PBAC Refactoring Guide

Quick guide for refactoring Cal.com to use Permission-Based Access Control (PBAC) instead of role-based checks and membership queries.

Core Patterns

1. Team Filtering with PBAC (API/tRPC handlers)

Before (Membership-based):

const teamsToQuery = (
  await prisma.membership.findMany({
    where: {
      userId: ctx.user.id,
      accepted: true,
      NOT: [
        {
          role: MembershipRole.MEMBER,
          team: { isPrivate: true },
        },
      ],
    },
    select: { teamId: true },
  })
).map((membership) => membership.teamId);

After (PBAC-based):

import { PermissionCheckService } from "@calcom/features/pbac/services/permission-check.service";
import { MembershipRole } from "@calcom/prisma/enums";

const permissionCheckService = new PermissionCheckService();
const teamsToQuery = await permissionCheckService.getTeamIdsWithPermission({
  userId: ctx.user.id,
  permission: "team.listMembers",
  fallbackRoles: [MembershipRole.ADMIN, MembershipRole.OWNER],
});

2. UI Permission Checks (React components)

Before (Role-based):

// Client-side role check with role-based variable name
const isTeamAdminOrOwner = user?.isTeamAdminOrOwner ?? false;
const canSeeMembers = isTeamAdminOrOwner;

After (PBAC-based):

// Server-side permission check in page/layout
import { MembershipRole } from "@calcom/prisma/enums";

const permissionCheckService = new PermissionCheckService();
const teamIdsWithPermission = await permissionCheckService.getTeamIdsWithPermission({
  userId: session.user.id,
  permission: "team.listMembers",
  fallbackRoles: [MembershipRole.ADMIN, MembershipRole.OWNER],
});

const permissions = {
  canListMembers: teamIdsWithPermission.length > 0,
};

// Pass to component
<MyComponent permissions={permissions} />;

Key Points

1. Use Direct Permission Strings

• Use "team.listMembers" directly instead of PermissionMapper.toPermissionString()
• Simpler and more readable

2. No Fallback Logic Needed

• getTeamIdsWithPermission() handles errors internally
• Returns empty array [] when user has no permissions (this is legitimate)
• Don't assume empty array means PBAC failure

3. Server-Side Permission Checking

• Move permission checks from client to server - crucial for security
• Check permissions in page/layout components, not in UI components
• Pass permission results as props to maintain separation of concerns

4. Permissions Object Pattern

• Wrap permission booleans in a permissions object for extensibility
• Use descriptive names like canListMembers instead of raw permission strings
• Makes it easy to add more permissions later

5. Permission-Based Variable Naming

• Use permission-specific names like canListMembers instead of role-based names like isTeamAdminOrOwner
• Follow the pattern: can[Action][Resource] (e.g., canListMembers, canUpdateTeam, canInviteUsers)
• Makes code more readable and aligns with the actual permission being checked
• Easier to understand what specific action is being permitted

6. Team vs Personal Resources

Rule: Use teamId to determine if permission checks are needed:

• teamId present → Team resource → Check permissions
• teamId null/undefined → Personal resource → Check ownership only

Example: booking.read permission

• ✅ Has permission: Can read all team members' bookings
• ❌ No permission: Can still read own bookings, just not others'

if (resource.teamId) {
  // Team resource - check permissions
  const hasPermission = await permissionService.hasPermission(userId, "resource.read", resource.teamId);
  if (!hasPermission) throw new ForbiddenError();
} else {
  // Personal resource - check ownership only
  if (resource.userId !== currentUserId) throw new ForbiddenError();
}

7. Common Team Permissions

• "booking.read" - Read all team members' bookings (not just own)
• "team.listMembers" - List team members
• "team.read" - View team details
• "team.update" - Edit team settings
• "team.invite" - Invite members
• "team.remove" - Remove members

Step-by-Step Refactoring

For API/tRPC Handlers

1. Add imports:

import { PermissionCheckService } from "@calcom/features/pbac/services/permission-check.service";
import { MembershipRole } from "@calcom/prisma/enums";

