diff --git a/casbin/model.conf b/casbin/model.conf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..dd9aba9385ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/casbin/model.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Request definition - this is set by Argo and cannot be changed
+[request_definition]
+r = sub, obj, act
+
+# Policy definition - this set by the operator and can be anything you want
+[policy_definition]
+p = sub, resource, namespace, act
+
+# Policy effect
+[policy_effect]
+e = some(where (p.eft == allow))
+
+# Matchers
+[matchers]
+m = r.sub.Sub == p.sub && r.obj.Resource == p.resource && r.obj.Namespace == p.namespace && r.act == p.act
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/casbin/policy.csv b/casbin/policy.csv
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3f1ff486c0e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/casbin/policy.csv
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+p, anonymous, workflows, argo, list
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 51205995444a..4e0b8d65e09a 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/argoproj/pkg v0.11.0
 	github.com/baiyubin/aliyun-sts-go-sdk v0.0.0-20180326062324-cfa1a18b161f // indirect
 	github.com/blushft/go-diagrams v0.0.0-20201006005127-c78c821223d9
+	github.com/casbin/casbin/v2 v2.36.1
 	github.com/colinmarc/hdfs v1.1.4-0.20180805212432-9746310a4d31
 	github.com/coreos/go-oidc v2.2.1+incompatible
 	github.com/docker/spdystream v0.0.0-20181023171402-6480d4af844c // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 42f1503de96d..c3dc51fcce90 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -209,6 +209,8 @@ github.com/boltdb/bolt v1.3.1/go.mod h1:clJnj/oiGkjum5o1McbSZDSLxVThjynRyGBgiAx2
 github.com/bombsimon/logrusr v1.1.0/go.mod h1:Jq0nHtvxabKE5EMwAAdgTaz7dfWE8C4i11NOltxGQpc=
 github.com/boynton/repl v0.0.0-20170116235056-348863958e3e/go.mod h1:Crc/GCZ3NXDVCio7Yr0o+SSrytpcFhLmVCIzi0s49t4=
 github.com/casbin/casbin/v2 v2.1.2/go.mod h1:YcPU1XXisHhLzuxH9coDNf2FbKpjGlbCg3n9yuLkIJQ=
+github.com/casbin/casbin/v2 v2.36.1 h1:6b7PQuOEcNR4ZGvQcN82+E1o/n2KMNSUk+np9iryU8A=
+github.com/casbin/casbin/v2 v2.36.1/go.mod h1:vByNa/Fchek0KZUgG5wEsl7iFsiviAYKRtgrQfcJqHg=
 github.com/cenkalti/backoff v2.2.1+incompatible/go.mod h1:90ReRw6GdpyfrHakVjL/QHaoyV4aDUVVkXQJJJ3NXXM=
 github.com/census-instrumentation/opencensus-proto v0.2.1/go.mod h1:f6KPmirojxKA12rnyqOA5BBL4O983OfeGPqjHWSTneU=
 github.com/cespare/xxhash v1.1.0 h1:a6HrQnmkObjyL+Gs60czilIUGqrzKutQD6XZog3p+ko=
@@ -502,6 +504,7 @@ github.com/golang/mock v1.4.0/go.mod h1:UOMv5ysSaYNkG+OFQykRIcU/QvvxJf3p21QfJ2Bt
 github.com/golang/mock v1.4.1/go.mod h1:UOMv5ysSaYNkG+OFQykRIcU/QvvxJf3p21QfJ2Bt3cw=
 github.com/golang/mock v1.4.3/go.mod h1:UOMv5ysSaYNkG+OFQykRIcU/QvvxJf3p21QfJ2Bt3cw=
 github.com/golang/mock v1.4.4/go.mod h1:l3mdAwkq5BuhzHwde/uurv3sEJeZMXNpwsxVWU71h+4=
+github.com/golang/mock v1.5.0 h1:jlYHihg//f7RRwuPfptm04yp4s7O6Kw8EZiVYIGcH0g=
 github.com/golang/mock v1.5.0/go.mod h1:CWnOUgYIOo4TcNZ0wHX3YZCqsaM1I1Jvs6v3mP3KVu8=
 github.com/golang/protobuf v0.0.0-20161109072736-4bd1920723d7/go.mod h1:6lQm79b+lXiMfvg/cZm0SGofjICqVBUtrP5yJMmIC1U=
 github.com/golang/protobuf v1.1.0/go.mod h1:6lQm79b+lXiMfvg/cZm0SGofjICqVBUtrP5yJMmIC1U=
diff --git a/server/auth/casbin/foo.go b/server/auth/casbin/foo.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..cd83a1e21cec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/auth/casbin/foo.go
@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+package casbin
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/casbin/casbin/v2"
