Inspection module permissions?
Tuesday, 10 March 2026 · 6 messages · last reply 17 Aug 2026
CA
Clark, Ash10 Mar 2026 15:17 #
Hi,
I'm updating to BaseX 12.2 and I noticed that `
inspect:xqdoc()` now requires admin permissions. That made sense to me, and I updated my RESTXQ API to fall back on cached data when describing its own documentation.
Unusually, however, I couldn't find any reference to the change in the changelog or the Inspection wiki page. Was the change intentional? If so, it'd be helpful for the Inspection documentation to state that the functions need admin permissions.
Warmly,
Ash ClarkCG
Christian Grün10 Mar 2026 15:31 #
Hi Ash,
Thanks for the observation. Exactly, the function should only be available to admins.
Out of interest: You mentioned that you encountered the restriction with RESTXQ. Do you run RESTXQ with a non-admin user?
And you are right, we should certainly improve the documentation of permissions in our Wiki. Volunteers are welcome ;·)
All the best,
Christian
Quoted text · Clark, Ash · 9 lines
Von: Clark, Ash via BaseX-Talk <basex-talk at mailman.uni-konstanz.de> Gesendet: Dienstag, 10. März 2026 15:17 An: BaseX Talk <basex-talk at mailman.uni-konstanz.de> Betreff: [basex-talk] Inspection module permissions? Hi, I'm updating to BaseX 12.2 and I noticed that `inspect:xqdoc()` now requires admin permissions. That made sense to me, and I updated my RESTXQ API to fall back on cached data when describing its own documentation. Unusually, however, I couldn't find any reference to the change in the changelog or the Inspection wiki page. Was the change intentional? If so, it'd be helpful for the Inspection documentation to state that the functions need admin permissions. Warmly, Ash Clark
CA
Clark, Ash10 Mar 2026 16:00 #
Thanks, Christian, that's really helpful! And, your documentation is an invaluable resource for me; I'd be happy to help out when I can.
Shrewdly spotted! You're right, I customize web.xml to remove the default RESTXQ user. I need to lock down some endpoints, but I don't want to use form parameters for authentication. Since BaseX is capable of logging in users by itself, I can leave that job to BaseX and just make sure the API is able to respond based on the permissions of the current user. (Logging in twice to get to the DBA interface is a bit annoying, but I consider it a worthwhile tradeoff, since it really only affects me.)
Warmly,
Ash
Quoted text · Christian Grün · 19 lines
From: Christian Grün <cg at basex.org> Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2026 10:31 AM To: BaseX Talk <basex-talk at mailman.uni-konstanz.de>; Clark, Ash <as.clark at northeastern.edu> Subject: AW: Inspection module permissions? Hi Ash, Thanks for the observation. Exactly, the function should only be available to admins. Out of interest: You mentioned that you encountered the restriction with RESTXQ. Do you run RESTXQ with a non-admin user? And you are right, we should certainly improve the documentation of permissions in our Wiki. Volunteers are welcome ;·) All the best, Christian Von: Clark, Ash via BaseX-Talk <basex-talk at mailman.uni-konstanz.de> Gesendet: Dienstag, 10. März 2026 15:17 An: BaseX Talk <basex-talk at mailman.uni-konstanz.de> Betreff: [basex-talk] Inspection module permissions? Hi, I'm updating to BaseX 12.2 and I noticed that `inspect:xqdoc()` now requires admin permissions. That made sense to me, and I updated my RESTXQ API to fall back on cached data when describing its own documentation. Unusually, however, I couldn't find any reference to the change in the changelog or the Inspection wiki page. Was the change intentional? If so, it'd be helpful for the Inspection documentation to state that the functions need admin permissions. Warmly, Ash Clark
CG
Christian Grün11 Mar 2026 09:22 #
Quoted text · Clark, Ash · 1 line
> Thanks, Christian, that's really helpful! And, your documentation is an invaluable resource for me; I'd be happy to help out when I can.
Thanks for the kind offer, Ash. After having some more thoughts on this, I noticed it’s probably a bit challenging to find out which permissions are required for every particular function. However, I will be glad to create a Wiki account for you; maybe there are other things that can be fixed or revised more easily.
