> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.kosli.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Roles in Kosli
> Understand the roles in Kosli and their permissions to manage access for users and service accounts within your organization.
Kosli uses a single role model that applies to both **users** and **[service accounts](/administration/authentication/service_accounts)**. Understanding these roles is essential for assigning the appropriate level of access to your team members and to the automated systems that talk to Kosli on their behalf.
Roles apply to service accounts the same way they apply to users. Wherever this page mentions a "user", read it as "user or service account" unless explicitly stated otherwise. The only role-related capability that is user-only is being invited to or removed from the organization.
## Overview
| Role | Description | Best for |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Admin** | Full control over the organization | Organization owners, security leads, platform engineering leads |
| **Member** | Can create and modify resources | Developers, platform engineers, CI/CD systems |
| **Snapshotter** | Can create snapshots and modify service accounts | Environment and operations teams |
| **Reader** | Read-only access to view data | Auditors, compliance officers, stakeholders, reporting systems |
## Permissions Matrix
| Capability | Admin | Member | Snapshotter | Reader |
| -------------------------------------------- | :---: | :----: | :---------: | :----: |
| **User Management** | | | | |
| Invite and remove users | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Change user roles | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| **Organization Settings** | | | | |
| Modify organization settings | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Configure integrations (Slack, LaunchDarkly) | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| **Service Accounts** | | | | |
| Create and manage service accounts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Generate service account API keys | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| **Resource Management** | | | | |
| Create flows | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Update/delete flows | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Create/update environments | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Delete environments | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Create/update policies | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Delete policies | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Create attestation types | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Update/delete attestation types | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| **Attestations & Snapshots** | | | | |
| Report attestations | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Report environment snapshots | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Create and manage approvals | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| **Actions** | | | | |
| Create, update, and delete actions | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| View actions | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| **Data Access** | | | | |
| View trails and artifacts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| View attestations | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| View snapshots | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Query and search data | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Export and generate reports | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| View flow/policy configurations | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
***
## Role details
The following sections provide more details about each Kosli user role, including their permissions and when to assign them.
Administrators have full control over the organization and its resources.
### Permissions
Admins can perform all actions in Kosli, including:
* **User Management**: Invite, remove, and change roles of organization members (Admin only)
* **Organization Settings**: Modify organization-wide settings and configurations (Admin only)
* **Service Accounts**: Create and manage service accounts and their API keys
* **Integrations**: Configure integrations with external systems (Slack, LaunchDarkly, etc.)
* **Resource Management**: Create, update, and delete flows, environments, policies, and attestation types
* **Attestations & Snapshots**: Report attestations, environment snapshots, and manage approvals
* **Actions**: Create, update, and delete actions for automated workflows and notifications
* **Data Access**: View all trails, artifacts, attestations, and snapshots
### When to assign
Assign the Admin role to:
* Organization owners or senior leaders responsible for overall Kosli implementation
* Security engineers who need to manage user access and compliance processes
* Platform engineering leads who need to configure integrations and manage organization settings
Limit the number of Admins to maintain security and control over your organization. Most users should be Members or Readers.
Members can create and modify resources, manage service accounts, and configure integrations, but cannot manage users or organization-wide settings.
### Permissions
Members can:
* **Service Accounts**: Create and manage service accounts and their API keys
* **Integrations**: Configure integrations with external systems (Slack, LaunchDarkly, etc.)
* **Resource Management**: Create, update, and delete flows, environments, policies, and attestation types
* **Attestations & Snapshots**: Report attestations, environment snapshots, and manage approvals
* **Actions**: Create, update, and delete actions for automated workflows and notifications
* **Data Access**: View all trails, artifacts, attestations, and snapshots
Members cannot:
* Manage users or change user roles
* Modify organization-wide settings
### When to assign
Assign the Member role to:
* Platform engineers who need to implement Kosli across teams and manage service accounts
* Application developers who need to report attestations and manage flows
* Team leads who need to configure integrations and create service accounts for their teams
* CI/CD systems that need to report attestations and snapshots (via service accounts)
Snapshotters can create environment snapshots and manage service accounts, but cannot manage users, resources or integrations or organization-wide settings.
### Permissions
Snapshotters can:
* **Service Accounts**: Create and manage service accounts and their API keys
* **Snapshots**: Report environment snapshots
* **View Data**: Access trails, artifacts, attestations, and snapshots
* **Query Information**: Search and filter data across flows and environments
* **Generate Reports**: Export and analyze compliance data
* **View Configurations**: See flow definitions, policies, attestation types, and actions (but cannot modify them)
Snapshotters cannot:
* Create, update, or delete any resources
* Report attestations
* Manage approvals
* Create or manage actions
* Configure integrations
* Invite users or change settings
### When to assign
Assign the Snapshotter role to:
* Environment teams who need to manage runtime environments and report snapshots
* Systems that only need to report environment state without modifying build pipelines
***
Readers have read-only access to view data in Kosli without the ability to create or modify resources.
### Permissions
Readers can:
* **View Data**: Access trails, artifacts, attestations, and snapshots
* **Query Information**: Search and filter data across flows and environments
* **Generate Reports**: Export and analyze compliance data
* **View Configurations**: See flow definitions, policies, attestation types, and actions (but cannot modify them)
Readers cannot:
* Create, update, or delete any resources
* Report attestations or snapshots
* Manage approvals
* Create or manage actions
* Create or manage service accounts
* Configure integrations
* Invite users or change settings
### When to assign
Assign the Reader role to:
* Auditors who need visibility into compliance data
* Compliance officers reviewing attestation and deployment history
* Stakeholders and executives who want to monitor software delivery
* Reporting and monitoring systems that query Kosli data for dashboards
## Assigning roles
To assign or change a user's role:
1. Log in to Kosli as an Admin
2. Navigate to your organization from the left navigation menu
3. Go to `Settings` > `Members`
4. Find the user you want to modify
5. Select their new role from the dropdown menu
Role changes take effect immediately. Users will see their updated permissions the next time they interact with Kosli.
***
## Best practices
### Follow the principle of least privilege
Assign users the minimum role required to perform their job functions. Start with Reader access and increase permissions as needed.
### Use service accounts for automation
For CI/CD pipelines and automated systems, create service accounts with the Member role rather than using personal API keys. This provides better auditability and security.
### Regular access reviews
Periodically review user roles and remove access for team members who no longer need it. This is especially important when people change roles or leave the organization.
### Separate concerns
* **Admins**: Focus on governance, security, and organization-wide configuration
* **Members**: Handle day-to-day operations and resource management
* **Snapshotters**: Manage environments and policies without affecting build flows
* **Readers**: Provide visibility without risk of accidental changes
***
## See also
* [Mapping users to roles](/administration/managing_users/mapping_users_to_roles) — recommended Kosli roles for common organizational roles.
* [Service accounts](/administration/authentication/service_accounts) — assigning roles to machine users.