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Define Data Access Permissions

Filter Incoming Queries

On this page

  • Overview
  • How App Services Applies Filters
  • Define Filters
  • Procedure

Overview

A filter modifies an incoming MongoDB query to return only a subset of the results matched by the query. Adding a filter to a collection allows you to control the shape of queried documents and can improve query performance.

Filters add additional query parameters and omit fields from query results before Atlas App Services runs the query. Every filter has three components:

How App Services Applies Filters

App Services evaluates and applies filters for all MongoDB requests where rules apply except Device Sync requests. Examples of filterable MongoDB requests include:

  • A query on a collection.

  • A write to a document.

A filter applies to a given request if its "apply when" expression evaluates to true given that request's context. If a filter applies to a request, App Services merges the filter's query or projection into the requested operation's existing query and projection.

Multiple filters may apply to a single request.

App Services applies filters to the request before it sends the request to MongoDB.

Example

A collection contains several million documents and has one role with the following "apply when" expression:

{ "owner_id": "%%user.id" }

If no filter is applied, App Services will evaluate a role for each document that the query matches. We know that App Services will withhold any document that does not have the user's id as the value of the owner_id field, so we save time and compute resources by applying an additional query predicate that excludes those documents before App Services evaluates any roles:

Apply When
Query
Projection
{ "%%true": true }
{ "owner_id": "%%user.id" }
{}

Define Filters

You can use filters to optimize queries, minimize compute overhead, and secure sensitive data. Filters are most useful for cross-cutting concerns that affect some or all of your queries.

Consider using filters if you want a centralized system to:

  • Restrict queries to a subset of all documents

  • Omit sensitive data or unused fields

Example

In a voting app where some users have agreed to anonymously share their vote, you could use the following filter to constrain all queries to an anonymous subset of the existing data:

{
  "name": "AnonymizeVotes",
  "apply_when": true,
  "query": {
    "shareVoteAnonymous": true
  },
  "project": {
    "_id": 0,
    "age": 1,
    "vote": 1
  }
}
{ "_id": ObjectId(...), "name": "sarah", age: 42, "vote": "yes", "shareVoteAnonymous": true }
{ "_id": ObjectId(...), "name": "andy", age: 22, "vote": "no", "shareVoteAnonymous": true }
{ "_id": ObjectId(...), "name": "jennifer", age: 37, "vote": "yes", "shareVoteAnonymous": false }
{ "_id": ObjectId(...), "name": "rick", age: 43, "vote": "no", "shareVoteAnonymous": true }
{ "_id": ObjectId(...), "name": "tom", age: 64, "vote": "yes", "shareVoteAnonymous": false }
{ "_id": ObjectId(...), "name": "bob", age: 67, "vote": "yes", "shareVoteAnonymous": true }
{ age: 42, "vote": "yes" }
{ age: 22, "vote": "no" }
{ age: 37, "vote": "yes" }
{ age: 43, "vote": "no" }
{ age: 64, "vote": "yes" }
{ age: 67, "vote": "yes" }

Procedure

You can define filters for specific collections in your linked cluster from the App Services UI or by deploying configuration files with Realm CLI:

Note

This guide requires a linked MongoDB Atlas data source.

1

Navigate to the Rules Window

Under Data Access in the left navigation menu, click Rules.

2

Create a New Filter

Select the collection that you want to configure a filter for from the Rules menu then click the Filters tab. Click Add a Filter and enter a Filter Name for the new filter.

3

Specify the Apply When Expression

In the Apply When input box, enter a rule expression that defines when the filter applies to a query. If the expression evaluates to true for an incoming query, App Services adds the Filter Query parameters to the incoming query.

Filter Apply When Input Screenshot

Important

Atlas App Services evaluates and applies filters before it reads any documents, so you cannot use MongoDB document expansions in a filter's Apply When expression. However, you can use other expansions like %%user, %%values, and %function.

