Hi Alex, Thanks for putting this together. I like the direction of keeping PolarisPrincipal as the common identity abstraction.
One thing I'm concerning about is exposing the entire PrincipalEntity as an attribute. Do we really want authorizers to depend on our internal persistence model? The tighter coupling between the authorization logic and the metastore schema is concerning. It also makes it easier for authorizers to rely on fields that weren't intended to be part of the authorization contract. It might be cleaner to project the information we want to expose into attributes instead. We could do something similar to how most IdPs expose claims rather than their internal user objects. For example, Keycloak uses protocol mappers to select user attributes and map them into token claims [1]. 1. https://www.keycloak.org/admin-api/protocol-mappers?utm_source=chatgpt.com Yufei On Fri, Jul 17, 2026 at 11:53 AM Dmitri Bourlatchkov <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Alex, > > +1 to this design. I think it allows future extensions to be introduced > without disrupting existing code. > > I also approved it in GH. > > Cheers, > Dmitri. > > > > On Fri, Jul 17, 2026 at 9:35 AM Alexandre Dutra <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Hi again, > > > > In order to validate my own suggestion I went ahead and created the > > following PR: > > > > https://github.com/apache/polaris/pull/5085 > > > > Compared to what I had in mind initially, the main difference is that > > PolarisPrincipal must stay the "lingua franca" for everything related > > to authn and authz, since it's the only component declared in > > polaris-core. So in the final design, PolarisPrincipal simply exposes > > a generic attribute map, which may contain the PrincipalEntity as an > > attribute. The SecurityIdentity exposes the same attributes for > > completeness. > > > > Let me know your thoughts on this design. > > > > Thanks, > > Alex > > > > On Fri, Jul 17, 2026 at 11:13 AM Alexandre Dutra <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > > > > Hi Prithvi, Dmitri, > > > > > > I was OOO last week and I'm catching up with this discussion, so my > > > apologies for the delay. > > > > > > @ Prithvi : your description of the approach is spot on and > > > corresponds to what I had in mind. To your questions: > > > > > > > 1. Is the attribute key naming convention above acceptable? > > > > > > Yes. Quarkus tends to use simple attribute keys like "tenant-id", but > > > I think Polaris should use namespaced attributes. > > > > > > > 2. For `DefaultAuthenticator` [...] should it also add the > > `PrincipalEntity` to `SecurityIdentity` attributes at that point [...] ? > > > > > > Yes it should, and that's indeed the annoying part. The current > > > authenticate method signature is: > > > > > > PolarisPrincipal authenticate(PolarisCredential credentials) throws > > > NotAuthorizedException, ServiceFailureException; > > > > > > This signature is too rigid and does not easily allow attaching a > > > PrincipalEntity. We'd need to change it to something like: > > > > > > SecurityIdentity authenticate(SecurityIdentity credentials) throws > > > AuthenticationFailedException; > > > > > > This would allow the authenticator impl to: > > > > > > - read all the credentials presented by the client (and not only > > > PolarisCredential) > > > - attach the PrincipalEntity to the SecurityIdentity, if it exists > > > - allow easy authentication of federated principals, as a future > > possibility > > > > > > > 3. For the OPA test suite [...] should I update those tests to > instead > > set the `PrincipalEntity` attribute on `SecurityIdentity` [...] ? > > > > > > Yes, that would be the right thing to do. > > > > > > > 4. Should I add a helper method somewhere [...] to encapsulate the > > attribute lookup [...] ? > > > > > > I like that idea, +1. > > > > > > My problem with [5032] is that I'm not sure it's going in the right > > > direction, given the above. There are two methods today in > > > PolarisPrincipal that I think should be removed: > > > > > > Map<String, String> getProperties(); > > > Optional<String> getToken(); > > > > > > As they could easily be replaced by injecting SecurityIdentity (also, > > > getToken is currently unused). > > > > > > What do you think of this plan? > > > > > > Thanks, > > > Alex > > > > > > [5032]: https://github.com/apache/polaris/pull/5032 > > > > > > On Fri, Jul 17, 2026 at 12:44 AM Prithvi S < > [email protected]> > > wrote: > > > > > > > > Hi JB, Dmitri, > > > > > > > > Got it, sure. Thanks for trying to reopen #4405. I updated it in > > > > https://github.com/apache/polaris/pull/5032. > > > > > > > > Regards, > > > > Prithvi > > > > > > > > On Thu, Jul 16, 2026 at 4:42 PM Jean-Baptiste Onofré < > [email protected]> > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > Yup, I suggest to re-open with a fresh PR. > > > > > > > > > > Regards > > > > > JB > > > > > > > > > > On Thu, Jul 16, 2026 at 5:10 AM Dmitri Bourlatchkov < > > [email protected]> > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > Hi Prithvi, > > > > > > > > > > > > Sorry, but GH refuses to reopen PR 4405 because its branch has > been > > > > > > force-pushed or something like that. > > > > > > > > > > > > In the interest of making progress, let's not worry about it. > > Please open > > > > > > fresh PRs for all changes that got stuck in erroneously closed > PRs > > and > > > > > > cross-reference them. > > > > > > > > > > > > Cheers, > > > > > > Dmitri. > > > > > > > > > > > > On Fri, Jul 10, 2026 at 7:25 PM Prithvi S < > > [email protected]> > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hi Dmitri, > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ah, okay, got it. I closed > > https://github.com/apache/polaris/pull/5032 > > > > > . > > > > > > > Can > > > > > > > you try to reopen https://github.com/apache/polaris/pull/4405 > > now? > > > > > Thanks! > > > > > > > Also this access privilege is confusing. This must be a project > > > > > setting? > > > > > > > Can we have access to reopen it if it closes due to stale > > activity? