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Overview

Family member roles control what actions users can perform within a family. Zen Nurture uses a role-based access control system with three primary roles: owner, admin, and caregiver.

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Schema

The familyMembers table links users to families with specific roles: 
familyMembers: defineTable({
  familyId: v.id("families"),
  userId: v.string(),
  role: v.string(),
  joinedAt: v.string(),
})
  .index("by_familyId", ["familyId"])
  .index("by_userId", ["userId"])
  .index("by_familyId_userId", ["familyId", "userId"])

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Role Types

Owner

  • Full administrative control
  • Cannot be removed
  • One per family
  • Automatically assigned at family creation

Admin

  • Send invitations
  • Remove members (except owner)
  • Manage family settings
  • Full data access

Caregiver

  • View family data
  • Log baby events
  • Create caregiver profiles
  • Limited administrative access

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Role Permissions

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Inviting Members

Only owner and admin roles can send family invitations.
convex/families.ts
export const inviteCaregiver = mutation({
  args: {
    familyId: v.id("families"),
    email: v.string(),
    role: v.optional(v.string()),
  },
  handler: async (ctx, args) => {
    const user = await requireAuth(ctx);

    const membership = await ctx.db
      .query("familyMembers")
      .withIndex("by_familyId_userId", (q) =>
        q.eq("familyId", args.familyId).eq("userId", user._id)
      )
      .first();

    if (!membership || !["owner", "admin"].includes(membership.role)) {
      throw new Error("Only owners and admins can invite caregivers");
    }

    // Create invitation...
  },
});

​
Removing Members

Owners cannot be removed from a family. Only owners and admins can remove other members.
convex/families.ts
export const removeFamilyMember = mutation({
  args: {
    familyId: v.id("families"),
    memberId: v.id("familyMembers"),
  },
  handler: async (ctx, args) => {
    const user = await requireAuth(ctx);

    // Check requester permissions
    const myMembership = await ctx.db
      .query("familyMembers")
      .withIndex("by_familyId_userId", (q) =>
        q.eq("familyId", args.familyId).eq("userId", user._id)
      )
      .first();

    if (!myMembership || !["owner", "admin"].includes(myMembership.role)) {
      throw new Error("Only owners and admins can remove members");
    }

    // Verify target member
    const target = await ctx.db.get(args.memberId);
    if (!target || target.familyId !== args.familyId) {
      throw new Error("Member not found in this family");
    }
    
    if (target.role === "owner") {
      throw new Error("Cannot remove the family owner");
    }

    await ctx.db.delete(args.memberId);
  },
});

​
Creating Families

When a user creates a family, they automatically become the owner:
convex/families.ts
export const createFamily = mutation({
  args: { name: v.string() },
  handler: async (ctx, args) => {
    const user = await requireAuth(ctx);
    const now = new Date().toISOString();

    // Create family record
    const familyId = await ctx.db.insert("families", {
      name: args.name,
      ownerId: user._id,
      createdAt: now,
    });

    // Automatically add creator as owner
    await ctx.db.insert("familyMembers", {
      familyId,
      userId: user._id,
      role: "owner",
      joinedAt: now,
    });

    return familyId;
  },
});

​
Listing Family Members

Retrieve all members of a family with enriched user information:
convex/families.ts
export const listFamilyMembers = query({
  args: { familyId: v.id("families") },
  handler: async (ctx, args) => {
    const user = await authComponent.safeGetAuthUser(ctx);
    if (!user) return [];

    // Verify requesting user is a member
    const myMembership = await ctx.db
      .query("familyMembers")
      .withIndex("by_familyId_userId", (q) =>
        q.eq("familyId", args.familyId).eq("userId", user._id)
      )
      .first();

    if (!myMembership) return [];

    // Get all family members
    const members = await ctx.db
      .query("familyMembers")
      .withIndex("by_familyId", (q) => q.eq("familyId", args.familyId))
      .collect();

