Case Study: Google achieves a fully isolated, browser-based authorization playground with WorkOS

Google powers isolated auth playground with WorkOS and zero setup

Google needed a way to allow developers to freely experiment with its powerful, Zanzibar-based authorization system without the overhead of provisioning and managing countless backend environments for each user. This challenge was addressed by WorkOS for its Fine-Grained Authorization (FGA) product, which required an isolated playground for testing access rules.

WorkOS implemented a solution by compiling its Go-based authorization server into WebAssembly (WASM) to run directly in the user's browser. This created a fully isolated, zero-setup playground that requires no API keys or backend resources. The results included instant feedback for users with no network latency, the ability to share state via URLs, and a self-contained environment that can even run offline once cached, all while providing an authentic preview of the production service.

Google