Access levels
A Role says what work a seat does; an Access Level says what a person may open and change in the app, and it is never a Role.
An Access Level is a named preset of Permissions a Worker holds in a namespace, such as owner or viewer. It is never a Role: the Role is the work, the Access Level is the reach.
Two questions, two records
| Record | Answers | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Role | What work is this seat accountable for, and which Verbs does that work need? | The Billing Specialist bills, collects and refunds up to $100 |
| Access Level | What may this Worker read and change anywhere in the Startup? | A contractor reads every record and changes nothing |
An Agent in a seat calls exactly its Role's Verbs. A person also signs in to the app, so they hold an Access Level as well, and it never widens what their seat may call.
The four levels
| Access Level | May |
|---|---|
| Owner | Call every Verb on every Noun, one-way Verbs included, each within its delay window |
| Admin | Read everything and make every two-way change, access included; one-way Verbs stay with the owner |
| Member | Read everything and make two-way changes, except to the records that decide access |
| Viewer | Read everything and change nothing |
The records that decide access are Roles, Permissions, Mandates, Limits, Settings, Guards and Secrets. Every Noun page shows its own grid by Access Level.
Common cases
| You want | Seat | Access Level |
|---|---|---|
| A cofounder running engineering | Engineering Lead, shared with its agent | Admin |
| A contractor who answers support for one Team | Customer Lead | Member |
| An accountant who reads the books at year end | None | Viewer |
| An investor reading monthly numbers | None | Viewer, or a scoped room from Startup.read |
A person with no seat does no work in the Startup; they only read or change what their Access Level allows. Invite a person to a Role gives them both at once.