Polar tests

In your policy (i.e. the collection of rules for your environment), Polar has a built-in test feature that lets you run unit tests of literal-value queries using a set of facts only visible for the lifetime of the test.

Feature	Description
`test`	Introduces a test block, which lets you run a set of unit tests
`setup`	Declares facts to make accessible for the lifetime of your test
`assert`	Succeeds if the expression evaluates to `true`
`assert_not`	Succeeds if the expression evaluates to `false`
`allow`	By default, Polar includes an alias to `has_permission`, which is a common shorthand rule

Here's an annotated pseudo-example demonstrating the syntax:


test "test name" {
	setup {
		# semicolon-separated list of facts
		...
	}
  # semicolon-separated list of tests of form:
  # (assert|assert_not) "rule predicate"("comma-separated list of object literals")
  ...
}

Simple example

Here's a simple example policy including tests, relying only on primitive types.


# Rule: A parent and their children are considered family.
family(a: String, b: String)
  if parent(a, b) or parent(b, a);
# Create a test so we can introduce temporary facts and make assertions
test "Polar ref family test" {
	# Set up our temporary facts that exist only for our test's lifetime
	setup {
		#  Fact: Bernie has two parents, Pat and Morgan
		parent("Bernie", "Pat");
		parent("Bernie", "Morgan");
	}
	# Validate that our policy produces the expected results with our temporary facts
	assert	family("Bernie", "Pat");
	assert	family("Morgan", "Bernie");
	
	# Our rule does not state that the parents of a child are family
	assert_not family("Pat", "Morgan");
	# Rules without matching parameters are false
	assert_not family(true, "Morgan");
}

Complex example

Here is a more complex example that leverages Polar's abstract types and more closely mirrors how we expect you to use Oso.


# Actors are the who. Most of the time, this is a User
# https://www.osohq.com/docs/guides/model-your-apps-authz#actors-and-resources
actor User {}
# This is a resource block that is used for grouping authorization 
# logic pertaining to a particular type of resource.
# A resource represents an application component that we wish to protect.
# https://www.osohq.com/docs/reference/glossary#resource-blocks
resource Organization {
  roles = ["viewer", "owner"];
  permissions = ["view", "edit"];
  # These are permissions for the Organization resource
  "view" if "viewer";
  "edit" if "owner";
  # Organization owners inherit all permissions that Organization viewers have
  "viewer" if "owner";
}
# This is an example of a different resource block 
resource Repository {
  roles = ["viewer", "owner", "contributor"];
  permissions = ["view", "edit", "create"];
  # This is an example of how we can define the relationship
  # between resources. Relations are set within the resource block.
  # This relation is named parent and it says that Repository resource
  # is related to Organization.
  # https://www.osohq.com/docs/reference/more/resource-blocks#relation-declarations
  relations = { parent: Organization };
  "view" if "viewer";
  "edit" if "contributor";
  "create" if "owner";
  # contributors are also viewers
  # owners are also contributors
  "viewer" if "contributor";
  "contributor" if "owner";
  # roles are inherited from the parent organization
  "viewer" if "viewer" on "parent";
  "owner" if "owner" on "parent";
}
# These are examples of how to test the Policy logic.
# https://www.osohq.com/docs/guides/policy-tests
test "Organization roles and permissions" {
  # Authorization decisions require data. This is where you can
  # define the test data. The test data is defined in a format
  # that Oso Cloud refers to as Facts.
  # https://www.osohq.com/docs/concepts/oso-cloud-data-model#facts
  setup {
    has_role(User{"alice"}, "viewer", Organization{"example"});
    has_role(User{"bob"}, "owner", Organization{"example"});
  }
  # This is how we assert that a user is authorized 
  # to perform a particular action or not
  assert     allow(User{"alice"}, "view", Organization{"example"});
  assert     allow(User{"bob"}, "view", Organization{"example"});
  assert_not allow(User{"alice"}, "edit", Organization{"example"});
  assert     allow(User{"bob"}, "edit", Organization{"example"});
}
test "Repository roles and permissions" {
  setup {
    has_role(User{"alice"}, "viewer", Repository{"example"});
    has_role(User{"bob"}, "owner", Repository{"example"});
    has_role(User{"charlie"}, "contributor", Repository{"example"});
  }
  assert     allow(User{"alice"}, "view", Repository{"example"});
  assert     allow(User{"bob"}, "view", Repository{"example"});
  assert     allow(User{"charlie"}, "view", Repository{"example"});
  assert_not allow(User{"alice"}, "edit", Repository{"example"});
  assert     allow(User{"bob"}, "edit", Repository{"example"});
  assert     allow(User{"charlie"}, "edit", Repository{"example"});
  assert_not allow(User{"alice"}, "create", Repository{"example"});
  assert     allow(User{"bob"}, "create", Repository{"example"});
  assert_not allow(User{"charlie"}, "create", Repository{"example"});
}
test "Repository parent relation" {
  setup {
    has_relation(Repository{"example"}, "parent", Organization{"parentOrganization"});
    has_role(User{"alice"}, "viewer", Organization{"parentOrganization"});
    has_role(User{"bob"}, "owner", Organization{"parentOrganization"});
  }
  assert     allow(User{"alice"}, "view", Repository{"example"});
  assert     allow(User{"bob"}, "view", Repository{"example"});
  assert_not allow(User{"charlie"}, "view", Repository{"example"});
  assert_not allow(User{"dave"}, "view", Repository{"example"});
  assert_not allow(User{"alice"}, "edit", Repository{"example"});
  assert     allow(User{"bob"}, "edit", Repository{"example"});
  assert_not allow(User{"charlie"}, "edit", Repository{"example"});
  assert_not allow(User{"dave"}, "edit", Repository{"example"});
  assert_not allow(User{"alice"}, "create", Repository{"example"});
  assert     allow(User{"bob"}, "create", Repository{"example"});
}

Up next

Patterns to understand common ways to model your applications.

Talk to an Oso Engineer

If you want to learn more about Polar, schedule a 1x1 with an Oso engineer. We're happy to help.

Get started with Oso Cloud →

Extends