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Quickstart

Try Verdict locally in 5 minutes without setting up external infrastructure or modifying application code.

In this walkthrough you will:

  • Install the Verdict CLI
  • Start a local Verdict Server
  • Write, validate, and publish a .vd policy
  • Insert facts and run authorization checks
  • Extend the policy to support document sharing

1. Install the CLI

Section titled “1. Install the CLI”

You need Node.js 24 or newer for this walkthrough.

Install the CLI with the shell installer:

curl -fsSL https://useverdict.dev/install.sh | sh

Or install it with your JavaScript package manager:

npm i -g @useverdict/cli

Confirm that the CLI is available and create a working directory:

verdict --help
mkdir verdict-quickstart
cd verdict-quickstart

2. Start the server

Section titled “2. Start the server”

Start a local Verdict Server in your terminal:

verdict serve

This starts Verdict Server on localhost:4891 and creates ./verdict.db to persist your policy and facts. Keep this terminal running for the rest of the guide.

3. Write and publish a policy

Section titled “3. Write and publish a policy”

Create policy.vd in the same directory:

declare is_owner(User, Document);


allow(user: User, "read", document: Document) if
  is_owner(user, document);

Open a second terminal in verdict-quickstart, then validate and publish the policy:

verdict validate policy.vd
verdict policy publish --local policy.vd

4. Add a fact

Section titled “4. Add a fact”

Add an ownership fact to the local server:

verdict fact add --local 'is_owner(User:alice, Document:handbook)'

5. Perform an authorization check

Section titled “5. Perform an authorization check”

Check whether User:alice and User:bob can "read" Document:handbook:

verdict authorize --local User:alice read Document:handbook
# Allowed


verdict authorize --local User:bob read Document:handbook
# Denied

6. Add a new access path

Section titled “6. Add a new access path”

To let users share documents, add a shared_to fact declaration and allow rule to policy.vd:

declare is_owner(User, Document);
declare shared_to(Document, User);


allow(user: User, "read", document: Document) if
  is_owner(user, document);


allow(user: User, "read", document: Document) if
  shared_to(document, user);

Republish the updated policy, add a shared_to fact for User:bob, and re-run the check:

verdict policy publish --local policy.vd
verdict fact add --local 'shared_to(Document:handbook, User:bob)'
verdict authorize --local User:bob read Document:handbook
# Allowed

Cleanup

Section titled “Cleanup”

Stop the server in the first terminal with Ctrl+C and remove the verdict-quickstart directory when you are finished.

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”
SymptomCheck
Connection failureKeep the server terminal running and use port 4891
Port already in useStop the process using 4891 before starting this walkthrough

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”