HTTP interface for user management
The HTTP API for user management lets you create, modify, delete, and list ArangoDB user accounts, as well as grant and revoke permissions for databases and collections
The interface provides the means to manage database system users. All
users managed through this interface are stored in the protected _users
system collection.
You should never manipulate the _users
collection directly. The specialized
endpoints intentionally have limited functionality compared to the regular
Document API.
User management operations are not included in ArangoDB’s replication.
Manage users
Create User
Create a new user.
POST /_api/user
Request Body
-
user (string, required): The name of the user as a string. This is mandatory.
-
passwd (string, required): The user password as a string. If not specified, it will default to an empty string.
-
active (boolean, optional): An optional flag that specifies whether the user is active. If not specified, this will default to true.
-
extra (object, optional): A JSON object with extra user information. It is used by the web interface to store graph viewer settings and saved queries. Should not be set or modified by end users, as custom attributes will not be preserved.
Create a new user. You need server access level Administrate in order to execute this REST call.
Responses
HTTP 201: Returned if the user can be added by the server
HTTP 400: If the JSON representation is malformed or mandatory data is missing from the request.
HTTP 401: Returned if you have No access database access level to the _system database.
HTTP 403: Returned if you have No access server access level.
HTTP 409: Returned if a user with the same name already exists.
Examples
shell> curl -X POST --header 'accept: application/json' --data-binary @- --dump - http://localhost:8529/_api/user <<EOF
{
"user" : "admin@example",
"passwd" : "secure"
}
EOF
HTTP/1.1 201 Created
content-type: application/json
cache-control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate, pre-check=0, post-check=0, max-age=0, s-maxage=0
connection: Keep-Alive
content-length: 74
content-security-policy: frame-ancestors 'self'; form-action 'self';
expires: 0
pragma: no-cache
server: ArangoDB
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 ; includeSubDomains
x-arango-queue-time-seconds: 0.000000
x-content-type-options: nosniff
Replace User
Replace an existing user.
PUT /_api/user/{user}
Path Parameters
- user (string, required): The name of the user.
Request Body
-
passwd (string, required): The user password as a string. If not specified, it will default to an empty string.
-
active (boolean, optional): An optional flag that specifies whether the user is active. If not specified, this will default to true.
-
extra (object, optional): A JSON object with extra user information. It is used by the web interface to store graph viewer settings and saved queries. Should not be set or modified by end users, as custom attributes will not be preserved.
Replaces the data of an existing user. You need server access level Administrate in order to execute this REST call. Additionally, users can change their own data.
Responses
HTTP 200: Is returned if the user data can be replaced by the server.
HTTP 400: The JSON representation is malformed or mandatory data is missing from the request
HTTP 401: Returned if you have No access database access level to the _system database.
HTTP 403: Returned if you have No access server access level.
HTTP 404: The specified user does not exist
Examples
shell> curl -X PUT --header 'accept: application/json' --data-binary @- --dump - http://localhost:8529/_api/user/admin@myapp <<EOF
{
"passwd" : "secure"
}
EOF
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
content-type: application/json
cache-control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate, pre-check=0, post-check=0, max-age=0, s-maxage=0
connection: Keep-Alive
content-length: 72
content-security-policy: frame-ancestors 'self'; form-action 'self';
expires: 0
pragma: no-cache
server: ArangoDB
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 ; includeSubDomains
x-arango-queue-time-seconds: 0.000000
x-content-type-options: nosniff
Modify User
Modify attributes of an existing user
PATCH /_api/user/{user}
Path Parameters
- user (string, required): The name of the user.
Request Body
-
passwd (string, required): The user password as a string.
-
active (boolean, optional): An optional flag that specifies whether the user is active.
-
extra (object, optional): A JSON object with extra user information. It is used by the web interface to store graph viewer settings and saved queries. Should not be set or modified by end users, as custom attributes will not be preserved.
Partially updates the data of an existing user. You need server access level Administrate in order to execute this REST call. Additionally, users can change their own data.
Responses
HTTP 200: Is returned if the user data can be replaced by the server.
HTTP 400: The JSON representation is malformed or mandatory data is missing from the request.
HTTP 401: Returned if you have No access database access level to the _system database.
HTTP 403: Returned if you have No access server access level.
HTTP 404: The specified user does not exist
Examples
shell> curl -X PATCH --header 'accept: application/json' --data-binary @- --dump - http://localhost:8529/_api/user/admin@myapp <<EOF
{
"passwd" : "secure"
}
EOF
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
content-type: application/json
cache-control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate, pre-check=0, post-check=0, max-age=0, s-maxage=0
connection: Keep-Alive
content-length: 72
content-security-policy: frame-ancestors 'self'; form-action 'self';
expires: 0
pragma: no-cache
server: ArangoDB
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 ; includeSubDomains
x-arango-queue-time-seconds: 0.000000
x-content-type-options: nosniff
Remove User
delete a user permanently.
DELETE /_api/user/{user}
Path Parameters
- user (string, required): The name of the user
Removes an existing user, identified by user. You need Administrate for the server access level in order to execute this REST call.
Responses
HTTP 202: Is returned if the user was removed by the server
HTTP 401: Returned if you have No access database access level to the _system database.
HTTP 403: Returned if you have No access server access level.
HTTP 404: The specified user does not exist
Examples
shell> curl -X DELETE --header 'accept: application/json' --data-binary @- --dump - http://localhost:8529/_api/user/userToDelete@myapp <<EOF
{
}
EOF
HTTP/1.1 202 Accepted
content-type: application/json
cache-control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate, pre-check=0, post-check=0, max-age=0, s-maxage=0
connection: Keep-Alive
content-length: 26
content-security-policy: frame-ancestors 'self'; form-action 'self';
expires: 0
pragma: no-cache
server: ArangoDB
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 ; includeSubDomains
x-arango-queue-time-seconds: 0.000000
x-content-type-options: nosniff
Fetch User
fetch the properties of a user.
GET /_api/user/{user}
Path Parameters
- user (string, required): The name of the user
Fetches data about the specified user. You can fetch information about yourself or you need the Administrate server access level in order to execute this REST call.
Responses
HTTP 200: The user was found.
HTTP 401: Returned if you have No access database access level to the _system database.
HTTP 403: Returned if you have No access server access level.
HTTP 404: The user with the specified name does not exist.
Examples
shell> curl --header 'accept: application/json' --dump - http://localhost:8529/_api/user/admin@myapp
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
content-type: application/json
cache-control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate, pre-check=0, post-check=0, max-age=0, s-maxage=0
connection: Keep-Alive
content-length: 72
content-security-policy: frame-ancestors 'self'; form-action 'self';
expires: 0
pragma: no-cache
server: ArangoDB
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 ; includeSubDomains
x-arango-queue-time-seconds: 0.000000
x-content-type-options: nosniff
List available Users
fetch the properties of a user.
GET /_api/user/
Fetches data about all users. You need the Administrate server access level in order to execute this REST call. Otherwise, you will only get information about yourself.
The call will return a JSON object with at least the following attributes on success:
- user: The name of the user as a string.
- active: An optional flag that specifies whether the user is active.
- extra: A JSON object with extra user information. It is used by the web interface to store graph viewer settings and saved queries.
Responses
HTTP 200: The users that were found.
HTTP 401: Returned if you have No access database access level to the _system database.
HTTP 403: Returned if you have No access server access level.
Examples
shell> curl --header 'accept: application/json' --dump - http://localhost:8529/_api/user
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
content-type: application/json
cache-control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate, pre-check=0, post-check=0, max-age=0, s-maxage=0
connection: Keep-Alive
content-length: 164
content-security-policy: frame-ancestors 'self'; form-action 'self';
expires: 0
pragma: no-cache
server: ArangoDB
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 ; includeSubDomains
x-arango-queue-time-seconds: 0.000000
x-content-type-options: nosniff
Manage permissions
Set the database access level
Set the database access level.
PUT /_api/user/{user}/database/{dbname}
Path Parameters
-
user (string, required): The name of the user.
-
dbname (string, required): The name of the database.
Request Body
- grant (string, required):
- Use “rw” to set the database access level to Administrate.
- Use “ro” to set the database access level to Access.
- Use “none” to set the database access level to No access.
Sets the database access levels for the database dbname of user user. You need the Administrate server access level in order to execute this REST call.
Responses
HTTP 200: Returned if the access level was changed successfully.
HTTP 400: If the JSON representation is malformed or mandatory data is missing from the request.
HTTP 401: Returned if you have No access database access level to the _system database.
HTTP 403: Returned if you have No access server access level.
Examples
shell> curl -X PUT --header 'accept: application/json' --data-binary @- --dump - http://localhost:8529/_api/user/admin@myapp/database/_system <<EOF
{
"grant" : "rw"
}
EOF
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
content-type: application/json
cache-control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate, pre-check=0, post-check=0, max-age=0, s-maxage=0
connection: Keep-Alive
content-length: 41
content-security-policy: frame-ancestors 'self'; form-action 'self';
expires: 0
pragma: no-cache
server: ArangoDB
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 ; includeSubDomains
x-arango-queue-time-seconds: 0.000000
x-content-type-options: nosniff
Set the collection access level
Set the collection access level.
PUT /_api/user/{user}/database/{dbname}/{collection}
Path Parameters
-
user (string, required): The name of the user.
-
dbname (string, required): The name of the database.
-
collection (string, required): The name of the collection.
Request Body
-
grant (string, required): Use “rw” to set the collection level access to Read/Write.
Use “ro” to set the collection level access to Read Only.
Use “none” to set the collection level access to No access.
Sets the collection access level for the collection in the database dbname for user user. You need the Administrate server access level in order to execute this REST call.
Responses
HTTP 200: Returned if the access permissions were changed successfully.
HTTP 400: If the JSON representation is malformed or mandatory data is missing from the request.
HTTP 401: Returned if you have No access database access level to the _system database.
HTTP 403: Returned if you have No access server access level.
Examples
shell> curl -X PUT --header 'accept: application/json' --data-binary @- --dump - http://localhost:8529/_api/user/admin@myapp/database/_system/reports <<EOF
{
"grant" : "rw"
}
EOF
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
content-type: application/json
cache-control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate, pre-check=0, post-check=0, max-age=0, s-maxage=0
connection: Keep-Alive
content-length: 49
content-security-policy: frame-ancestors 'self'; form-action 'self';
expires: 0
pragma: no-cache
server: ArangoDB
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 ; includeSubDomains
x-arango-queue-time-seconds: 0.000000
x-content-type-options: nosniff
Clear the database access level
Clear the database access level, revert back to the default access level
DELETE /_api/user/{user}/database/{dbname}
Path Parameters
-
user (string, required): The name of the user.
-
dbname (string, required): The name of the database.
Clears the database access level for the database dbname of user user. As consequence the default database access level is used. If there is no defined default database access level, it defaults to No access. You need permission to the _system database in order to execute this REST call.
Responses
HTTP 202: Returned if the access permissions were changed successfully.
HTTP 400: If the JSON representation is malformed or mandatory data is missing from the request.
Examples
shell> curl -X DELETE --header 'accept: application/json' --dump - http://localhost:8529/_api/user/admin@myapp/database/_system
HTTP/1.1 202 Accepted
content-type: application/json
cache-control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate, pre-check=0, post-check=0, max-age=0, s-maxage=0
connection: Keep-Alive
content-length: 26
content-security-policy: frame-ancestors 'self'; form-action 'self';
expires: 0
pragma: no-cache
server: ArangoDB
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 ; includeSubDomains
x-arango-queue-time-seconds: 0.000000
x-content-type-options: nosniff
Clear the collection access level
Clear the collection access level, revert back to the default access level
DELETE /_api/user/{user}/database/{dbname}/{collection}
Path Parameters
-
user (string, required): The name of the user.
-
dbname (string, required): The name of the database.
-
collection (string, required): The name of the collection.
Clears the collection access level for the collection collection in the database dbname of user user. As consequence the default collection access level is used. If there is no defined default collection access level, it defaults to No access. You need permissions to the _system database in order to execute this REST call.
Responses
HTTP 202: Returned if the access permissions were changed successfully.