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Regards, > > > > > > > Prithvi S > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Sat, Jul 11, 2026 at 4:30 AM Dmitri Bourlatchkov < > > [email protected]> > > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hi Prithvi, > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I cannot reopen [4405] either as you apparently have another > PR > > > > > using the > > > > > > > > same branch, i.e. [5032] :) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Since [5032] is fresh, I suggest closing it and restoring the > > branch > > > > > to > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > > PolarisPrincipal commits. Then the PR should be possible to > > re-open, > > > > > I > > > > > > > > hope. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > [4405] https://github.com/apache/polaris/pull/4405 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > [5032] https://github.com/apache/polaris/pull/5032 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Cheers, > > > > > > > > Dmitri. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Fri, Jul 10, 2026 at 6:54 PM Prithvi S < > > > > > [email protected]> > > > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hi Dmitri, > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thanks for checking this. That makes sense, I will change > it > > to > > > > > make > > > > > > > > > the auth layer forward to PolarisPrincipal properties. > > > > > > > > > Can you help reopen the PR? I don't seem to have access to > > reopen. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thanks, > > > > > > > > > Prithvi S > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Fri, Jul 10, 2026 at 6:25 PM Dmitri Bourlatchkov < > > > > > [email protected]> > > > > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hi Prithvi, Alex, > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Re: SecurityIdentity, it is a Quarkus class and it is > > certainly > > > > > fine > > > > > > > to > > > > > > > > > use > > > > > > > > > > it in infrastructure code that deals with technical > > > > > authentication > > > > > > > > > aspects > > > > > > > > > > (e.g. in SecurityIdentityAugmentor). > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > However, I'd like to avoid depending on SecurityIdentity > in > > > > > proper > > > > > > > > > Polaris > > > > > > > > > > code like the OPA Authorizer. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I tend to think that the authentication layer should > > forward > > > > > whatever > > > > > > > > > user > > > > > > > > > > information is necessary to PolarisPrincipal as optional > > > > > attributes. > > > > > > > > OPA > > > > > > > > > > and other authorizers will then have the opportunity to > > consider > > > > > > > those > > > > > > > > > > attributes. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > This will decouple Polaris authorizers both from > > Quarkus-specific > > > > > > > code > > > > > > > > > and > > > > > > > > > > from PrincipalEntity. So the authorizers should be usable > > with > > > > > any > > > > > > > IdP > > > > > > > > > > (internal or external) and not be affected by Quarkus > > upgrades. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > WDYT? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thanks, > > > > > > > > > > Dmitri. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Tue, Jul 7, 2026 at 5:15 AM Prithvi S < > > > > > > > [email protected]> > > > > > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hi Alex, > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thank you, I understand now that the decoupling in PR > > #2307 was > > > > > > > > > > intentional > > > > > > > > > > > and that `PolarisPrincipal` should not assume a backing > > > > > > > > > `PrincipalEntity` > > > > > > > > > > > exists. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I'll **close PR #4405** and work on the > > `SecurityIdentity` > > > > > > > attribute > > > > > > > > > > > approach instead. