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Roles & Permissions

Understand the role hierarchy in Nanabase and what each role can do. From Owner to Viewer, here's the complete permission reference.

7 min readUpdated Dec 2024

Roles & Permissions#

Nanabase uses role-based access control (RBAC) to manage what members can do in your company workspace. Each member has exactly one role per company.

Role Hierarchy#

        ┌─────────┐
        │  Owner  │  Level 100 — Full control
        └────┬────┘
             │
        ┌────▼────┐
        │  Admin  │  Level 80 — Day-to-day management
        └────┬────┘
             │
        ┌────▼────┐
        │ Member  │  Level 50 — Regular use
        └────┬────┘
             │
        ┌────▼────┐
        │ Viewer  │  Level 20 — Read-only
        └────┬────┘
             │
        ┌────▼────┐
        │ Pending │  Level 0 — Awaiting approval
        └─────────┘

Higher roles can manage lower roles. For example, Admins can change Member and Viewer roles, but cannot affect other Admins.

Role Details#

Owner#

The Owner is the ultimate authority over the company workspace. There is always exactly one Owner.

Unique capabilities:

  • Delete the company entirely
  • Transfer ownership to another member
  • Access billing and subscription management
  • Cannot be demoted or removed

Also can do everything Admins can do.

Typical role holders:

  • Company founder
  • CEO
  • IT Director

Every company has exactly one Owner. To change the Owner, current Owner must transfer ownership.

Admin#

Admins handle day-to-day workspace management. Multiple people can be Admins.

Capabilities:

  • All contact operations (create, read, update, delete)
  • Manage members (invite, remove, change roles up to Admin)
  • Configure company settings
  • View audit logs
  • Import and export contacts
  • Access admin panel

Cannot:

  • Delete the company
  • Transfer ownership
  • Access billing (unless Owner grants access)
  • Promote anyone to Owner

Typical role holders:

  • Office managers
  • HR leads
  • Team leads
  • Department heads

Member#

Members are regular team users who work with contacts day-to-day.

Capabilities:

  • View all company contacts
  • Create new contacts
  • Edit contacts they created
  • Delete contacts they created
  • Share personal contacts to company
  • View member directory
  • View activity feed
  • Use Who Knows Who search
  • Request introductions

Cannot:

  • Edit contacts created by others
  • Delete contacts created by others
  • Manage other members
  • Access admin panel
  • Change company settings
  • Import/export contacts

Typical role holders:

  • Sales representatives
  • Account managers
  • Regular employees
  • Department staff

Viewer#

Viewers have read-only access. They can browse but not modify.

Capabilities:

  • View contacts (based on visibility)
  • Search contacts
  • View member directory
  • View company info
  • Use Who Knows Who search

Cannot:

  • Create contacts
  • Edit anything
  • Delete anything
  • Share contacts
  • Export data
  • Request introductions (view only)

Typical role holders:

  • Interns
  • Contractors
  • External partners
  • Temporary access needs

Pending#

Pending members have requested to join but aren't approved yet.

Capabilities:

  • None (awaiting approval)

Status:

  • Visible in Team → Pending
  • Requires Admin/Owner approval
  • Can be approved or rejected

Permission Matrix#

Contact Permissions#

| Action | Owner | Admin | Member | Viewer | |--------|:-----:|:-----:|:------:|:------:| | View contacts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Search contacts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Create contacts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | | Edit any contact | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | | Edit own contacts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | | Delete any contact | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | | Delete own contacts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | | Import contacts | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | | Export contacts | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |

Member Permissions#

| Action | Owner | Admin | Member | Viewer | |--------|:-----:|:-----:|:------:|:------:| | View members | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Invite members | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | | Approve join requests | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | | Remove members | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | | Change roles | ✅ | ✅* | ❌ | ❌ | | Transfer ownership | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |

*Admins can change roles up to Admin level, not Owner.

Settings Permissions#

| Action | Owner | Admin | Member | Viewer | |--------|:-----:|:-----:|:------:|:------:| | View settings | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | | Edit settings | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | | View audit logs | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | | Access billing | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | | Delete company | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |

Features Permissions#

| Feature | Owner | Admin | Member | Viewer | |---------|:-----:|:-----:|:------:|:------:| | Activity feed | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Who Knows Who | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Request intros | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | | Share contacts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | | Admin panel | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |

Changing Roles#

Who Can Change Roles#

| Actor | Can Change | |-------|------------| | Owner | Anyone → Any role | | Admin | Members, Viewers → Admin or below | | Member | Nobody | | Viewer | Nobody |

How to Change a Role#

  1. Go to Team
  2. Find the member
  3. Click their role badge or the ⋮ menu
  4. Select Change Role
  5. Choose the new role
  6. Confirm the change

Role Change Effects#

When a role changes:

  • Access updates immediately
  • User may need to refresh their browser
  • No data is lost
  • Audit log records the change

Valid Role Transitions#

PROMOTIONS (↑):
Pending → Member (approve)
Viewer → Member → Admin → Owner*

DEMOTIONS (↓):
Admin → Member → Viewer
(Owner cannot be demoted, only transferred)

*Only Owner can promote to Owner (via transfer)

Ownership Transfer#

When to Transfer#

  • Company leadership change
  • Original owner leaving
  • Restructuring responsibilities

How to Transfer#

  1. Current Owner goes to Settings → Company
  2. Scroll to Ownership
  3. Click Transfer Ownership
  4. Select the new Owner
  5. Confirm with password
  6. Transfer is immediate

What Happens#

  • New Owner gets full control
  • Old Owner becomes Admin
  • All other roles unchanged
  • Audit log records transfer

Ownership transfer cannot be undone without the new Owner's cooperation. Be certain before transferring.

Best Practices#

Least Privilege#

Give users the minimum role they need:

  • Start new members as Member role
  • Only promote to Admin when necessary
  • Reserve Owner for one person

Role Distribution#

For a 50-person company:

  • 1 Owner
  • 2-3 Admins
  • 40+ Members
  • Few Viewers as needed

Regular Review#

  • Quarterly: Review who has Admin access
  • When people change roles: Update their Nanabase role
  • When people leave: Remove promptly

Frequently Asked Questions#

Can someone have different roles in different companies? Yes. Roles are per-company. You might be Owner of your company and Member of a partner's workspace.

What if we need more granular permissions? Our current roles cover most use cases. Contact us if you have specific enterprise needs.

Can I create custom roles? Not currently. The four roles (Owner, Admin, Member, Viewer) cover standard organizational needs.

What happens if the Owner leaves without transferring? Contact support. We have a recovery process for this situation.

Can I restrict what contacts a role can see? All shared contacts are visible to all roles. For privacy, keep sensitive contacts in your private layer.

Team Management

Manage your team

Company Settings

Configure your workspace

Security

Security best practices

Audit Logs

Track changes