Control API Access with Amazon Cognito in Your REST API
Learn how to effectively control access in your REST API using Amazon Cognito User Pools, ensuring the right permissions for your users.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/65408457/ asked by the user 'user2741831' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/2741831/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/65409641/ provided by the user 'LostJon' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/5927442/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.
Visit these links for original content and any more details, such as alternate solutions, latest updates/developments on topic, comments, revision history etc. For example, the original title of the Question was: I am confused how I am meant to control access in a API Gateway Rest API using Amazon Cognito User Pools
Also, Content (except music) licensed under CC BY-SA https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/licensing
The original Question post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ) license, and the original Answer post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ) license.
If anything seems off to you, please feel free to write me at vlogize [AT] gmail [DOT] com.
---
Understanding Access Control in Amazon API Gateway with Cognito
Creating a robust and secure API can be a challenging task, especially when it comes to managing access control for different types of users. If you're working on a project that allows users to create and manage posts, you may find yourself questioning how to implement access controls effectively using Amazon Cognito User Pools. Let's dive into the details to clarify your doubts and provide guidance on achieving this.
The Challenge
Your project has a simple structure where:
All users (both anonymous and signed in) can view posts.
Only signed-in users can create posts.
Only the original author has the ability to edit their own posts.
Understanding how to implement these rules using Amazon Cognito can seem confusing, but you're not alone in feeling this way. Many developers grapple with similar questions, particularly around access tokens, their usage, and how to effectively control permissions.
Key Concepts of Amazon Cognito
Before we dive into specific questions, let's clarify some essential concepts about Amazon Cognito:
User Pools vs. Identity Pools:
User pools are designed for authentication (verifying user identity) while identity pools allow users to access AWS resources (like DynamoDB or S3).
Access Tokens:
When a user logs in via Cognito, they receive an access token. This token must accompany each request to your REST API for authentication.
API Gateway Authorizer:
Using a Cognito Authorizer in API Gateway allows automatic verification of access tokens. However, the authorizer may limit how much user info you can get during Lambda functions.
Solutions to Your Questions
1. Are Cognito usernames guaranteed to be unique?
Yes, Cognito ensures that user accounts have unique usernames—if someone tries to sign up with a username or email that's already taken, they will be blocked from doing so. When setting up user pools, be sure to specify whether to use email or custom usernames.
2. Are access tokens equivalent to session cookies?
No, access tokens and session cookies serve different purposes. Access tokens are generally transmitted in the Authorization header as bearer tokens, while session cookies are stored in the Cookie header.
3. Access Tokens in Lambda Functions
If you're looking to manage access tokens in a Lambda function to retrieve user-specific data, you can utilize JWT decoding libraries. The Cognito Authorizer should already validate the token, so you don't need to validate it again in Lambda; instead, you decode it to access user information encoded in the JWT.
4. User Information in Lambda
The built-in authorizer does not redirect user information to the Lambda function mainly because not all APIs require this. It's better for individual API services to decode tokens and access context as needed.
5. Implementing Access Control
You mentioned the need for a pre-built Lambda authorizer; however, there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, consider implementing your access policy based on CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) actions:
Create: Restricted to logged-in users.
Read: Open for everyone.
Update and Delete: Restricted to the original post authors.
Structuring Your API
To manage access effectively, consider structuring your API with multiple gateways. For example, create one for read-only access and another for write/manage access. A path-based strategy helps clarify which endpoints are accessible based on user permissions.
Here’s a simplified example for URL endpoints based on roles:
POST /api/blog/: Create a guide (accessible to authenticated users).
GET /api/blog/:blogId: View guide (accessible to everyone).
PU
Видео Control API Access with Amazon Cognito in Your REST API канала vlogize
---
This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/65408457/ asked by the user 'user2741831' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/2741831/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/65409641/ provided by the user 'LostJon' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/5927442/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.
Visit these links for original content and any more details, such as alternate solutions, latest updates/developments on topic, comments, revision history etc. For example, the original title of the Question was: I am confused how I am meant to control access in a API Gateway Rest API using Amazon Cognito User Pools
Also, Content (except music) licensed under CC BY-SA https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/licensing
The original Question post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ) license, and the original Answer post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ) license.
If anything seems off to you, please feel free to write me at vlogize [AT] gmail [DOT] com.
---
Understanding Access Control in Amazon API Gateway with Cognito
Creating a robust and secure API can be a challenging task, especially when it comes to managing access control for different types of users. If you're working on a project that allows users to create and manage posts, you may find yourself questioning how to implement access controls effectively using Amazon Cognito User Pools. Let's dive into the details to clarify your doubts and provide guidance on achieving this.
The Challenge
Your project has a simple structure where:
All users (both anonymous and signed in) can view posts.
Only signed-in users can create posts.
Only the original author has the ability to edit their own posts.
Understanding how to implement these rules using Amazon Cognito can seem confusing, but you're not alone in feeling this way. Many developers grapple with similar questions, particularly around access tokens, their usage, and how to effectively control permissions.
Key Concepts of Amazon Cognito
Before we dive into specific questions, let's clarify some essential concepts about Amazon Cognito:
User Pools vs. Identity Pools:
User pools are designed for authentication (verifying user identity) while identity pools allow users to access AWS resources (like DynamoDB or S3).
Access Tokens:
When a user logs in via Cognito, they receive an access token. This token must accompany each request to your REST API for authentication.
API Gateway Authorizer:
Using a Cognito Authorizer in API Gateway allows automatic verification of access tokens. However, the authorizer may limit how much user info you can get during Lambda functions.
Solutions to Your Questions
1. Are Cognito usernames guaranteed to be unique?
Yes, Cognito ensures that user accounts have unique usernames—if someone tries to sign up with a username or email that's already taken, they will be blocked from doing so. When setting up user pools, be sure to specify whether to use email or custom usernames.
2. Are access tokens equivalent to session cookies?
No, access tokens and session cookies serve different purposes. Access tokens are generally transmitted in the Authorization header as bearer tokens, while session cookies are stored in the Cookie header.
3. Access Tokens in Lambda Functions
If you're looking to manage access tokens in a Lambda function to retrieve user-specific data, you can utilize JWT decoding libraries. The Cognito Authorizer should already validate the token, so you don't need to validate it again in Lambda; instead, you decode it to access user information encoded in the JWT.
4. User Information in Lambda
The built-in authorizer does not redirect user information to the Lambda function mainly because not all APIs require this. It's better for individual API services to decode tokens and access context as needed.
5. Implementing Access Control
You mentioned the need for a pre-built Lambda authorizer; however, there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, consider implementing your access policy based on CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) actions:
Create: Restricted to logged-in users.
Read: Open for everyone.
Update and Delete: Restricted to the original post authors.
Structuring Your API
To manage access effectively, consider structuring your API with multiple gateways. For example, create one for read-only access and another for write/manage access. A path-based strategy helps clarify which endpoints are accessible based on user permissions.
Here’s a simplified example for URL endpoints based on roles:
POST /api/blog/: Create a guide (accessible to authenticated users).
GET /api/blog/:blogId: View guide (accessible to everyone).
PU
Видео Control API Access with Amazon Cognito in Your REST API канала vlogize
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28 мая 2025 г. 17:53:04
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