Designing locale-aware authorization at Webflow

Webflow's implementation of locale-specific access required a significant redesign of its authorization model to accommodate the dimension of locale alongside existing resource-based controls. The traditional model, which defaulted to open access with explicit restrictions, struggled with the introduction of locale as it needed to accommodate context-based restrictions without storing a multiplicative number of relationship facts. The solution involved computing locale context at request time rather than persisting it, allowing for efficient authorization checks across both resource and locale dimensions simultaneously. Additionally, the system was restructured to ensure that all-locale operations like page deletions respected locale-based restrictions without necessitating complex queries or policy language negation. The approach emphasized implicit, structural enforcement of authorization by integrating locale checks into existing abilities and centralizing context resolution, facilitating seamless adaptation to new dimensions beyond locale in the future.