Glean Enterprise RBAC

Overview

Glean's enterprise search aggregates content from dozens of connectors (Google Drive, Confluence, Slack, Salesforce). RBAC ensures users only see documents they are authorized to access. Permissions flow from source systems through connector-level ACLs into Glean's unified index. Misconfigured permissions mean search results leak sensitive data across teams. SOC 2 and GDPR compliance require document-level access control and full audit trails on who searched what.

Role Hierarchy

Permission Check

async function checkDocumentAccess(userId: string, documentId: string): Promise<boolean> {
  const response = await fetch(`${GLEAN_API}/permissions/check`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${GLEAN_API_TOKEN}`, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({ userId, documentId }),
  });
  const result = await response.json();
  return result.hasAccess ?? false;
}

Role Assignment

async function assignDatasourceRole(email: string, datasource: string, role: 'admin' | 'viewer'): Promise<void> {
  await fetch(`${GLEAN_API}/datasources/${datasource}/permissions`, {
    method: 'PUT',
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${GLEAN_API_TOKEN}`, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({ user: email, role, allowedGroups: [`${datasource}-${role}s`] }),
  });
}

async function revokeDatasourceAccess(email: string, datasource: string): Promise<void> {
  await fetch(`${GLEAN_API}/datasources/${datasource}/permissions/${email}`, {
    method: 'DELETE',
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${GLEAN_API_TOKEN}` },
  });
}

Audit Logging

interface GleanAuditEntry {
  timestamp: string; userId: string; action: 'search' | 'view' | 'index' | 'permission_change';
  datasource: string; query?: string; documentId?: string; result: 'allowed' | 'denied';
}

function logSearchAccess(entry: GleanAuditEntry): void {
  console.log(JSON.stringify({ ...entry, org: process.env.GLEAN_ORG_ID }));
}

RBAC Checklist

• [ ] Each connector maps source-system ACLs to Glean allowedGroups
• [ ] API tokens scoped per datasource, not organization-wide
• [ ] SAML/SSO groups synced with Glean user groups daily
• [ ] Document-level permissions verified after each connector sync
• [ ] Search analytics reviewed monthly for unauthorized access patterns
• [ ] Token rotation policy enforced quarterly
• [ ] Sensitive datasources restricted to named allowedGroups only

Error Handling

Resources

• Glean Developer Portal
• Indexing API
• Search API

Next Steps

See glean-security-basics.