# Access levels

URL: /agents/access-levels · Id: `page:agents/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](/business/nouns/access-level) is a named preset of [Permissions](/business/nouns/permission) a [Worker](/business/nouns/worker) holds in a namespace, such as owner or viewer. It is never a [Role](/business/nouns/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](/business/nouns/verb) does that work need? | The [Billing Specialist](/agents/finance/billing-specialist) bills, collects and refunds up to $100 |
| Access Level | What may this Worker read and change anywhere in the [Startup](/business/nouns/startup)? | A contractor reads every record and changes nothing |

An [Agent](/business/nouns/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](/business/nouns/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](/business/nouns/mandate), [Limits](/business/nouns/limit), [Settings](/business/nouns/setting), [Guards](/business/nouns/guard) and [Secrets](/business/nouns/secret). Every Noun page shows its own grid by Access Level.

## Common cases
| You want | Seat | Access Level |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A cofounder running engineering | [Engineering Lead](/agents/engineering/engineering-lead), shared with its agent | Admin |
| A contractor who answers support for one [Team](/business/nouns/team) | [Customer Lead](/agents/customer/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`](/business/nouns/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](/agents/invite-a-person-to-a-role) gives them both at once.