Role-Based Access Control in Micronaut: Secure Your Endpoints the Right Way

In any application dealing with users, data privacy, or critical workflows, Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is essential. With Micronaut, implementing RBAC is clean and powerful thanks to its built-in security framework and support for annotations.

This guide will walk you through implementing Role-Based Access Control in Micronaut, including custom roles, securing endpoints, and integrating with JWT authentication. We’ll use the package com.kscodes.micronaut.security for all the code examples.

Role-Based Access Control in Micronaut

🔎 What is Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)?

RBAC is a security mechanism where access permissions are granted based on the role assigned to a user. For example:

  • ROLE_USER: Can access their own data.
  • ROLE_ADMIN: Can manage all users.
  • ROLE_MANAGER: Can manage specific segments.

In Micronaut, roles are usually carried within JWT tokens and validated automatically using annotations like @Secured.

🛠 Project Setup

1. Add Required Dependencies

In your build.gradle:

Or Maven:

⚙️ Configuration (application.yml)

👤 Creating a Custom Authentication Provider

File: com.kscodes.micronaut.security.RoleAuthProvider.java

🔑 Login Endpoint to Issue JWT

File: com.kscodes.micronaut.security.LoginController.java

🔒 Securing Endpoints by Role

File: com.kscodes.micronaut.security.DashboardController.java

🧪 Testing RBAC in Micronaut

  1. Login with Admin User

Access /dashboard/admin with token

2. Login with Regular User

3. Access /dashboard/user with user token

4. Try accessing /dashboard/admin with user token – should return 403 Forbidden

⚡ Advanced Tips

  • Store roles in the JWT claims for efficiency.
  • Use @Secured at method or class level for fine-grained control.
  • For dynamic access logic, implement SecurityRule.
  • Avoid hardcoding roles—use a database or external provider (e.g., OAuth2).

📚 External References

✅ Conclusion

Role-Based Access Control in Micronaut enables you to build robust, secure APIs with minimal boilerplate. Using the @Secured annotation and Micronaut’s JWT integration, you can enforce strict access rules based on user roles in a clean, declarative way.

With this guide, you’ve learned how to define roles, secure endpoints, generate JWTs, and apply real-world access control patterns using the com.kscodes.micronaut.security package.

Start small, scale securely—and let RBAC do the heavy lifting.