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Reva’s Policy Designer provides a structured, guided interface for authoring, modifying, and validating authorization policies. Both business users and developers can collaboratively create fine-grained access control models using a combination of visual builders, conditional logic, and direct policy coding — all governed by versioned policy stores with built-in approval workflows.

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Authorization Policy Model Overview

Every Reva authorization policy answers four fundamental questions:
ComponentDescriptionExample
PrincipalWho is requesting access?User, Role, Group (e.g., Nurse, Admin)
ActionWhat operation is being performed?view, edit, delete
ResourceWhat object is being accessed?PatientRecord, Invoice
Condition (Optional)What constraints apply?Time-based, department-based, sensitivity-based filters
Policies enforce an Effect (Allow/Deny) and can include optional metadata such as descriptions and audit information.

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Policy Designer Interface

  1. Visual Mode (Business User Friendly)
    • Interactive UI for defining principals, actions, resources, and conditions.
    • The Condition Builder allows complex logic construction using attribute selectors and operators — all without writing code.
  2. Developer Mode (Cedar Code Support)
    • Advanced users can author policies directly using Cedar language for maximum control.
    • The editor offers full syntax support and flexibility to define sophisticated authorization logic.

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Key Requirement: Schema First Approach

Before authoring any policies, the Authorization Schema must be defined and activated. The schema provides the foundational structure by defining the entities, attributes, and relationships your policies will reference.
  1. Schema Components
Schema ElementDescriptionExamples
PrincipalsWho requests access?User, Role, Doctor, BillingService
ActionsWhat actions are allowed?ViewRecords, ApprovePayments
ResourcesWhat data or system is accessed?PatientFile, Invoice
AttributesFine-grained qualifierssecurity_level: high, department: finance
HierarchiesEntity relationshipsHospital → Ward → PatientBed
Important: Activate the schema before proceeding with policy creation to ensure policy designer recognizes available entities.

2. Test Data Preparation
After schema activation, users can generate a Data Template from the console to populate test datasets that will be used for validating policies.
  • The template includes pre-defined folder structures and CSV files for each entity type.
  • Populate test data for Principals, Resources, and Attributes.
  • This data drives simulations and Access Map visualizations during policy testing.

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How to Access PetStore Policy Store

  1. Navigate to Policy Store (e.g., PetStore).
  2. Click on the Policies tab.

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Step-by-Step Flow: Policy Store Owner Create, Modify or Delete Policies

  1. Open Policy Designer
  2. Create New Policy You have three ways to begin:
    • Create with Reva AI — Use AI to generate policies from natural language prompts.
    • Select from Library — Import pre-built templates from the Library.
    • Manual Creation — Start with Permit Policy or Deny Policy.
      Click on Add permit policy or Add deny policy to start manual creation.
  3. Define Policy Rules
    The Policy Designer uses a graph-based canvas to visually define:
    ComponentDescriptionExample
    PrincipalSelect users, roles, or groupsUser John
    ActionDefine permitted actionsListOrders, GetStoreInventory
    ResourceDefine target application/resourcePetStore
    ConditionOptional logic expressionswhen {true}
    • Use ”+” connectors to add components.
    • Multiple policies can be created in one canvas.
Example: Allow user John to list orders and get store inventory from PetStore application.
  1. ** Test and Simulate Policy**
    • Use Test button to simulate policy impact.
    • The Access Map visualizes:
      • John → ListOrders → PetStore.
      • John → GetStoreInventory → PetStore.
    • This helps validate whether access is granted as expected.
  2. Review Summary & Impact
    • Before publishing, review modified policies in the Summary of Policies view.
    • Use the Impact button to preview real-time access relationships.
    • Verify that all intended permissions are correctly reflected.
  3. Publish Policy
    • Once satisfied, click Publish to activate.
    • If approval is required (non-owner contributors), the draft will move to Pending Actions for review.

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Key Features Summary

FeaturePurpose
Visual Policy DesignerDrag-and-drop interface for rule construction
AI & Library AssistanceAccelerate policy creation
Schema DependencyPolicies only reference schema-defined entities
Access MapVisual simulation of policy effects
Approval WorkflowControlled publishing for contributors
Version ControlFull history tracking of policy versions
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