Lexicon

Terminology in the protocol spec

Following is a working lexicon, very much subject to change. Some or all of this lexicon may be added to the core protocol specification or other documents.An authorizing user is a web user (a natural person) who interacts with an AM service in order to instruct an AM how to make new proposal for OAuth 2.0-based terms, now incorporated into the core protocol spec. Key definitions from the draft OAuth 2.0 specification ([OAuth20]) are reproduced here for ease of tracing UMA definitions that are dependent on them, though these OAuth definitions do not appear in the formal spec.

authorizing user: An UMA-defined variant of an [OAuth20] resource owner ("An entity capable of granting access to a protected resource."); a web user who configures an authorization manager with policies that control how it makes access decisions when a requester attempts to access a protected resource on at a host. An authorizing user is the sole party capable of forging an access authorization agreement with a requesting party.

A protected resource is an access-restricted resource (per [HTTP]) that can be obtained from a host with the authorization of an AM and, indirectly, an authorizing user.

An access authorization agreement is a contract forged by an authorizing user and a requesting party, governing the requesting party's access to protected resources controlled by the authorizing user.

An authorization manager (AM) is an endpoint in the UMA software protocol that interacts, in the role of an HTTP server (per [HTTP]), with hosts in order to convey resource access decisions and with requesters in order to determine their suitability for access. An AM application is software that implements an AM, and an AM service is an AM application that is deployed on a network. The legal or natural person(s) who run an AM service are authorization intermediaries that are not direct parties to any access authorization agreement.

A host is an endpoint in the UMA software protocol that interacts with AMs in the role of an HTTP client (per [HTTP]) in order to receive and act on access decisions, and with requesters in the role of an HTTP server (also per [HTTP]) in order to respond to access attempts. A host application is software that implements a host, and a host service is a host application that is deployed on a network. The legal or natural person(s) who run a host service are hosting intermediaries that are not direct parties to any access authorization agreement.

A host service user is a web user (a natural person) who interacts with a host service in order to use and configure it for resource hosting. In general, a user of a host service is identical to the user who authorizes access to resources at the same host, but in special cases they may be different people.

A requester is an endpoint in the UMA software protocol that interacts with hosts and AMs in the role of an HTTP client (per [HTTP]) to attempt, and receive authorization for, access to a protected resource. A requester application is software that implements a requester, and a requester service is a requester application that is deployed on a network. The legal or natural person(s) who deploy a requester application in a running service may be requesting intermediaries that that are not direct parties to any access authorization agreement, or one or them may be a requesting party.

A requesting party is either a legal person (such as a company running a requester service), or a natural person (a web user) who interacts with a requester service run by a requesting intermediary, in order to seek protected resource access on its own behalf. In either case, a requesting party is the sole party capable of forging an access authorization agreement with an authorizing user.

authorization manager (AM): An UMA-defined variant of an [OAuth20] authorization server ("An HTTP server capable of issuing tokens after successfully authenticating the resource owner and obtaining authorization. The authorization server may be the same server as the resource server, or a separate entity.") that carries out an authorizing user's policies governing access to a protected resource.

protected resource: An access-restricted resource at a host.

host: An UMA-defined variant of an [OAuth20] resource server ("An HTTP server capable of accepting authenticated resource requests using the OAuth protocol.") that enforces access to the protected resources it hosts, as decided by an authorization manager.

token validation URL: The URL at an authorization manager that a host can use to validate an access token.

claim: A statement (in the sense of [IDCclaim]). Claims are conveyed by a requester on behalf of a requesting party to an authorization manager in an attempt to satisfy an authorizing user's policy. (Protected resources may also contain claims, but this is outside the view of the UMA protocol.)

requester: An UMA-defined variant of [OAuth20] client ("An HTTP client capable of making authenticated requests for protected resources using the OAuth protocol.") that seeks access to a protected resource.

requesting party: A web user, or a corporation (or other legal person), that uses a requester to seek access to a protected resource.

Additional terminology

Terms in this section do not appear in the protocol spec, but we have found it to be useful to define them in addition, for non-normative/discussion purposes.

primary resource user: A web user who who interacts with a host to store and manage protected resources there. The primary resource user may be identical to the authorizing user of the same resource at that host, or they they may be different people.

UMAnitarian: An UMA WG participant.

UMAnize: To make a host UMA-protected. (Thanks to Domenico for that one.)

References