HTTP 400: If there was an error
Examples
shell> curl -X DELETE --header 'accept: application/json' --dump - http://localhost:8529/_api/user/admin@myapp/database/_system/reports
HTTP/1.1 202 Accepted
content-type: application/json
cache-control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate, pre-check=0, post-check=0, max-age=0, s-maxage=0
connection: Keep-Alive
content-length: 26
content-security-policy: frame-ancestors 'self'; form-action 'self';
expires: 0
pragma: no-cache
server: ArangoDB
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 ; includeSubDomains
x-arango-queue-time-seconds: 0.000000
x-content-type-options: nosniff
List the accessible databases for a user
List the accessible databases for a user
GET /_api/user/{user}/database/
Path Parameters
- user (string, required): The name of the user for which you want to query the databases.
Query Parameters
- full (boolean, optional): Return the full set of access levels for all databases and all collections.
Fetch the list of databases available to the specified user. You need Administrate for the server access level in order to execute this REST call.
The call will return a JSON object with the per-database access privileges for the specified user. The result object will contain the databases names as object keys, and the associated privileges for the database as values.
In case you specified full, the result will contain the permissions for the databases as well as the permissions for the collections.
Responses
HTTP 200: Returned if the list of available databases can be returned.
HTTP 400: If the access privileges are not right etc.
HTTP 401: Returned if you have No access database access level to the _system database.
HTTP 403: Returned if you have No access server access level.
Examples
shell> curl --header 'accept: application/json' --dump - http://localhost:8529/_api/user/anotherAdmin@secapp/database/
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
content-type: application/json
cache-control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate, pre-check=0, post-check=0, max-age=0, s-maxage=0
connection: Keep-Alive
content-length: 52
content-security-policy: frame-ancestors 'self'; form-action 'self';
expires: 0
pragma: no-cache
server: ArangoDB
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 ; includeSubDomains
x-arango-queue-time-seconds: 0.000000
x-content-type-options: nosniff
With the full response format:
shell> curl --header 'accept: application/json' --dump - http://localhost:8529/_api/user/anotherAdmin@secapp/database?full=true
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
content-type: application/json
cache-control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate, pre-check=0, post-check=0, max-age=0, s-maxage=0
connection: Keep-Alive
content-length: 457
content-security-policy: frame-ancestors 'self'; form-action 'self';
expires: 0
pragma: no-cache
server: ArangoDB
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 ; includeSubDomains
x-arango-queue-time-seconds: 0.000000
x-content-type-options: nosniff
Get the database access level
Get specific database access level
GET /_api/user/{user}/database/{dbname}
Path Parameters
-
user (string, required): The name of the user for which you want to query the databases.
-
dbname (string, required): The name of the database to query
Fetch the database access level for a specific database
Responses
HTTP 200: Returned if the access level can be returned
HTTP 400: If the access privileges are not right etc.
HTTP 401: Returned if you have No access database access level to the _system database.
HTTP 403: Returned if you have No access server access level.
Examples
shell> curl --header 'accept: application/json' --dump - http://localhost:8529/_api/user/anotherAdmin@secapp/database/_system
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
content-type: application/json
cache-control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate, pre-check=0, post-check=0, max-age=0, s-maxage=0
connection: Keep-Alive
content-length: 40
content-security-policy: frame-ancestors 'self'; form-action 'self';
expires: 0
pragma: no-cache
server: ArangoDB
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 ; includeSubDomains
x-arango-queue-time-seconds: 0.000000
x-content-type-options: nosniff
Get the specific collection access level
Get the collection access level
GET /_api/user/{user}/database/{dbname}/{collection}
Path Parameters
-
user (string, required): The name of the user for which you want to query the databases.
-
dbname (string, required): The name of the database to query
-
collection (string, required): The name of the collection
Returns the collection access level for a specific collection
Responses
HTTP 200: Returned if the access level can be returned
HTTP 400: If the access privileges are not right etc.
HTTP 401: Returned if you have No access database access level to the _system database.
HTTP 403: Returned if you have No access server access level.
Examples
shell> curl --header 'accept: application/json' --dump - http://localhost:8529/_api/user/anotherAdmin@secapp/database/_system/_users
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
content-type: application/json
cache-control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate, pre-check=0, post-check=0, max-age=0, s-maxage=0
connection: Keep-Alive
content-length: 42
content-security-policy: frame-ancestors 'self'; form-action 'self';
expires: 0
pragma: no-cache
server: ArangoDB
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 ; includeSubDomains
x-arango-queue-time-seconds: 0.000000
x-content-type-options: nosniff