my_subkey",
        "level":"user",
        "channel":"my_channel"
    },
    "service":"Access Manager"
}
```

#### Grant permissions on multiple channels

```python
envelope = pubnub.grant().\
    auth_keys("my_rw_authkey").\
    channels(["girish", "girish2"]).\
    read(True).\
    write(True).\
    ttl(5).\
    sync()
```

:::note
The limit on the total amount of `channels` that you can pass at once when using `grant()` is `200`.
:::

#### Application level grant

:::warning Use application level grants with caution
When access is granted on an application level, `all channels and users` will have access.
Application level grants can also happen due to a bug in your code. *For example, Null parameters for channels and auth-keys can cause accidental application level grants.*
:::

```python
d = pubnub.grant().\
        read(True).write(True).\
        .deferred()

 d.addCallback(my_callback)
```

#### Channel level grant

```python
d = pubnub.grant().channels("my_channel").\
        read(True).write(True).\
        .deferred()

d.addCallback(my_callback)
```

#### User level grant

```python
d = pubnub.grant().channels("my_channel").\
        auth_keys("my_authkey").\
        read(True).write(True).\
        ttl(5).\
        .deferred()

d.addCallback(my_callback)
```

Last updated at: 2026-09-30T07:20:08.000Z