Read only user for a space

How do I add a user as a 'read only' user to a space ? Not interested in the crappy guest model, already wasted a day following it.

Thanks

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Hi @Aj ,

In Jira Cloud, there's no built-in "read-only" role out of the box, but you can achieve this through Permission Schemes combined with a custom Project Role. Here's how:

Step 1 – Create a custom Project Role

Go to Jira Settings → System → Security → Space Roles
Click Add Space Role and name it something like Viewer
Save it

Step 2 – Update the Permission Scheme

Go to Jira Settings → Issues → Permission Schemes
Find the scheme used by your project and click Permissions (or duplicate it first — see note below)
Locate the Browse Projects permission and add your new Viewer role to it
Make sure the Viewer role is not listed under any other permission (Create Issues, Edit Issues, Add Comments, Transition Issues, etc.)

Step 3 – Add the user to the role in your project

Go to your project → Project Settings → People
Add the user and assign them the Viewer role

Note for Standard plan users: Permission Schemes are shared across projects, so modifying an existing one will affect all projects using it. It's safer to duplicate the scheme first, adjust the copy, and then assign it to your specific project.

The user will still need a Jira license assigned — there's no way around that unless you use the external guest model (which, as you mentioned, isn't ideal).

Hope this helps! 🙌

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Thats all I see under, System -> Security:

I dont see anything to do with Projects

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Hello @Aj , it's Space Roles — Atlassian recently updated the terminology.

It should be listed in the left sidebar under the Security section. If you're already in System settings, just look for "Space Roles" in the menu — it's usually right there alongside options like Global Permissions and Issue Security Schemes.

Hope that helps! 🙌

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How classic - change the terminology without updating the documentation! Let the user suffer and waste their time.

Moving on to the next step -- same situation.

There is no Jira Settings → Issues → Permission Schemes!

I only see 'Jira Settings -> Security -> Global Permissions' which has all sort of useless global permissions, nothing project specific.

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Hey @Aj ,
Apologies for the earlier confusion! There are actually two ways to manage Permission Schemes in Jira Cloud — here's both:

Option A – Directly from the Space

Go to your Space
Click Space Settings (left sidebar)
Go to Space Settings → People and Access
Add the user and assign them the Viewer role
Then to adjust what that role can do:
Go to Space Settings → Space Permissions
You'll see the Permission Scheme assigned to the project
Click Actions → Edit permissions
Find Browse Projects → add the Viewer role
Remove the Viewer role from all other permissions

Option B – From Global Settings (if you know the scheme name)

Go to Jira Settings (⚙️) → Work Items
Scroll down the left sidebar to Permission Schemes
Find the scheme used by your project and click Permissions
Same as above: add Viewer to Browse Projects only

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Thanks. At step #10, one should be removing 'Any logged in user' setting, not the 'Viewer'. It wont be there.

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Hi @Aj

Glad it helped! Thanks for the clarification on step #10 — duly noted.

Best regards,
Cristian Quiroz Garcia

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Like • Aj likes this

0 votes

Need both - JIRA space and Confluence space.

This would be a licensed user but outside the organization.

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Hey @Aj

The "guest model" mention makes me fairly confident you mean a Confluence space — @James Gamble is right that it matters, so I'll answer that reading.

For a **licensed user on your site**, read-only is just space permissions:

- Space settings → Space access → add the user, tick only **View**, leave everything else unchecked.
- The bit that catches people: permissions are additive. If `confluence-users` (or any group they're in) already has Add/Delete on that space, your view-only grant does nothing — you have to strip the group's permissions down too.
- Check the default space permissions for new spaces as well, since most spaces inherit generous group access from there.

Docs: [Assign space permissions](https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/assign-space-permissions/).

If the person is **external to your org**, I'd brace for disappointment: it's guests, anonymous (public) access, or a paid licence with view-only space perms. There's no fourth option, and anonymous exposes the space to everyone.

If this is actually a Jira Product Discovery space, different story — the free contributor role gives read-only plus comments/votes

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@Thanasis Nikolaou

Jira supports Guest access also.

https://community.atlassian.com/release-notes/5uCy5qFRAy9nz14gOvH2lu

https://support.atlassian.com/jira-cloud-administration/docs/invite-and-manage-guests-in-jira/

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Guest access is limited to 1 space, hence of no interest!

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0 votes

Hola Aj,

Could you clarify which type of space you mean? The question is posted under Jira Cloud, but “space” could refer to a Confluence space or a Jira Product Discovery space, and the permissions are handled differently.

It’d also help to know whether this person is an internal licensed user or someone external to your organization. Once that’s clear, the correct read-only setup should be much easier to pin down.

Thanks,

James

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