• VALIDATION
  • AUDIT
  • RESOURCES
  • HUMAN

How to test authorization policies with your AI

Connect Cerbos to your agent to run permission checks and policy audits without leaving your chat interface.

Ask AI about this page

Short answer

How can I use AI to test my Cerbos authorization rules?

Your agent uses the Cerbos MCP to pull your existing policies and run real-time evaluations against specific users and resources. You'll get immediate confirmation on whether your RBAC or ABAC logic holds up under specific test cases.

Test outcomes

Where your results land.

The AI processes your requests and organizes the output into these categories.

VALIDATION

Policy pass/fail

The agent runs evaluations and tells you exactly which rules allowed or denied a request.

AUDIT

Policy inventory

Your agent lists all active policies so you can see the current state of your access control.

RESOURCES

Resource mapping

The agent identifies the resources being protected to ensure your policy targets are correct.

HUMAN

Manual fixes

The AI identifies logic gaps, but you must manually edit the Cerbos policy files to apply changes.

The workflow

What your AI does when the request arrives.

The agent acts as a bridge between your natural language questions and the Cerbos engine.

  1. Identify policies

    The agent looks up your existing Cerbos policy definitions to understand the current ruleset.

    list_policies

  2. Map resources

    The agent checks which resources are available to ensure the permission test is targeting the right objects.

    check_resources

  3. Run evaluation

    The agent sends a specific user and resource combination to Cerbos to see if access is granted.

    authzen_evaluation

  4. Report results

    The agent summarizes the decision and explains why the policy allowed or denied the action.

    authzen_evaluation

Try it

Copy these to start.

Use these prompts to begin testing your access control logic.

Starting points

Swap out the resource names and user IDs with your actual Cerbos data.

Cerbos Connector

You're all set. Choose your MCP client and follow the setup instructions.

Connector linkhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_InOwgNCcuNoJDDtlbw3Rpbk72NQ9Y39enLJWWQOg/mcp

Claude Desktop

Follow the steps below to connect in seconds.

  1. 1In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors.
  2. 2Click “Add custom connector” and paste the connector link above as the remote MCP server URL.
  3. 3Click Add and start a new chat — Cerbos capabilities are ready to use.
Configuration · claude_desktop_config.jsonCopy
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cerbos-access-control-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_InOwgNCcuNoJDDtlbw3Rpbk72NQ9Y39enLJWWQOg/mcp"
    }
  }
}
Copy into chat04

  • List all my current Cerbos policies so I can review them.

  • Check if user 'admin_123' has 'read' permissions on the 'billing_report' resource.

  • Run an evaluation for user 'guest_user' attempting to 'delete' the 'user_profile' resource.

  • Show me all resources currently managed by my Cerbos instance.

  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • Cursor
  • VS Code
  • Windsurf
  • Claude Code
  • JetBrains
  • Cline

Start here

Connect Cerbos once, then ask.

Link your Cerbos instance to Vinkius. Your credentials stay encrypted, and you can immediately start asking your agent about your permissions.

Connect Cerbos to your AI

FAQ

How this task behaves.

  • 01

    Can the AI change my Cerbos policies?

    No. The AI can only read policies and run evaluations. You must update your policies manually in your own environment.

  • 02

    Can the AI delete resources?

    No. The tools only allow for checking and listing resources, not modifying or deleting them.

  • 03

    Does the AI know my user IDs?

    The AI only knows the user IDs you provide in your prompt to run the evaluation.

  • 04

    Can I use this to test ABAC rules?

    Yes. The evaluation tool handles both RBAC and ABAC logic defined in your Cerbos policies.

  • 05

    Will the AI create new policies for me?

    No. The AI is limited to reading and evaluating existing policies.

  • More questions about Cerbos? The Connector page answers them. See everything the Cerbos Connector can do

Connect Cerbos to Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT & more