Accord

Accord is a policy-first identity and access platform for Node.js.

It treats access not as scattered application logic, but as a formal agreement between identities, systems, and resources - evaluated through declarative, versioned policies.

New in v1.3: Policy Simulation, Version Control, Rollback, Impact Analysis, and Visual Graph APIs.

Table of Contents

• Why Accord
• Key Features
• Installation
• Quick Start (Server Mode)
• Usage (Library Mode)
• v1.3 New Features
• Framework Integration
• CLI Tool
• Documentation
• License

🚀 Why Accord?

v1.1 was a library. v1.2 was a platform. v1.3 is a control plane.

Modern authorization is fragmented:

• Authentication in one service
• Roles in another
• Access logic scattered across microservices

Accord centralizes authorization into a single governance layer, acting as the System of Record for access control across your platform.

"ACCORD v1.3 transforms authorization from static rules into a visible, testable, and version-controlled system."

Key Features

• 🚀 Platform Mode – Standalone HTTP server for centralized decision making.
• 🗄️ Database-First – Pluggable storage adapters (Postgres, File) with JSONB optimization.
• 🤝 JIT Provisioning – Automatic identity creation on first login.
• 📊 Explainability – Full decision traces (latency, matched policies) for debugging.
• 🔍 Observability – Built-in audit logging (console, file, & webhooks).
• 📝 Policy as Code – JSON and YAML configuration support.
• 🛡️ Reliability – Zod-based schema validation.
• 🧩 Framework Adapters – Express, NestJS, and Fastify integrations.
• 🧪 Simulation Engine – Dry-run policies without touching production.

📦 Installation

npm install @navirondynamics/accord

🛠️ Quick Start (Server Mode)

The fastest way to experience v1.3 is running Accord as a standalone service.

1. Configure Environment

Create a .env file:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/accord
PORT=8080
JIT_ENABLED=true
WEBHOOK_URL=https://hooks.your-siem.com/webhook

2. Run the Server

npx @navirondynamics/accord serve --adapter postgres

3. Create a Policy

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/v1/policies \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "id": "policy-view-all",
    "version": "1.0",
    "effect": "allow",
    "subject": { "type": "user" },
    "action": ["view"],
    "resource": { "type": "document" }
  }'

4. Check Access

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/v1/check \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "userId": "alice",
    "action": "view",
    "resource": { "type": "document" }
  }'

Result: Alice is automatically created (JIT) and allowed.

🧩 Usage (Library Mode)

You can also embed Accord directly into your Node.js applications.

const { Accord, PostgresStoreAdapter } = require('@navirondynamics/accord');

// 1. Initialize Storage
const adapter = new PostgresStoreAdapter({
  connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
});

// 2. Initialize Accord (Use static create for async safety)
const accord = await Accord.create({
  adapter,
  jit: { enabled: true, defaultStatus: 'active' },
});

// 3. Check Access
const decision = await accord.check('alice', 'view', { type: 'document' });

if (decision.decision === 'allow') {
  console.log(`Allowed by ${decision.policy_id}`);
  console.log(`Latency: ${decision.trace.latencyMs}ms`);
}

🌟 v1.3 New Features

Policy Simulation (Dry Run)

Test policies without touching production data.

const mockIdentity = {
  id: 'test',
  type: 'user',
  status: 'active',
  attributes: { role: 'admin' },
};
const result = await accord.simulate(mockIdentity, 'delete', {
  type: 'booking',
});

Policy Rollback

Revert a broken policy instantly via CLI.

accord policy rollback billing-access --to 1.2

Visual Graph API

Fetch the permission graph for visualization.

curl http://localhost:8080/api/v1/policies/graph

🛡️ Framework Integration

NestJS

import { AccordGuard } from '@navirondynamics/accord/adapters/nest';

@Controller('bookings')
export class BookingController {
  @UseGuards(
    new AccordGuard({
      accordInstance: accord, // Use your Accord instance
      action: 'delete',
      resourceType: 'booking',
    })
  )
  @Delete(':id')
  deleteBooking(@Param('id') id: string) {
    // Only authorized users reach here
  }
}

Express

const { protect } = require('@navirondynamics/accord/adapters/express');

app.delete(
  '/bookings/:id',
  protect({
    accordInstance: accord,
    action: 'delete',
    resourceType: 'booking',
  }),
  (req, res) => {
    res.send('Deleted');
  }
);

🔧 CLI Tool

Validate policies, manage versions, or run the server directly from your terminal.

# Run the Platform Server
npx @navirondynamics/accord serve --adapter postgres --port 8080

# Validate a local policy file
npx @navirondynamics/accord validate ./config/policies.yaml

# Dry-run a check (File mode)
npx @navirondynamics/accord eval -i user_123 -a delete -r booking

# v1.3: Rollback a policy
npx @navirondynamics/accord policy rollback <policy-id> --to <version>

📚 Documentation

• Getting Started – Installation and core concepts
• Platform vs Library – Choosing the right deployment mode
• Observability – Interpreting Decision Traces
• JIT Provisioning – Configuring identity mapping
• Adapters – Setting up Postgres or File storage
• API Reference – Management API documentation

📜 License

ISC