2. Replace membership query:

const permissionCheckService = new PermissionCheckService();
const teamsToQuery = await permissionCheckService.getTeamIdsWithPermission({
  userId: ctx.user.id,
  permission: "team.listMembers",
  fallbackRoles: [MembershipRole.ADMIN, MembershipRole.OWNER],
});

3. Keep existing privacy checks - PBAC doesn't replace organization-level privacy logic

For UI Components

1. Move permission check to server (page/layout component):

import { PermissionCheckService } from "@calcom/features/pbac/services/permission-check.service";
import { MembershipRole } from "@calcom/prisma/enums";

// In your page component
const permissionCheckService = new PermissionCheckService();
const teamIdsWithPermission = await permissionCheckService.getTeamIdsWithPermission({
  userId: session.user.id,
  permission: "team.listMembers",
  fallbackRoles: [MembershipRole.ADMIN, MembershipRole.OWNER],
});

const permissions = {
  canListMembers: teamIdsWithPermission.length > 0, // Permission-specific name
};

2. Pass permissions as props:

<BookingsContent permissions={permissions} />

3. Update component interface:

interface BookingsProps {
  permissions: {
    canListMembers: boolean;
  };
}

4. Replace role checks in component:

// Replace: const isTeamAdminOrOwner = user?.isTeamAdminOrOwner ?? false
// With: const canListMembers = permissions.canListMembers

// Use permission-specific variable names throughout your component

Examples

API Handler: listSimpleMembers.handler.ts

What changed:

• Replaced 17 lines of membership query with 2 lines of PBAC
• Removed unnecessary imports and fallback logic
• Used direct permission string "team.listMembers"

Result: Cleaner, more maintainable code that respects fine-grained permissions.

UI Component: Bookings Page

What changed (from PR #24006):

• Moved permission check from client (user?.isTeamAdminOrOwner) to server
• Added permissions prop with canListMembers boolean
• Used teamIdsWithPermission.length > 0 pattern for UI control
• Added E2E test to verify member filter visibility

Before:

// In component - role-based variable name
const isTeamAdminOrOwner = user?.isTeamAdminOrOwner ?? false;
const canSeeMembers = isTeamAdminOrOwner;

After:

// In page component (server-side)
const permissions = {
  canListMembers: teamIdsWithPermission.length > 0,
};

// In UI component - permission-specific variable name
const canListMembers = permissions.canListMembers;
const canSeeMembers = canListMembers; // Use permission-specific name

Result: Secure server-side permission checking with clean UI separation.

Verification

For All Refactoring

• Run yarn type-check:ci --force
• Ensure existing privacy checks remain intact
• Test with users who have different permission levels

For UI Refactoring

• Add E2E tests to verify UI element visibility based on permissions
• Test with different user roles (ADMIN, OWNER, MEMBER)
• Verify that permission checks happen server-side, not client-side
• Confirm that UI elements are properly hidden/shown based on permissions props

Common Pitfalls

• Don't check permissions client-side - always do it server-side for security
• Don't assume empty array means failure - it's valid when user has no permissions
• Remember to update TypeScript interfaces when adding new permission props
• Don't use role-based variable names - use permission-specific names instead

Variable Naming Best Practices

✅ Good: Permission-Specific Names

const canListMembers = permissions.canListMembers;
const canUpdateTeam = permissions.canUpdateTeam;
const canInviteUsers = permissions.canInviteUsers;
const canDeleteBookings = permissions.canDeleteBookings;

❌ Bad: Role-Based Names

const isTeamAdminOrOwner = user?.isTeamAdminOrOwner;
const isAdmin = user?.role === "ADMIN";
const hasPermission = user?.isTeamAdminOrOwner;

Naming Convention

• Use the pattern: can[Action][Resource]
• Examples: canListMembers, canUpdateTeam, canInviteUsers
• Makes code self-documenting and easier to understand
• Aligns variable names with the actual permissions being checked