Migrate from SpiceDB

This guide helps you migrate from SpiceDB (AuthZed) to WorkOS FGA. SpiceDB implements Google’s Zanzibar paper with a .zed schema DSL, explicit relationship storage, and permission computation. WorkOS FGA takes a different approach: hierarchical role-based access control with automatic permission inheritance.

SpiceDB requires writing schema in .zed files and explicitly storing relationships. WorkOS FGA simplifies this:

1. Permissions flow down automatically – A role at a parent level grants access to all children without additional relationships
2. Roles are scoped to resource types – Each resource type has its own set of roles
3. Single parent per resource instance – Each resource instance has exactly one parent, creating predictable traversal paths
4. No schema DSL – Configure resource types, roles, and permissions in the Dashboard
5. Native WorkOS integration – Works seamlessly with AuthKit, SSO, Directory Sync, and IdP role assignment

Unlike standalone authorization systems, WorkOS FGA integrates natively with the WorkOS identity platform (although it can be used standalone):

• AuthKit Integration – Organization-level roles and permissions are embedded in access tokens for instant JWT-based checks
• IdP Role Assignment – Map identity provider groups (Okta, Azure AD, Google Workspace) directly to organization-level roles
• Directory Sync – Automatically provision and deprovision users with appropriate role assignments when group memberships change
• SSO – Enterprise SSO users get role assignments based on IdP group membership during authentication

Key operators in SpiceDB:

• + (union) – subject has either relation
• & (intersection) – subject must have both relations
• - (exclusion) – subject has left but not right
• -> (arrow) – traverse to parent’s permission

Extract definition blocks from your SpiceDB schema. These become resource types in WorkOS FGA.

Create resource types for:

• Business containers: organizations, workspaces, projects, environments
• Shareable entities: apps, pipelines, repositories, dashboards

Exclude:

• definition user {} – Use Organization Memberships as subjects

# SpiceDB
definition user {}
definition workspace {}
definition project {}

# WorkOS FGA Resource Types
organization (built-in)
└── workspace
    └── project

Navigate to Authorization > Resource Types in the Dashboard to create your hierarchy.

Map SpiceDB parent relations to WorkOS FGA parent-child resource type relationships.

Create a workspace resource type with organization as its parent. Create a project resource type with workspace as its parent. The parent relationship is defined at the resource type level.

When you register individual project resources instances via the API, you specify the parent workspace. Permissions flow down this hierarchy without explicit operations.

SpiceDB relations that grant access become roles in WorkOS FGA. SpiceDB permissions guide which permissions to include in each role.

Create roles on the project resource type:

The + unions in SpiceDB become permissions bundled into roles.

SpiceDB arrows (->) traverse to a parent’s permission. WorkOS FGA handles this through native hierarchical inheritance.

Create a workspace resource type with a role that includes child-type permissions:

When you assign workspace:viewer to a user, they automatically get project:view on all projects within that workspace. The arrow traversal is replaced by native inheritance.

SpiceDB caveats allow conditional access based on runtime context. Implement these checks in your application instead. This keeps the check interface simple and puts conditional logic next to the data it depends on.

// Check IP allowlist before FGA call
const clientIp = req.headers['x-forwarded-for'];
const allowedCidrs = await getAllowedCidrs(resourceId);

if (!isIpInCidrs(clientIp, allowedCidrs)) {
  return { authorized: false };
}

// Then check FGA permissions
const { authorized } = await workos.authorization.check({
  organizationMembershipId,
  permissionSlug: 'project:view',
  resourceExternalId: resourceId,
  resourceTypeSlug: 'project',
});

Not everything belongs in FGA. We recommend using FGA for lower-cardinality resources (organizations, workspaces, projects) and handling high-cardinality entities (files, messages, comments) in your application.

Syncing millions of entities into FGA creates reconciliation overhead, race conditions, and consistency challenges. Instead, check access at the parent container level and filter entities in your application. This pattern also replaces SpiceDB’s caveats for many use cases – instead of conditional relationships stored in SpiceDB, you handle the conditions in your app before the FGA check.

For detailed guidance on this pattern, see High-Cardinality Entities.

1. Analyze .zed schema – Identify definitions, relations, and permissions
2. Define resource types in the WorkOS Dashboard matching your definitions
3. Define permissions for each type (e.g., view, edit, manage)
4. Create roles that bundle permissions, including child-type permissions for inheritance
5. Register resources via API when entities are created
6. Migrate relationships to role assignments
7. Replace SpiceDB checks with WorkOS FGA check API calls

SpiceDB CheckPermission (JavaScript):

const { authorized } = await client.checkPermission(
  v1.CheckPermissionRequest.create({
    resource: v1.ObjectReference.create({
      objectType: 'project',
      objectId: 'proj_123',
    }),
    permission: 'view',
    subject: v1.SubjectReference.create({
      object: v1.ObjectReference.create({
        objectType: 'user',
        objectId: 'user_456',
      }),
    }),
  }),
);

WorkOS FGA Check (JavaScript):

const { authorized } = await workos.authorization.check({
  organizationMembershipId: 'om_01HXYZ', // available in a session token or via the API
  permissionSlug: 'project:view',
  resourceTypeSlug: 'project',
  resourceExternalId: 'proj_123',
});

Resource type hierarchy:

organization (built-in)
└── workspace
    └── project

Roles for organization:

Roles for workspace:

Roles for project:

Key insights:

• org->access arrow – Replaced by org member role including workspace/project view
• workspace->edit arrow – Replaced by workspace editor role including project edit
• No explicit traversals needed – Inheritance happens automatically

• Resource Types – Design your hierarchy
• Roles and Permissions – Configure inheritance patterns
• AuthKit Integration – Embed permissions in access tokens
• IdP Role Assignment – Map IdP groups to roles
• Assignments – Migrate your relationships to role assignments
• Access Checks – Replace SpiceDB check calls