Feature Guide
How to build
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
User roles, permissions, organization hierarchies, and resource-level access control for multi-tenant SaaS.
intermediate
1–3 weeks (manual)
2–5 days (with AI)
Best tools to use
[01]
better-auth organizations plugin
Built-in org/team/role management with invitation flows.
[02]
CASL
Isomorphic authorization library for JavaScript. Define abilities per role.
[03]
Permit.io
Authorization as a service. Policy engine with UI for managing permissions.
[04]
Custom middleware
Simple role checks in API middleware. Works for basic needs.
[05]
PostgreSQL RLS
Row-level security at the database level. Supabase uses this approach.
Key considerations
- ✓Start simple: admin, member, viewer. Add granular permissions later
- ✓Check permissions on the server, never trust client-side role checks
- ✓Plan for organization-level roles (org admin vs member) if building B2B
- ✓Implement invitation flows with role assignment
- ✓Audit log who changed what — important for compliance
Common mistakes
- ✗Only checking roles on the frontend (easily bypassed)
- ✗Over-engineering permissions before you have users
- ✗Not separating authentication from authorization
- ✗Hardcoding role checks instead of using a permission system
- ✗Forgetting to revoke access when roles change
Products that nailed this
WorkOS
Clerk Organizations
Auth0
Related features
Skip the research.
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