Real-Time Authorization in a Chat Application with Permit.io and WebSockets

As modern chat applications evolve, real-time communication requires increasingly granular access controls. Managing dynamic permissions in real-time for various chat rooms and participants, especially in complex or multi-user environments, can quickly become challenging. What if you could easily implement fine-grained authorization for your chat app without compromising on performance?

Permit.io makes integrating robust, real-time access control into your chat application simple. By pairing Permit.io’s advanced authorization models with WebSockets, you can ensure that the right users have access at the right time, all while maintaining the responsiveness needed in chat applications.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to implement real-time authorization in a WebSocket-based chat application using Permit.io. By the end, you’ll understand how to enforce role-based and attribute-based access controls dynamically, securing different chat rooms, message visibility, and interactions in real time.

Introduction to Real-Time Authorization in Chat Applications

We all use chat applications in one form or another to stay connected with friends and family, discuss important matters with colleagues, and even conduct business. With the increasing demand for seamless, real-time communication, it’s easy to take for granted the sophisticated security measures that protect these interactions. However, as chat applications become more complex, so do the challenges of securing user data and conversations. Fine-grained access control helps ensure that only authorized users have access to sensitive information and actions.

Why real-time chat apps require fine-grained access control

Fine-grained access control is essential in real-time chat applications to ensure security, user customization, and regulatory compliance.
By setting robust authentication methods and role-based permissions, chat applications prevent unauthorized users from accessing sensitive conversations and allow admins to effectively manage user interactions. This approach also enhances user experience by enabling participation in various chat types—public, private, or group—based on individual roles or preferences, creating more engaging interactions.
Furthermore, fine-grained access control helps organizations meet strict data privacy regulations, like the GDPR, safeguarding confidential data and minimizing legal risks.

The challenges of implementing dynamic authorization in a chat context

The points cover all the main ideas from the paragraphs. Here’s a refined version that includes every detail:

1. Real-time chat apps require instant permission checks and updates, making dynamic authorization challenging without risking performance impacts, especially when handling large volumes of messages and users.
2. Chat applications often involve multiple access layers, with permissions that vary based on roles, group memberships, or specific attributes, requiring consistent and efficient enforcement.
3. Dynamic changes in roles (e.g., admin promotions, group removals, or temporary access) must be recognized and applied immediately across all active sessions without disrupting ongoing conversations.
4. Achieving this level of flexibility while maintaining a seamless user experience demands an advanced authorization model that integrates closely with real-time protocols like WebSockets.

Overview of how Permit.io’s authorization solutions can streamline this process with WebSockets

Permit.io’s authorization solutions can significantly streamline the implementation of real-time authorization in chat applications, particularly when integrated with WebSockets. Here’s an overview of how this combination enhances dynamic access control:

1. Seamless Integration: Permit.io offers a robust framework for managing fine-grained access controls that can be easily integrated into chat applications utilizing WebSockets. This integration allows for real-time permission checks and updates, ensuring that users have immediate access to the appropriate chat rooms and functionalities based on their roles and attributes.
2. Dynamic Permission Management: With Permit.io, developers can implement dynamic authorization models that adapt to changes in user roles or group memberships. For instance, if a user is promoted to an admin role or temporarily granted special access, these changes can be reflected instantly across all active sessions without interrupting ongoing conversations. This capability addresses one of the primary challenges in dynamic authorization by ensuring that permissions are consistently enforced in real-time.
3. Enhanced Performance: By leveraging WebSockets for communication, Permit.io ensures that real-time authorization processes do not compromise application performance. The architecture supports high volumes of messages and users, allowing for efficient handling of concurrent access requests while maintaining responsiveness—a critical requirement for chat applications.
4. Role-Based and Attribute-Based Access Control: Permit.io facilitates the enforcement of both role-based and attribute-based access controls within chat environments. This flexibility allows administrators to define specific permissions for different user types, such as moderators or regular users, enhancing security while providing a customizable user experience. Users can participate in various chat types—public, private, or group based on their assigned roles.
5. Regulatory Compliance: Implementing Permit.io’s solutions helps organizations meet stringent data privacy regulations by ensuring only authorized users can access sensitive information and functionalities within the chat application. This compliance is crucial for safeguarding user data and minimizing legal risks associated with unauthorized access.

Setting Up a WebSocket-Based Chat Application

For our web socket-based application, we’ll be using Next.js and Ably, a service that allows us to easily integrate and manage real-time capabilities in our apps powered by web socket.

In addition to Ably and Next Auth, we can use something like Firebase to handle both authentication and realtime features. There’s an entire tutorial about that on the Permit.io blog.

Without further ado, let’s proceed!

