Architecture Overview

AuthOS is a developer-first identity platform designed to provide enterprise-grade authentication, authorization, and user management for modern applications. This document outlines the high-level architecture, core components, and data model.

System Architecture

AuthOS follows a modular, API-first architecture designed for scalability, security, and ease of integration.

graph TD
    Client[Client Applications] -->|HTTPS/JSON| LoadBalancer[Load Balancer]
    LoadBalancer --> API[AuthOS API Core]
    
    subgraph "AuthOS Platform"
        API -->|Reads/Writes| DB[(Primary Database)]
        API -->|Cache| Redis[(Redis Cache)]
        API -->|Async Tasks| Workers[Background Workers]
        
        Workers -->|Process| Email[Email Service]
        Workers -->|Process| Webhooks[Webhook Dispatcher]
        Workers -->|Process| Audit[Audit Logger]
    end
    
    subgraph "External Integrations"
        API -->|OIDC| OAuth[OAuth Providers]
        API -->|SAML/SCIM| Enterprise[Enterprise IdPs]
        API -->|Events| SIEM[SIEM Systems]
    end

Core Components

1. AuthOS API (Rust/Axum) The high-performance core of the platform. It handles all authentication requests, policy enforcement, and management operations. Built with Rust for memory safety and speed.

2. Management Dashboard A web-based interface for organization owners and developers to manage users, configure services, and view analytics. Consumes the AuthOS API directly.

3. SDKs & Libraries Language-specific SDKs (Node.js, Python, Go, etc.) and frontend frameworks (React, Vue) to simplify integration.

4. Background Workers Asynchronous processors for handling non-blocking tasks such as sending emails, dispatching webhooks, and processing audit logs.

Data Model

The AuthOS data model is hierarchical and multi-tenant by design.

erDiagram
    Platform ||--|{ Organization : hosts
    Organization ||--|{ Service : contains
    Organization ||--|{ Member : has
    User ||--|{ Member : is
    User ||--|{ Identity : has
    Service ||--|{ ApiKey : uses

    Organization {
        string slug
        string name
        string tier
    }
    
    Service {
        string slug
        string type
        string client_id
    }
    
    User {
        string id
        string email
        string verify_status
    }
    
    Member {
        string role
        string permissions
    }

Key Entities

• Platform: The root level instance of AuthOS.
• Organization (Tenant): The primary container for resources. Represents a customer or team. Data is strictly isolated between organizations.
• Service (Application): Represents a specific application or project within an organization. Each service has its own configuration, API keys, and branding.
• User: A global identity entity. Users can be members of multiple organizations with different roles (e.g., “Admin” in Org A, “Viewer” in Org B).
• Membership: The link between a User and an Organization, defining the user’s role and permissions within that specific context.

Security Model

AuthOS employs a Zero Trust security model.

• Encryption at Rest: Sensitive data (private keys, secrets) is encrypted using AES-GCM before storage.
• Encryption in Transit: All traffic is encrypted via TLS 1.3.
• Token-Based Auth: Stateless authentication using short-lived JWTs (JSON Web Tokens) signed with RS256.
• ReBAC & RBAC: Fine-grained permission control combining Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Relationship-Based Access Control (ReBAC).

Integration Patterns

1. Hosted Login (Redirect) The most secure method. Redirect users to the AuthOS hosted login page, and handle the callback.

2. Embedded Login (SDK) Use our frontend SDKs to build custom login forms that communicate directly with the API.

3. Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Services communicate with each other using Client Credentials flow or API Keys.

4. Enterprise Federation Connect organizations to their existing Identity Providers (Okta, Azure AD) via SAML or OIDC.