+	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/status"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/watch"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/discovery"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/rest"
+
+	wfv1 "github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v3/pkg/apis/workflow/v1alpha1"
+	workflow "github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v3/pkg/client/clientset/versioned"
+	"github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v3/pkg/client/clientset/versioned/typed/workflow/v1alpha1"
+	authclaims "github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v3/server/auth/types"
+)
+
+type Sub struct { // TODO - own file
+	Sub string
+}
+
+func (s Sub) String() string { // TODO - tests
+	return s.Sub
+}
+
+type Obj struct { // TODO - own file
+	Resource  string
+	Namespace string
+	Name      string
+}
+
+func (o Obj) String() string { // TODO - tests
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s/%s", o.Resource, o.Namespace, o.Name)
+}
+
+var enforce = func(ctx context.Context, resource, namespace, name, verb string) error { return nil }
+var GetClaims func(ctx context.Context) *authclaims.Claims
+
+func init() {
+	println("ALEX", "init") // TODO - replace with debug logging
+	// these files must be mounted at /casbin using configmap volume mount
+	// TODO if these files are not found then log they are not found,
+	// and then use a "allow everything" enforcer
+	e, err := casbin.NewEnforcer("casbin/model.conf", "casbin/policy.csv")
+	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		log.WithError(err).Info("Casbin RBAC disabled")
+		return
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	e.EnableLog(true) // TODO - do we want config for this? e.g. ARGO_CASBIN_ENABLE_LOG=true
+	enforce = func(ctx context.Context, resource, namespace, name, verb string) error {
+		claims := GetClaims(ctx)
+		sub := Sub{Sub: "anonymous"} // TODO -is this the best name for an "anonymous" users? could it conflict with a real user with name "anonymous"
+		if claims != nil {
+			sub.Sub = claims.Subject // TODO - needs testing
+		}
+		obj := Obj{Resource: resource, Namespace: namespace, Name: name}
+		act := verb
+		// TODO - claims exposes
+		// - email - because many "subjects" are opaque strings - do we want to use that somehow?
+		// - groups - can we map these to roles somehow?
+		println("ALEX", "enforce", sub.String(), obj.String(), act) // TODO - replace with debug logging
+
+		if ok, err := e.Enforce(sub, obj, act); err != nil {
+			return err
+		} else if !ok {
+			return status.Error(codes.Unauthenticated, "not allowed")
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+}
+
+type foo struct { // TODO - new name and own file
+	x workflow.Interface // TODO - rename to "delegate"
+}
+
+func (c foo) RESTClient() rest.Interface {
+	panic("not supported") // not all of these need to be implemented, this one is unused for example
+}
+
+func (c foo) ClusterWorkflowTemplates() v1alpha1.ClusterWorkflowTemplateInterface {
+	panic("implement me")
+}
+
+func (c foo) CronWorkflows(namespace string) v1alpha1.CronWorkflowInterface {
+	panic("implement me")
+}
+
+type bar struct { // TODO - new name and own file
+	x         v1alpha1.WorkflowInterface // TODO - rename to "delegate"
+	namespace string
+}
+
+func (c bar) Create(ctx context.Context, workflow *wfv1.Workflow, opts metav1.CreateOptions) (*wfv1.Workflow, error) {
+	panic("implement me")
+}
+
+func (c bar) Update(ctx context.Context, workflow *wfv1.Workflow, opts metav1.UpdateOptions) (*wfv1.Workflow, error) {
+	panic("implement me")
+}
+
+func (c bar) Delete(ctx context.Context, name string, opts metav1.DeleteOptions) error {
