Configure RBAC in Apache Polaris using principals, principal roles, and catalog roles
domain: polaris.apache.org · 6 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
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Steps
Create a principal via POST /api/management/v1/principals with a name and optional client-id/secret
Create a principal role via POST /api/management/v1/principal-roles
Assign the principal role to the principal via PUT /api/management/v1/principals/{principalName}/principal-roles
Create a catalog role via POST /api/management/v1/catalogs/{catalogName}/catalog-roles
Grant the catalog role to the principal role via PUT /api/management/v1/principal-roles/{principalRoleName}/catalog-roles/{catalogName}
Assign specific privileges to the catalog role via POST /api/management/v1/catalogs/{catalogName}/catalog-roles/{catalogRoleName}/grants
Known gotchas
Polaris uses a two-tier role model: principal roles are assigned to principals, and catalog roles (which hold actual data privileges) are granted to principal roles — you cannot directly grant a catalog role to a principal
Privileges are scoped to a specific entity level (catalog, namespace, table); a privilege on a namespace does not automatically apply to the catalog level
Deleting a principal role does not automatically revoke its catalog role assignments; clean up grants explicitly to avoid orphaned access
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