Building a Centralized User Access Control System with AWS Cognito and CDK
๐ฏ Introduction Building a centralized user access control system is one of the most critical architectural decisions for modern applications. Whether you’re managing a single application or a microservices ecosystem, having a robust, scalable authentication and authorization system is essential for: Single Source of Truth: One system managing all user identities and permissions Consistency: Uniform authentication experience across all services Security: Centralized security policies and compliance controls Scalability: Support for millions of users across multiple applications Developer Experience: Simple integration for new services Cost Efficiency: Managed service without operational overhead This comprehensive guide demonstrates how to design and implement a production-ready centralized access control system using AWS Cognito and CDK (TypeScript), with strategies for multi-tenancy, role-based access control (RBAC), and integration patterns for various services.