App password permissions vs direct project and repository permissions

Steve Taunton

How do the permissions assigned to app passwords work with the permissions placed directly on projects and repositories?  Which takes precedence? I can't find any document that discusses this.

Example

I (as a workspace admin) assign a user Clone access directly to a single repository

The end user creates an app password so they can use git.  When they create the app password, they give themselves read, write, admin and delete permissions to repositories.

What are the end user's effective permissions on repositories using git?  Clone only as I assigned on that one repository or do they have  read, write, admin and delete permissions to the repository as they specified in the app password permissions. I'm almost positive it's Clone only to that one repository but had to ask.

App passwords are a new concept to me so forgive the newbie question.

Phil C_66l19w

Hi Steve,

Welcome to the community!

Great question! The permissions a user has when using an app password are still limited by the access granted to them at the repository or project level.

In your example:

• You (as a workspace admin) assign the user clone access (read) to a specific repository.
• The user creates an app password and selects the permissions (read, write, admin, delete) for that specific app password.

Even though they granted all repository-related permissions in their app password, their actual access is limited to clone (read) for that specific repository. The app password does not override the repository-level permissions set by the admin. It only provides an authentication mechanism based on the permissions the user already has.

So, in this case, the user’s effective permissions using Git would be clone only for that repository.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you need further clarification!

Cheers,

- Phil C.