users

Users: Manage Access to the Platform

The data-primals-engine includes a robust user management system, allowing you to control access to your data and functionalities. The core of this system is the user model, which stores all necessary information about platform users.

The user Model

The user model is a fundamental, system-locked model that defines the attributes of each user account.

The user Model Fields

Attribute	Type	Description
username	string, required, unique	The unique identifier for the user, used for login.
password	password	The user's hashed password.
gender	enum	Optional field for gender, with options like male, female, other, prefer_not_to_say.
contact	relation to contact model	Links to a contact document for detailed personal information (firstName, lastName, email, etc.).
roles	multiple relation to role model	Assigns one or more roles to the user, determining their permissions.
lang	relation to lang model	Specifies the preferred language for the user interface and content.
profilePicture	file	Allows users to upload a profile image (supports JPEG and PNG).
tokens	multiple relation to token model	Stores authentication tokens associated with the user.

User Providers: The Authentication Logic

The engine's authentication system is designed to be highly extensible through User Providers. A UserProvider is a component responsible for the core logic of user management: finding users and validating their credentials. This modular approach allows you to connect data-primals-engine to virtually any authentication source.

The engine comes with several built-in providers:

• DefaultUserProvider: A simple, in-memory provider primarily for demonstration and testing purposes. It allows for quick setup without a database dependency.
• MongoUserProvider: The standard production-ready provider. It uses the user collection in your MongoDB database to store user accounts and securely validates passwords using bcrypt.
• SSOUserProvider: A specialized provider that works with the Sso component to handle authentication from external Identity Providers like Google, SAML, or Microsoft Azure AD.

Extending with a Custom Provider

You can create your own UserProvider to integrate with other systems, such as LDAP, a different database, or a custom API. You simply need to create a class that extends the base UserProvider and implement its methods (findUserByUsername, validatePassword, etc.). You can then instruct the engine to use it at startup:

// In your main server file
import { Engine } from 'data-primals-engine';
import { MyCustomLdapProvider } from './my-ldap-provider.js';

const engine = await Engine.Create({ app });
engine.setUserProvider(new MyCustomLdapProvider(engine));

User Authentication

The engine provides mechanisms for user authentication, typically involving username/password credentials to issue JWT (JSON Web Tokens). The UserProvider is responsible for validating these credentials. Once validated, the issued tokens are used to secure subsequent API requests, ensuring that only authorized users can access or modify data.

User-Specific Data

Each document created within the data-primals-engine is associated with a user via the _user field. This ensures data isolation and allows for granular access control, where users primarily interact with data they own or have been granted access to.

Effective user management is crucial for maintaining security and organizing access within your data-primals-engine application.

Next: Roles and Permissions