+	panic("implement me")
+}
+
+func (c bar) DeleteCollection(ctx context.Context, opts metav1.DeleteOptions, listOpts metav1.ListOptions) error {
+	panic("implement me")
+}
+
+func (c bar) Get(ctx context.Context, name string, opts metav1.GetOptions) (*wfv1.Workflow, error) {
+	panic("implement me")
+}
+
+func (c bar) List(ctx context.Context, opts metav1.ListOptions) (*wfv1.WorkflowList, error) {
+	if err := enforce(ctx, "workflows", c.namespace, "", "list"); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return c.x.List(ctx, opts)
+}
+
+func (c bar) Watch(ctx context.Context, opts metav1.ListOptions) (watch.Interface, error) {
+	panic("implement me")
+}
+
+func (c bar) Patch(ctx context.Context, name string, pt types.PatchType, data []byte, opts metav1.PatchOptions, subresources ...string) (result *wfv1.Workflow, err error) {
+	panic("implement me")
+}
+
+func (c foo) Workflows(namespace string) v1alpha1.WorkflowInterface {
+	println("ALEX", "Workflows", namespace)
+	return &bar{c.x.ArgoprojV1alpha1().Workflows(namespace), namespace}
+}
+
+func (c foo) WorkflowEventBindings(namespace string) v1alpha1.WorkflowEventBindingInterface {
+	panic("implement me")
+}
+
+func (c foo) WorkflowTaskSets(namespace string) v1alpha1.WorkflowTaskSetInterface {
+	panic("implement me")
+}
+
+func (c foo) WorkflowTemplates(namespace string) v1alpha1.WorkflowTemplateInterface {
+	panic("implement me")
+}
+
+func (c foo) Discovery() discovery.DiscoveryInterface {
+	panic("not supported")
+}
+
+func (c foo) ArgoprojV1alpha1() v1alpha1.ArgoprojV1alpha1Interface {
+	return c
+}
+
+func WrapWorkflowInterface(x workflow.Interface) workflow.Interface {
+	println("ALEX", "workflowInterface")
+	return &foo{x}
+}
diff --git a/server/auth/gatekeeper.go b/server/auth/gatekeeper.go
index 827584cd51c1..42dd6f675efd 100644
--- a/server/auth/gatekeeper.go
+++ b/server/auth/gatekeeper.go
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import (
 	"sort"
 	"strconv"
 
+	"github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v3/server/auth/casbin"
+
 	"github.com/antonmedv/expr"
 	eventsource "github.com/argoproj/argo-events/pkg/client/eventsource/clientset/versioned"
 	sensor "github.com/argoproj/argo-events/pkg/client/sensor/clientset/versioned"
@@ -43,6 +45,10 @@ const (
 	ClaimsKey      ContextKey = "types.Claims"
 )
 
+func init() {
+	casbin.GetClaims = GetClaims // prevent circular dependency
+}
+
 //go:generate mockery -name Gatekeeper
 
 type Gatekeeper interface {
@@ -98,11 +104,11 @@ func (s *gatekeeper) Context(ctx context.Context) (context.Context, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, DynamicKey, clients.Dynamic)
-	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, WfKey, clients.Workflow)
-	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, EventSourceKey, clients.EventSource)
-	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, SensorKey, clients.Sensor)
-	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, KubeKey, clients.Kubernetes)
+	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, DynamicKey, clients.Dynamic) // TODO - wrap
+	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, WfKey, casbin.WrapWorkflowInterface(clients.Workflow))
+	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, EventSourceKey, clients.EventSource) // TODO - wrap
+	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, SensorKey, clients.Sensor)           // TODO - wrap
+	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, KubeKey, clients.Kubernetes)         // TODO - wrap
 	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, ClaimsKey, claims)
 	return ctx, nil
 }