Roles and Permissions — Control Who Can Do What

Lifecycle uses two independent layers of access control: organization-level roles and board-level roles. Together they give you fine-grained control over who can see what and who can do what — without requiring complex configuration.

Roles are built-in — you cannot create custom role types. The 4 org roles (Admin, User, Viewer, Customer) and 4 board roles (Admin, Member, Contributor, Viewer) are fixed. However, the combination of these two layers gives you fine-grained access control without custom configuration.

Changing org roles: Go to Settings → Team, find the member, and click their current role to change it.

Changing board roles: Open your board → click the gear icon → Members tab, find the member, and update their role. Or go to Settings → Team → find the member → Board Access section.

Board access is configurable per user. A team member can have different roles on different boards — Admin on one, Viewer on another. This lets you give a contractor full access to a single project board without exposing the rest of your workspace.

Organization Roles

Organization roles are assigned when you invite a team member. They define what that person can do across the entire organization.

Admin

Full control over the organization.

  • Manage organization settings (name, logo, billing, timezone)
  • Invite and remove team members
  • Set any member's org role
  • Create, archive, and delete boards
  • Access every board regardless of board-level role assignments
  • Manage billing and subscription

Note: Org Admins automatically have Admin-level access on all boards. Board-level role assignments for Admins are ignored — they always have full access.

User

Standard team member. The role most of your team will have.

  • View boards they have been explicitly added to
  • Create, edit, and comment on work items (subject to board role)
  • Track time, manage their assignments
  • Cannot manage org settings, billing, or invite members

Viewer

Read-only access across the organization.

  • See all boards they have been added to
  • Cannot create, edit, or delete any item
  • Cannot comment or participate in discussions
  • Useful for stakeholders, executives, or contractors who need visibility without write access

Customer

External users who access only the Customer Portal.

  • Cannot see any internal boards, sprints, or team information
  • Can only submit feature requests and track their own requests via the portal
  • Registered via the public join link, not invited internally

Board Roles

Board roles are assigned per board, per member. They determine what that person can do within a specific board.

Admin

Full control over the board.

  • Manage board settings (views, statuses, fields, pipeline)
  • Add and remove board members, set board roles
  • Create and manage automations
  • Modify all work items, all views
  • Delete the board

Member

Full item access on the board.

  • Create, edit, and assign any work item
  • Move items through any status or stage
  • Comment on any item, use @mentions
  • Access all views on the board

Contributor

Limited to their own work.

  • Can only see and edit items assigned to them
  • Cannot see items assigned to other team members
  • Useful for external contractors or team members with a narrow scope

Viewer

Read-only access on the board.

  • See all items on the board
  • Cannot create, edit, move, or delete items
  • Can read comments but cannot add them

How the Two Layers Interact

Board roles only apply within a specific board. A team member can have different board roles across different boards — Member on the product board, Viewer on the marketing board.

Scenario Result
Org Admin on any board Always has full Admin access, regardless of board role
Org User with no board assignment Cannot see the board at all
Org User assigned as Board Member Can create and edit items on that board
Org User assigned as Board Viewer Can see items but not modify them
Org Viewer assigned as Board Member Board Member permissions win — they can edit
Org Viewer with no board assignment Cannot see the board

Tip: Use Org Viewer for stakeholders who should see everything across boards without any write access. Use Board Viewer for team members who need visibility on a specific board but shouldn't modify it.

Permission Matrix

Organization-Level Permissions

Permission Org Admin Org User Org Viewer Customer
Manage org settings Yes No No No
Invite team members Yes No No No
Remove team members Yes No No No
Create boards Yes No No No
Archive/delete boards Yes No No No
Manage billing Yes No No No
Access all boards Yes No No No
Access Customer Portal No No No Yes

Board-Level Permissions

Permission Board Admin Board Member Board Contributor Board Viewer
View all items on the board Yes Yes No (own only) Yes
Create work items Yes Yes Yes (own scope) No
Edit any work item Yes Yes No (own only) No
Delete work items Yes Yes No No
Move items between statuses Yes Yes Yes (own only) No
Assign items to others Yes Yes No No
Comment on items Yes Yes Yes (own only) No
Manage board settings Yes No No No
Create/edit views Yes No No No
Manage board members Yes No No No
Create automations Yes No No No
Manage sprints Yes No No No

Changing Roles

To change an org role: Settings → Team → find the member → click their current role → select a new role.

To change a board role: Settings → Team → find the member → Board Access section → click the role next to any board → select a new role.

Or from a specific board: Board Settings → Members → find the member → change their role.

Changes take effect immediately — no page reload required.

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