What are permissions in Jira?
10 min
Intermediate
By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:
- Differentiate global and space permissions
- List the common global and space permissions
- Describe the function of each global and space permission
- Describe access permission types and security
Control what users see and do with permissions
Permissions add a layer of security and control to Jira apps. They do things like control the content that users can access and the actions they can perform.
Permissions are controlled at the organization, app, space, and work item levels.
👇 Click the tabs below to learn how permissions are controlled at each level.
Admins at the organization level can:
- Manage organizational security
- Manage app access
- Manage users and groups
Compare global and space permissions
Global permissions control system-wide functionality across all of Jira and Jira Service Management.
👉 For example: Global permissions grant groups of users the ability to administer Jira, mention users, or share filters with other users.
Space permissions control functionality in a space for users, groups, or space roles.
👉 For example: Company-managed space permissions grant users the ability to administer the space, add comments to work, and browse work in the space.
Only Jira admins can modify global permissions.
Global permissions
Global permissions extend beyond the space-level functionality.
👇 Click the boxes below to learn more about each global permission.
Want to learn more about managing global permissions? Check out documentation at Atlassian Support.
Space permissions
Space permissions are managed in two ways:
- Jira admins manage space permissions for company-managed spaces through permission schemes. Jira admins can share permission schemes across multiple spaces.
- Space admins manage space permissions for team-managed spaces through custom roles. They are straightforward and do not impact any other space.
Explore company-managed space permissions
Company-managed space permissions can be categorized into three areas:
- Standalone permissions
- Interrelated permissions
- Permissions that need to meet global prerequisites in order to have an effect
Most permissions in a permission scheme control a single piece of functionality, such as the ability to create work items. These are standalone permissions, as they do not have any cross-impact on other spaces or permissions.
👇 Click the boxes below to learn about some of the common standalone permissions for company-managed spaces.
The Jira Permission Helper can help you understand a user's permissions. You can check a specific permission for a specific user, and even specify a work item key. The permission helper is available in System settings.
Interrelated permissions are permissions that will not have any effect unless combined with other permissions. They often have cross-space impact, or they will not function unless other prerequisites have been met, such as the user having active app access.
👉 For example: Users will not be able to move a work item to another space if they don’t also have the Create Work Items permission in the target space. They will also need the Browse Spaces permission and the correct security levels, if they are applied, in order to do so.
The same goes for linking work. If you do not have access to the work item you need to link (through the Browse Spaces permission and applicable work item security levels), you cannot link to that work item.
👇 Click the boxes below to learn more about interrelated permissions.
The interrelated permissions above have some global or inter-space prerequisites. However, there are a few space permissions that can be disabled globally:
- Work item linking
- Work item watching
- Work item voting
If these features are disabled, none of the related permissions will have any impact on spaces.
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next lesson
Explore roles for a software space
- How can you access a software space?
- Let’s look at an example