All the best,
Christian
Quoted text · Clark, Ash · 27 lines
Von: Clark, Ash <as.clark at northeastern.edu> Gesendet: Dienstag, 10. März 2026 16:00 An: Christian Grün <cg at basex.org>; BaseX Talk <basex-talk at mailman.uni-konstanz.de> Betreff: Re: Inspection module permissions? Thanks, Christian, that's really helpful! And, your documentation is an invaluable resource for me; I'd be happy to help out when I can. Shrewdly spotted! You're right, I customize web.xml to remove the default RESTXQ user. I need to lock down some endpoints, but I don't want to use form parameters for authentication. Since BaseX is capable of logging in users by itself, I can leave that job to BaseX and just make sure the API is able to respond based on the permissions of the current user. (Logging in twice to get to the DBA interface is a bit annoying, but I consider it a worthwhile tradeoff, since it really only affects me.) Warmly, Ash From: Christian Grün <cg at basex.org> Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2026 10:31 AM To: BaseX Talk <basex-talk at mailman.uni-konstanz.de>; Clark, Ash <as.clark at northeastern.edu> Subject: AW: Inspection module permissions? Hi Ash, Thanks for the observation. Exactly, the function should only be available to admins. Out of interest: You mentioned that you encountered the restriction with RESTXQ. Do you run RESTXQ with a non-admin user? And you are right, we should certainly improve the documentation of permissions in our Wiki. Volunteers are welcome ;·) All the best, Christian Von: Clark, Ash via BaseX-Talk <basex-talk at mailman.uni-konstanz.de> Gesendet: Dienstag, 10. März 2026 15:17 An: BaseX Talk <basex-talk at mailman.uni-konstanz.de> Betreff: [basex-talk] Inspection module permissions? Hi, I'm updating to BaseX 12.2 and I noticed that `inspect:xqdoc()` now requires admin permissions. That made sense to me, and I updated my RESTXQ API to fall back on cached data when describing its own documentation. Unusually, however, I couldn't find any reference to the change in the changelog or the Inspection wiki page. Was the change intentional? If so, it'd be helpful for the Inspection documentation to state that the functions need admin permissions. Warmly, Ash Clark
CG
Dear Ash,
It’s been a while: the latest version of our documentation (branch 13, for the upcoming release) includes permission bagdes [1]. For some functions, the permissions may depend on the value of an argument [2].
Hope this helps,
Christian
[1] https://docs.basex.org/13/Inspection_Functions
[2] https://docs.basex.org/13/Standard_Functions#fn:doc-available
Quoted text · Clark, Ash · 9 lines
Von: Clark, Ash via BaseX-Talk <basex-talk at mailman.uni-konstanz.de> Gesendet: Dienstag, 10. März 2026 15:17 An: BaseX Talk Betreff: [basex-talk] Inspection module permissions? Hi, I'm updating to BaseX 12.2 and I noticed that `inspect:xqdoc()` now requires admin permissions. That made sense to me, and I updated my RESTXQ API to fall back on cached data when describing its own documentation. Unusually, however, I couldn't find any reference to the change in the changelog or the Inspection wiki page. Was the change intentional? If so, it'd be helpful for the Inspection documentation to state that the functions need admin permissions. Warmly, Ash Clark
CA
Clark, Ash17 Aug 2026 23:09 #
Dear Christian,
Thank you so much, this is fantastic!
My sincere apologies for losing track of your emails. I'll reach out to you about editing the documentation next time I find something I'm capable of fixing. At the moment I don't think I have the capacity to leap in.
Thank you again!
Warmly,
Ash
Quoted text · Christian Grün · 19 lines
From: Christian Grün <cg at basex.org> Sent: Thursday, August 6, 2026 4:04 AM To: BaseX Talk <basex-talk at mailman.uni-konstanz.de>; Clark, Ash <as.clark at northeastern.edu> Subject: AW: Inspection module permissions? Dear Ash, It’s been a while: the latest version of our documentation (branch 13, for the upcoming release) includes permission bagdes [1]. For some functions, the permissions may depend on the value of an argument [2]. Hope this helps, Christian [1] https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.basex.org%2F13%2FInspection_Functions&data=05%7C02%7Cas.clark%40northeastern.edu%7Ce24f7e3a4a1248aafbc008def3915499%7Ca8eec281aaa34daeac9b9a398b9215e7%7C0%7C0%7C639216002698942907%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=rPgHuzA%2FT7FvOhAlc8Sj%2FhtSRJcy2%2B%2FE1rASBwdkMbw%3D&reserved=0<https://docs.basex.org/13/Inspection_Functions> [2] https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.basex.org%2F13%2FStandard_Functions%23fn%3Adoc-available&data=05%7C02%7Cas.clark%40northeastern.edu%7Ce24f7e3a4a1248aafbc008def3915499%7Ca8eec281aaa34daeac9b9a398b9215e7%7C0%7C0%7C639216002698977155%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=qvWbmORSEJm1HSjkTwnKDe8J077J9%2FFYwoyLPtezJEk%3D&reserved=0<https://docs.basex.org/13/Standard_Functions#fn:doc-available> Von: Clark, Ash via BaseX-Talk <basex-talk at mailman.uni-konstanz.de> Gesendet: Dienstag, 10. März 2026 15:17 An: BaseX Talk Betreff: [basex-talk] Inspection module permissions? Hi, I'm updating to BaseX 12.2 and I noticed that `inspect:xqdoc()` now requires admin permissions. That made sense to me, and I updated my RESTXQ API to fall back on cached data when describing its own documentation. Unusually, however, I couldn't find any reference to the change in the changelog or the Inspection wiki page. Was the change intentional? If so, it'd be helpful for the Inspection documentation to state that the functions need admin permissions. Warmly, Ash Clark
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