Setting up Next.js

Run the following command and follow the prompts:

npx create-next-app@latest live-chat
Need to install the following packages:
create-next-app@15.1.0
Ok to proceed? (y) y

✔ Would you like to use TypeScript? … No / Yes
✔ Would you like to use ESLint? … No / Yes
✔ Would you like to use Tailwind CSS? … No / Yes
✔ Would you like your code inside a `src/` directory? … No / Yes
✔ Would you like to use App Router? (recommended) … No / Yes
✔ Would you like to use Turbopack for `next dev`? … No / Yes
✔ Would you like to customize the import alias (`@/*` by default)? … No / Yes
Creating a new Next.js app in /Users/miracleio/Documents/writing/permit/real-time-authorization-in-a-chat-application-with-permitio-and-websockets/live-chat.

Using npm.

Initializing project with template: app-tw 


Installing dependencies:
- react
- react-dom
- next

Installing devDependencies:
- typescript
- @types/node
- @types/react
- @types/react-dom
- postcss
- tailwindcss
- eslint
- eslint-config-next
- @eslint/eslintrc


added 371 packages, and audited 372 packages in 1m

141 packages are looking for funding
  run `npm fund` for details

found 0 vulnerabilities
Initialized a git repository.

Success! Created live-chat at /Users/miracleio/Documents/writing/permit/real-time-authorization-in-a-chat-application-with-permitio-and-websockets/live-chat 

Navigate to the newly created project folder and install a few more packages we’ll use to build our app:

cd live-chat
npm install -D prettier prettier-plugin-tailwindcss  @tailwindcss/forms 

Also, install a few UI compoents fron Radix UI:

npm install @radix-ui/react-scroll-area

Create a new file in the root of the project directory - .prettierrc and enter the following:

{
  "plugins": ["prettier-plugin-tailwindcss"]
}

In the tailwind.config.ts file, enter the following:

// ./tailwind.config.ts
import type { Config } from "tailwindcss";
import tailwindForms from "@tailwindcss/forms";
export default {
  content: [
    "./pages/**/*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx,mdx}",
    "./components/**/*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx,mdx}",
    "./app/**/*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx,mdx}",
  ],
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        background: "var(--background)",
        foreground: "var(--foreground)",
      },
    },
  },
  plugins: [tailwindForms],
} satisfies Config;

In the `./next.config.ts`, enter the following:

// ./next.config.ts
import type { NextConfig } from "next";
const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
  /* config options here */
  images: {
    remotePatterns: [
      {
        protocol: "https",
        hostname: "lh3.googleusercontent.com",
      },
      {
        protocol: "https",
        hostname: "www.tapback.co",
      },
    ],
  },
};
export default nextConfig;

Set up global styles

In the ./app/globals.css file, enter the following:

/* ./app/globals.css */
@tailwind base;
@tailwind components;
@tailwind utilities;
@layer base {
  body {
    @apply bg-white text-gray-800 dark:bg-gray-900 dark:text-gray-300;
  }
}
@layer components {
  .btn {
    @apply inline-flex items-center justify-center gap-2 rounded-full bg-gray-100 px-4 py-2 text-sm font-semibold text-gray-500 hover:brightness-95 focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-gray-200 focus:ring-offset-2 dark:bg-gray-800 dark:text-gray-300 dark:brightness-105 dark:hover:bg-gray-700 dark:focus:ring-gray-800 dark:focus:ring-offset-gray-900;
  }
  .btn:has(> .icon:first-child) {
    @apply pl-2;
  }
  .btn:has(> .icon:last-child) {
    @apply pr-2;
  }
  .icon {
    @apply h-5 w-5 text-current;
  }
  .form-input {
    @apply flex grow rounded-full border border-none bg-gray-100 px-4 py-2 text-sm font-semibold text-gray-500 outline-none hover:brightness-95 focus:border-none focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-gray-200 focus:ring-offset-2 dark:bg-gray-800 dark:text-gray-300 dark:brightness-105 dark:hover:bg-gray-700 dark:focus:ring-gray-800 dark:focus:ring-offset-gray-900;
  }
  .site-section {
    @apply py-16 md:py-24;
  }
  .site-section > .wrapper {
    @apply mx-auto max-w-5xl px-4 sm:px-6 lg:px-8;
  }
  .noscroll {
    @apply overflow-auto;
    scrollbar-width: none;
  }
}

Setting up Authentication

We’ll be using Auth.js, an authentication library originally built for Next.js.
Run the following command to install the package:

npm install next-auth@beta

We have to create an AUTH_SECRET environment variable. The library uses this random value to encrypt tokens and email verification hashes. (See Deployment to learn more). You can generate one via the official Auth.js CLI running:

npx auth secret

                        

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