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > My understanding of the approach: > > > > > > > > > > > 1. In `AuthenticatingAugmentor`, when a > > `PrincipalEntity` is > > > > > > > > available, > > > > > > > > > > add > > > > > > > > > > > it as an optional attribute to > `QuarkusSecurityIdentity` > > (e.g., > > > > > > > > under a > > > > > > > > > > key > > > > > > > > > > > like `"org.apache.polaris.principal_entity"`) > > > > > > > > > > > 2. Update `OpaPolarisAuthorizer` and > > > > > > > `RangerUtils.getUserAttributes` > > > > > > > > to > > > > > > > > > > > check for this attribute in the `SecurityIdentity` and > > extract > > > > > > > > > > user-defined > > > > > > > > > > > properties from the `PrincipalEntity` when present > > > > > > > > > > > 3. `PolarisPrincipal` remains unchanged, no property > > merging > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Also can you help with below: > > > > > > > > > > > 1. Is the attribute key naming convention above > > acceptable, or > > > > > is > > > > > > > > there > > > > > > > > > > an > > > > > > > > > > > existing pattern I should follow for `SecurityIdentity` > > > > > attribute > > > > > > > > keys > > > > > > > > > in > > > > > > > > > > > Polaris? > > > > > > > > > > > 2. For `DefaultAuthenticator` when it constructs > > > > > `PolarisPrincipal` > > > > > > > > > from > > > > > > > > > > > `PrincipalEntity`, should it also add the > > `PrincipalEntity` to > > > > > > > > > > > `SecurityIdentity` attributes at that point, or should > > this > > > > > only > > > > > > > > happen > > > > > > > > > > in > > > > > > > > > > > `AuthenticatingAugmentor`? > > > > > > > > > > > 3. For the OPA test suite that currently builds > > principals with > > > > > > > > > > > user-defined properties should I update those tests to > > instead > > > > > set > > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > > > > > `PrincipalEntity` attribute on `SecurityIdentity` and > > verify > > > > > that > > > > > > > > > > > `OpaPolarisAuthorizer` picks up the properties from > > there? > > > > > > > > > > > 4. Should I add a helper method somewhere (e.g., > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > `PolarisPrincipal.getPrincipalEntityFromIdentity(SecurityIdentity)`) > > > > > > > > to > > > > > > > > > > > encapsulate the attribute lookup, or is it better to > > keep the > > > > > > > lookup > > > > > > > > > > inline > > > > > > > > > > > in each consumer? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Let me know if I'm on the right track and I'll proceed > > with > > > > > the new > > > > > > > > PR. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thanks, > > > > > > > > > > > Prithvi > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Mon, Jun 15, 2026 at 8:52 PM Alexandre Dutra < > > > > > [email protected] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hi Prithvi, > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thanks for starting this thread! > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > My stance on this matter remains unchanged: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > - PolarisPrincipal and PrincipalEntity should be > > decoupled. > > > > > We > > > > > > > must > > > > > > > > > > > > avoid the assumption that a PrincipalEntity exists > for > > every > > > > > > > > > > > > principal, especially in cases involving federated or > > > > > detached > > > > > > > > > > > > principals. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > - In my view, the most effective method for > > propagating the > > > > > > > > > > > > PrincipalEntity is to treat it as an *optional* > > attribute > > > > > within > > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > > > > > > SecurityIdentity. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > how should we ensure user-defined properties are > > reliably > > > > > > > > forwarded > > > > > > > > > > > > across all authenticator implementations, not just > > > > > > > > > > > `DefaultAuthenticator`? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Such a guarantee is likely unattainable. Because > > > > > authenticators > > > > > > > are > > > > > > > > > > > > designed to be pluggable, custom implementations may > be > > > > > > > completely > > > > > > > > > > > > unaware of PrincipalEntity. Consequently, any logic > > that > > > > > requires > > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > > > > > > presence of a PrincipalEntity within the > > SecurityIdentity is > > > > > > > > > > > > fundamentally flawed and should be refactored to > > remove that > > > > > > > > > > > > requirement. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > What is your use case for retrieving the > > PrincipalEntity's > > > > > > > > attributes > > > > > > > > > > > > at runtime? Is it for auditing purposes or are you > > building > > > > > some > > > > > > > > > > > > business logic on top of it? If the former, it should > > be > > > > > fine to > > > > > > > > just > > > > > > > > > > > > log "null" if the entity is not present (and you can > > control > > > > > the > > > > > > > > > > > > authenticator in use to make sure it will be > present); > > if the > > > > > > > > latter, > > > > > > > > > > > > that would mean that your logic is now dependent on a > > > > > specific > > > > > > > > > > > > authenticator's ability to produce a PrincipalEntity, > > which > > > > > isn't > > > > > > > > > > > > great. In that case it may be safer to fetch the > > > > > PrincipalEntity > > > > > > > > from > > > > > > > > > > > > the metastore explicitly. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thanks, > > > > > > > > > > > > Alex > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Sun, Jun 14, 2026 at 8:56 PM Prithvi S < > > > > > > > > > [email protected] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hi all, > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I'm opening this thread as suggested by @dimas-b in > > the > > > > > review > > > > > > > of > > > > > > > > > PR > > > > > > > > > > > > #4405 ( > > > > > > > > > > > > > https://github.com/apache/polaris/pull/4405), > which > > > > > touches > > > > > > > > > > > > authentication > > > > > > > > > > > > > and authorization behavior. @flyrain also flagged a > > prior > > > > > > > > dev-list > > > > > > > > > > > thread > > > > > > > > > > > > > from April 2026 on the same topic, so I want to > make > > sure > > > > > that > > > > > > > > > > > discussion > > > > > > > > > > > > > is continued here. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Background > > > > > > > > > > > > > `PolarisPrincipal.of(PrincipalEntity, …)` currently > > > > > forwards > > > > > > > only > > > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > > > > > > > entity's *internal* properties (e.g. `client_id`) > and > > > > > silently > > > > > > > > > drops > > > > > > > > > > > any > > > > > > > > > > > > > *user-defined* properties set at principal creation > > time > > > > > (e.g. > > > > > > > > > > > > > `region=northamerica`, `department=finance`). > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > As a result, downstream consumers of > > > > > > > > > > `PolarisPrincipal.getProperties()` > > > > > > > > > > > > > never see user attributes, and ABAC policies > written > > > > > against > > > > > > > them > > > > > > > > > > never > > > > > > > > > > > > > match. This affects: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > - `DefaultAuthenticator` : constructs > > `PolarisPrincipal` > > > > > during > > > > > > > > > > > > > authentication > > > > > > > > > > > > > - `AuthenticatingAugmentor` : copies principal > > properties > > > > > into > > > > > > > > > > > > > `QuarkusSecurityIdentity` attributes > > > > > > > > > > > > > - External authorizers : `OpaPolarisAuthorizer` and > > > > > > > > > > > > > `RangerUtils.getUserAttributes` consume these as > user > > > > > > > attributes > > > > > > > > > for > > > > > > > > > > > > policy > > > > > > > > > > > > > evaluation > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The existing OPA test suite already builds > > principals with > > > > > > > > > > user-defined > > > > > > > > > > > > > properties (e.g. `department=finance`), > > demonstrating the > > > > > > > > intended > > > > > > > > > > > > > contract, which the production code path cannot > > currently > > > > > > > honor. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > What PR #4405 does > > > > > > > > > > > > > The fix adds a `mergeEntityProperties()` helper > that > > > > > combines > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > > > > > > > `PrincipalEntity`'s user-defined and internal > > properties, > > > > > and > > > > > > > > uses > > > > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > > > > > > > merged map when constructing `PolarisPrincipal` via > > the > > > > > > > > > > > > > `of(PrincipalEntity, …)` overload. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The design question raised: > > > > > > > > > > > > > @flyrain pointed out that in April 2026, @adutra > > raised a > > > > > > > concern > > > > > > > > > > that > > > > > > > > > > > > > `PolarisPrincipal` was *intentionally* decoupled > from > > > > > > > > > > `PrincipalEntity` > > > > > > > > > > > > > (see PR #2307), and suggested an alternative > > approach: > > > > > expose > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > > > > > > persisted > > > > > > > > > > > > > `PrincipalEntity` as a `SecurityIdentity` attribute > > rather > > > > > than > > > > > > > > > > > widening > > > > > > > > > > > > > `getProperties()`. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > PR #4405 takes the opposite direction by merging > > properties > > > > > > > > > directly > > > > > > > > > > > into > > > > > > > > > > > > > `PolarisPrincipal`. I want to understand whether > > this is > > > > > > > > acceptable > > > > > > > > > > or > > > > > > > > > > > > > whether the community prefers the > `SecurityIdentity` > > > > > attribute > > > > > > > > > > approach > > > > > > > > > > > > > instead. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > questions I have, > > > > > > > > > > > > > 1. Was the decoupling of `PolarisPrincipal` from > > > > > > > > `PrincipalEntity` > > > > > > > > > > (PR > > > > > > > > > > > > > #2307) intended to prevent exactly this kind of > > property > > > > > merge? > > > > > > > > If > > > > > > > > > > so, > > > > > > > > > > > > what > > > > > > > > > > > > > is the preferred mechanism for exposing > user-defined > > > > > principal > > > > > > > > > > > attributes > > > > > > > > > > > > > to downstream auth consumers? > > > > > > > > > > > > > 2. Is the `SecurityIdentity` attribute approach > > (exposing > > > > > > > > > > > > `PrincipalEntity` > > > > > > > > > > > > > directly) the right path, or are there other > > concerns with > > > > > > > that? > > > > > > > > > > > > > 3. Since authenticators are pluggable, how should > we > > ensure > > > > > > > > > > > user-defined > > > > > > > > > > > > > properties are reliably forwarded across all > > authenticator > > > > > > > > > > > > implementations, > > > > > > > > > > > > > not just `DefaultAuthenticator`? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Happy to revise the approach based on community > > feedback. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Regards, > > > > > > > > > > > > > Prithvi S > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