    // Enrich with user details
    const enriched = await Promise.all(
      members.map(async (m) => {
        const memberUser = await authComponent.getAnyUserById(ctx, m.userId);
        return {
          ...m,
          userName: memberUser?.name ?? "Unknown",
          userEmail: memberUser?.email ?? "",
        };
      })
    );

    return enriched;
  },
});

​
Access Control Pattern

Use a consistent pattern for role-based access control:
1

Authenticate user

const user = await requireAuth(ctx);
2

Fetch user's membership

const membership = await ctx.db
  .query("familyMembers")
  .withIndex("by_familyId_userId", (q) =>
    q.eq("familyId", args.familyId).eq("userId", user._id)
  )
  .first();
3

Check role permissions

if (!membership || !["owner", "admin"].includes(membership.role)) {
  throw new Error("Insufficient permissions");
}
4

Perform authorized action

// Execute the privileged operation

​
Viewing User’s Families

Users can be members of multiple families. List all families for the current user:
convex/families.ts
export const listMyFamilies = query({
  args: {},
  handler: async (ctx) => {
    const user = await authComponent.safeGetAuthUser(ctx);
    if (!user) return [];

    // Find all family memberships
    const memberships = await ctx.db
      .query("familyMembers")
      .withIndex("by_userId", (q) => q.eq("userId", user._id))
      .collect();

    // Fetch family details with role
    const families = await Promise.all(
      memberships.map(async (m) => {
        const family = await ctx.db.get(m.familyId);
        return family ? { ...family, role: m.role } : null;
      })
    );

    return families.filter(Boolean);
  },
});

​
Role Assignment on Invitation

When inviting members, you can specify their role (defaults to “caregiver”): 
// Invite as caregiver (default)
await inviteCaregiver({
  familyId: family._id,
  email: "user@example.com"
});

// Invite as admin
await inviteCaregiver({
  familyId: family._id,
  email: "admin@example.com",
  role: "admin"
});
The role is stored in the invitation and applied when the user accepts: 
const inviteId = await ctx.db.insert("familyInvitations", {
  familyId: args.familyId,
  email: args.email,
  role: args.role ?? "caregiver", // Default to caregiver
  invitedBy: user._id,
  status: "pending",
  createdAt: now.toISOString(),
  expiresAt: expiresAt.toISOString(),
});

​
Checking Family Access

Helper function for verifying a user has access to a baby through family membership:
lib/auth.ts
export async function requireBabyAccess(
  ctx: QueryCtx | MutationCtx,
  babyId: Id<"babyProfiles">,
  userId: string
) {
  const babyProfile = await ctx.db.get(babyId);
  if (!babyProfile) throw new Error("Baby profile not found");
  if (!babyProfile.familyId) throw new Error("Baby not associated with family");

  const familyIds = await getUserFamilyIds(ctx, userId);
  if (!familyIds.includes(babyProfile.familyId)) {
    throw new Error("Not a member of this family");
  }
}

​
Best Practices

Even for read-only operations, check that the user is a family member:
const myMembership = await ctx.db
  .query("familyMembers")
  .withIndex("by_familyId_userId", (q) =>
    q.eq("familyId", args.familyId).eq("userId", user._id)
  )
  .first();

if (!myMembership) return [];
Make permission checks readable and maintainable:
if (!["owner", "admin"].includes(membership.role)) {
  throw new Error("Insufficient permissions");
}
Always prevent owner deletion:
if (target.role === "owner") {
  throw new Error("Cannot remove the family owner");
}
Include the user’s role when returning family information:
const family = await ctx.db.get(args.familyId);
return family ? { ...family, role: membership.role } : null;

​
Permission Matrix

ActionOwnerAdminCaregiver
Create family✓✓✓
View family data✓✓✓
Send invitations✓✓✗
Remove members✓✓✗
Remove owner✗✗✗
Log baby events✓✓✓
Create caregivers✓✓✓
Delete family✓✗✗

Family Invitations

Learn how to invite new members to your family

Caregivers

Set up caregiver profiles for event attribution

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