Swarm ACT Integration for User-Based Access Control

Overview

This package provides an implementation to integrate Swarm's Access Control Trie (ACT) with a user-based access control mechanism. It addresses the limitation of the native Swarm ACT, which is node-based and lacks user-level granularity, by enabling access control initialized with a user's key and allowing users to be added as grantees.

Background

The Access Control Trie (ACT) in Swarm provides a way to manage access permissions for resources stored on the Swarm network. However, the native implementation of ACT is node-based, meaning access control is managed at the node level rather than the user level. This poses a challenge for user-centric and fine-grained access control.

Problem with Native Swarm ACT

• Node-Based Access Control: Swarm's native ACT operates on nodes, not users, limiting the ability to control access at a user level.
• Lack of User Concept: Without user keys, it's challenging to implement user-specific permissions and sharing capabilities.
• Limited Collaboration: Users cannot be added as grantees directly.

Solution

This package overcomes the limitations by:

• Initializing ACT with User Keys: It uses a user's private key to initialize the access control mechanism.
• User-Based Grantees: Allows any user to be added as a grantee by their public key.
• Mapping User Identities: Bridges the gap between node-based ACT and user-centric applications by mapping user identities to the ACT.

How It Works

• User Initialization: By initializing the ACT with a user's private key, the access control is tied to the user's identity.
• Grantee Management: Public keys of grantees are stored and managed, allowing specific users to be granted or revoked access.
• Data Encryption: Data references are encrypted and managed through Swarm's upload and download handlers, ensuring only authorized users can access the data.

Code Structure

• ACT Struct: Core struct holding the access control controller, user's public key, and the PutGetter client.
• Functions:
  • New: Initializes the ACT instance.
  • CreateGrantee: Adds grantees to the access list.
  • GetGrantees: Retrieves the list of current grantees.
  • RevokeGrant: Revokes access for specific grantees.
  • HandleUpload: Manages the upload process with access control.
  • HandleDownload: Manages the download process, ensuring access permissions.

Installation

go get github.com/asabya/swarm_act

Ensure that you have Go installed and set up on your system.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request on GitHub.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.