This document forms the specifications for [Role-Based Access Control](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-based_access_control) which was introduced as part of the **Unleash v4 release**.
2.**Project resources** - Resources which are only available under a project. Today this is only “feature toggles” (but we expect more resources to live under a project in the future). A feature toggle will belong to only one single project. In Unleash-Open source there exists only a single project, the “default” project, while Unleash Enterprise supports multiple projects.
Unleash comes with a set of built-in predefined roles that you can use. The _root roles_ are available to all Unleash users, while the _project-based roles_ are only available to Pro and Enterprise users. The below table lists the roles, what they do, and what plans they are available in. Additionally, Enterprise users can create their own [custom root roles](#custom-root-roles) and [custom project roles](#custom-project-roles).
| **Admin** | Root | Users with the root admin role have superuser access to Unleash and can perform any operation within the Unleash platform. | All versions |
| **Editor** | Root | Users with the root editor role have access to most features in Unleash, but can not manage users and roles in the root scope. Editors will be added as project owners when creating projects and get superuser rights within the context of these projects. Users with the editor role will also get access to most permissions on the default project by default. | All versions |
| **Viewer** | Root | Users with the root viewer role can only read root resources in Unleash. Viewers can be added to specific projects as project members. Users with the viewer role may not view API tokens. | All versions |
| **Owner** | Project | Users with the project owner role have full control over the project, and can add and manage other users within the project context, manage feature toggles within the project, and control advanced project features like archiving and deleting the project. | Pro and Enterprise |
| **Member** | Project | Users with the project member role are allowed to view, create, and update feature toggles within a project, but have limited permissions in regards to managing the project's user access and can not archive or delete the project. | Pro and Enterprise |
Custom root roles let you define your own root roles with a specific set of root permissions. The roles can then be assigned to entities (users, service accounts and groups) at the root level. This allows you to control access to resources in a more precise, fine-grained way. For a step-by-step walkthrough of how to create and assign custom root roles, refer to [_how to create and assign custom root roles_](../how-to/how-to-create-and-assign-custom-root-roles.md).
Custom project roles let you define your own project roles with a specific set of project permissions down to the environment level. The roles can then be assigned to users in specific projects. All users have viewer access to all projects and resources, but must be assigned a project role to be allowed to edit a project's resources. For a step-by-step walkthrough of how to create and assign custom project roles, see [_how to create and assign custom project roles_](../how-to/how-to-create-and-assign-custom-project-roles.md).
| **update the project** | Lets the user update project settings, such as enabling/disabling environments, add users, etc. |
| **delete the project** | Lets the user delete the project. |
| **create feature toggles within the project** | Lets the user create feature toggles within the project and create variants for said toggle. Note that they **cannot assign strategies** to toggles without having the _create activation strategy_ permission for the corresponding environment. |
| **update feature toggles within the project** | Lets the user update feature toggle descriptions; mark toggles as stale / not stale; add, update, and remove toggle tags; and update toggle variants within the project. |
| **delete feature toggles within the project** | Lets the user archive feature toggles within the project. |
| **change feature toggle project** | Lets the user move toggles to other projects they have access to. |
| **create/edit variants** | Lets the user create and edit variants within the project. (Deprecated with v4.21 in favor of environment-specific permissions for working with variants[^1].) |
| **create activation strategies** | Lets the user assign feature toggle activation strategies within the environment. |
| **update activation strategies** | Lets the user update feature toggle activation strategies within the environment. |
| **delete activation strategies** | Lets the user delete feature toggle activation strategies within the environment. |
| **enable/disable toggles** | Lets the user enable and disable toggles within the environment. |
| **update variants** | Lets the user create, edit and remove variants within the environment. |
| **approve a change request** | Lets the user approve [change requests](change-requests.md) in the environment. |
| **apply a change request** | Lets the user apply change requests in the environment. |
| **skip change requests** | Lets the user ignore change request requirements. This applies **only when using the API** directly; when using the admin UI, users with this permission will still need to go through the normal change request flow. You can find more details in the section on [circumventing change requests](change-requests.md#circumventing-change-requests). |
Multiple project roles allow you to assign multiple project roles to a user or group within a project. By doing so, you can effectively merge the permissions associated with each role, resulting in a comprehensive set of permissions for the user or group in question. This ensures that individuals or teams have all the access they require to complete their tasks, as the system will automatically grant the most permissive rights from the combination of assigned roles.
This multi-role assignment feature can be particularly beneficial in complex projects with dynamic teams where a user or group needs to wear multiple hats. For example, a team member could serve as both a developer and a quality assurance tester. By combining roles, you simplify the access management process, eliminating the need to create a new, custom role that encapsulates the needed permissions.
User groups allow you to assign roles to a group of users within a project, rather than to a user directly. This allows you to manage your user permissions more easily when there's lots of users in the system. For a guide on how to create and manage user groups see [_how to create and manage user groups_](../how-to/how-to-create-and-manage-user-groups.md).
Groups that do not have a root role need to be assigned a role on a project to be useful. You can assign both predefined roles and custom project roles to groups.
While a user can only have one role in a given project, a user may belong to multiple groups, and each of those groups may be given a role on a project. In the case where a given user is given permissions through more than one group, the user will inherit most permissive permissions of all their groups in that project.
User groups also support integration with your Single Sign-On (SSO) provider. This allows you to automatically assign users to groups when they log in through SSO. Check out [_how to set up group SSO sync_](../how-to/how-to-set-up-group-sso-sync.md) for a step-by-step walkthrough.
Users that have been added to a group through your SSO provider will be automatically removed next time they log in if they've been removed from the SSO group. Users that have been manually added to the group will not be affected.
To enable group sync, you'll need to set two fields in your SSO provider configuration options:
- **enable group syncing**:
Turns on group syncing. This is disabled by default.
- **group field JSON path**
A JSON path that should point to the groups field in your token response. This should match the exact field returned by the provider. For example, if your token looks like this:
```json
{
"iss": "https://some-url.com",
"azp": "1234987819200.apps.some-url.com",
"aud": "1234987819200.apps.some-url.com",
"sub": "10769150350006150715113082367",
"at_hash": "HK6E_P6Dh8Y93mRNtsDB1Q",
"hd": "example.com",
"email": "jsmith@example.com",
"email_verified": "true",
"groups": ["test-group", "test-group-2"], //the field where groups are specified
"iat": 1353601026,
"exp": 1353604926,
"nonce": "0394852-3190485-2490358"
}
```
You need to set the "Group Field JSON path" to "groups".
Once you've enabled group syncing and set an appropriate path, you'll need to add the SSO group names to the Unleash group. This can be done by navigating to the Unleash group you want to enable sync for and adding the SSO group names to the "SSO group ID/name" property.
[^1]: The project-level permission is still required for the [**create/overwrite variants** (PUT)](/docs/reference/api/unleash/overwrite-feature-variants.api.mdx) and [**update variants** (PATCH)](/docs/reference/api/unleash/patch-feature-variants.api.mdx) API endpoints, but it is not used for anything within the admin UI. The API endpoints have been superseded by the [**create/overwrite environment variants** (PUT)](/docs/reference/api/unleash/overwrite-feature-variants-on-environments.api.mdx) and [**update environment variants** (PATCH)](/docs/reference/api/unleash/patch-environments-feature-variants.api.mdx) endpoints, respectively.