4

Specify the Filter Query Predicates

In the Query input box, specify a document that contains additional query predicates to merge into the incoming query when the filter applies. For example, a filter that withholds documents that have a score below 20 could use the following filter query:

{ "score": { "$gt": 20 } }
Filter Query Input Screenshot
5

Specify the Filter Projection

In the Projection input box, specify a document that contains a projection document to merge into the incoming query when the filter applies.

For example, a filter that withholds the career_stats and personal fields from documents could use the following filter projection:

{
  "career_stats": 0,
  "personal": 0
}
Filter Projection Input Screenshot
6

Save the Filter

After you have configured the filter, click Save Draft. After saving, App Services immediately begins evaluating and applying filters to incoming queries on the collection.

1

Pull the Latest Version of Your App

To define filters for a collection with appservices, you need a local copy of your application's configuration files.

To pull a local copy of the latest version of your app, run the following:

appservices pull --remote="<Your App ID>"

Tip

You can also download a copy of your application's configuration files from the Deploy > Export App screen in the App Services UI.

2

Add a Rule Configuration File

To define or modify roles for a collection, open the rules.json configuration file within the collection's configuration directory.

Tip

Scaffold the Collection

If you haven't already defined rules or a schema for the collection, you need to manually create its configuration directory and schema.json:

# Create the collection's configuration directory
mkdir -p data_sources/<service>/<db>/<collection>
# Create the collection's schema file
echo '{}' >> data_sources/<service>/<db>/<collection>/rules.json

The configuration file should have the following general form:

{
  "database": "<Database Name>",
  "collection": "<Collection Name>",
  "roles": [],
  "filters": []
}

Note

This guide focuses on creating filters for the collection. Check out the other configuration guides to learn how to define roles and permissions and enforce schemas.

Note

Federated data sources do not support rules or schemas. You can only access a Federated data source from a system function.

3

Add One or More Filters

Add a document to the filters array for each filter that you want to configure. Filter documents have the following form:

{
  "name": "<Filter Name>",
  "apply_when": { Expression },
  "query": { MongoDB Query },
  "projection": { MongoDB Projection }
}
Field
Description
name
string
Required. The name of the filter. Filter names are useful for identifying and distinguishing between filters. Limited to 100 characters or fewer.
apply_when
object

An expression that determines when this filter applies to an incoming MongoDB operation.

Important

Atlas App Services evaluates and applies filters before it reads any documents, so you cannot use MongoDB document expansions in a filter's Apply When expression. However, you can use other expansions like %%user, %%values, and %function.

query
object
Default: {}

A MongoDB query that App Services merges into a filtered operation's existing query.

Example

A filter withholds documents that have a score below 20 using the following query:

{ "score": { "$gte": 20 } }
projection
object
Default: {}

A MongoDB projection that App Services merges into a filtered operation's existing projection.

Important

Projection Conflicts

MongoDB projections can be either inclusive or exclusive, i.e. they can either return only specified fields or withhold fields that are not specified. If multiple filters apply to a query, the filters must all specify the same type of projection, or the query will fail.

Example

A filter withholds the _internal field from all documents using the following projection:

{ "_internal": 0 }
4

Deploy the Updated Rules

Once you've defined and saved rules.json you can push the updated config to your remote app. App Services CLI immediately deploys the filters on push.

appservices push --remote="<Your App ID>"

Note

Security Consideration for App Services Filters

While Role-based Permissions and Filters can hide specific documents and fields within a collection there is a potential that data can be exposed if the system allows arbitrary queries to access the collection.

For example, queries or functions that raise errors depending on the values stored in a collection (such as division-by-zero errors) may reveal information about documents, even if a role or filter prevents the querying user from viewing documents directly. Users may also make inferences about the underlying data in other ways (such as by measuring query execution time, which can be affected by the data's distribution).

Be aware that this is possible and audit your data access patterns where neccessary.

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Device Sync-Compatible Permissions

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