Ark

Ark is a monolithic backend application written in Rust that focuses heavily on Identity and Access Management (IAM). While it was originally intended to be closed-source for a side project, it has been released publicly.

This project is not production-ready. Some fundamental components are missing, and the frontend has not been implemented yet. Use this project as a foundation, not a drop-in solution.

• IAM-First Design — Ark is built around roles, permissions, and OAuth-based identity from the ground up.

• Explicit Authorization Model — Roles and permissions must exist before they can be linked. Nothing is implicitly created.

• Monolithic Architecture — All services live in a single application. No microservices, no network overhead.

• OAuth Integration — Supports OAuth providers (example: Discord) for authentication and user provisioning.

Installation

This section walks through setting up Ark locally for development and experimentation.

Prerequisites

Ensure the following dependencies are installed before continuing:

• Rust (stable)
• Cargo
• PostgreSQL
• Redis
• OAuth Provider (e.g. Discord)

From Source

git clone https://github.com/zeljkovranjes/ark.git
cd ark
cargo build
cargo run

Environment Variables

# PostgreSQL
PG_HOST=
PG_USER=
PG_PASSWORD=
PG_DBNAME=

# Redis
REDIS_HOST=
REDIS_USER=
REDIS_PASSWORD=
REDIS_DBNAME=

# OAuth (Discord example)
DISCORD_CLIENT_ID=
DISCORD_CLIENT_SECRET=
DISCORD_AUTH_URL=https://discord.com/oauth2/authorize
DISCORD_TOKEN_URL=https://discord.com/api/oauth2/token
DISCORD_REVOCATION_URL=https://discord.com/api/oauth2/token/revoke

# OAuth redirect
OAUTH2_REDIRECT_URL=http://localhost:3000/auth/callback

# Security
COOKIE_ENCRYPTION_KEY=CHANGE_THIS_TO_A_LONG_RANDOM_KEY

IAM Overview

Ark’s IAM system is intentionally strict. Roles and permissions are case-sensitive, and entities must exist before being referenced.

All IAM-related logic is commented in the source code.

Creating a User

let user = User::builder()
    .oauth_id("oauth_id")
    .oauth_provider("discord")
    .username("hello")
    .permission(vec!["special.permission".to_string()])
    .role(vec!["Admin".to_string()])
    .build();

UserManager::create_user(user).unwrap();

Creating a Role

let role = Role::builder()
    .role_name("Admin")
    .build();

RoleManager::create_role(role).unwrap();

Updating a Role

RoleManager::update_role(
    "dd2546c3-e34a-4fcb-9b12-1a96eb6873e3",
    "role_name",
    "Admin"
);

RoleManager::update_role(
    "Admin",
    "role_name",
    "Administrator"
);

Linking a Permission to a Role

RoleManager::link_permission_to_role("Admin", "ban.user").unwrap();

Creating a Permission

let permission = Permission::builder()
    .permission_name("Ban User")
    .permission_key("ban.user")
    .build();

PermissionManager::create_permission(permission).unwrap();

Updating a Permission

PermissionManager::update_permission(
    "dd2546c3-e34a-4fcb-9b12-1a96eb6873e3",
    "permission_name",
    "admin ban user."
);

PermissionManager::update_permission(
    "admin ban user.",
    "permission_key",
    "admin.ban.key"
);

Tests

There are currently no automated tests. This project is still under active development and should be treated as experimental.

Final Notes

Ark is meant to be extended, not deployed as-is. If you plan on using this as a base for a real application, expect to add:

• Migrations
• Tests
• Frontend
• Deployment tooling
• Security hardening