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Roles and Permissions

Confab uses roles to control who can create, edit, respond, and manage access inside a workspace or decision.

For the MVP, the most important permissions question is simple:

Can the right people contribute to the decision without giving everyone the power to change everything?

Two Permission Layers​

Confab has two role layers:

  • Workspace roles control access at the workspace level.
  • Decision roles control what someone can do inside one specific decision.

Most participants will feel the decision-role layer more directly, because that is what controls setup, responses, and the outcome workflow.

Decision Roles​

Decision roles define how someone participates in one decision.

Owner​

The owner is responsible for the decision overall.

Typical owner capabilities:

  • update the decision
  • manage participants and invites
  • add or remove options
  • add or remove questions
  • record and lock the final outcome

In practice, the owner is usually the facilitator or the person accountable for the final decision record.

Editor​

Editors help shape and maintain the decision content.

Typical editor capabilities:

  • update the decision context
  • add or edit options
  • add structured decision content
  • contribute actively to the decision workflow

Editors are useful when multiple people are preparing the same decision.

Responder​

Responders provide the actual evaluation input.

Typical responder capabilities:

  • review the decision and options
  • answer questions
  • submit responses
  • contribute their perspective without restructuring the whole decision

This is the most common role for invitees in the current MVP.

Viewer​

Viewers can follow the decision without editing it.

Typical viewer capabilities:

  • read the decision context
  • review options and outcome information
  • stay informed without changing setup or responses

Viewer access is useful when someone needs visibility but should not influence the content directly.

Workspace Roles​

Workspace roles matter when someone needs broader access across many decisions instead of only one.

At a high level, workspace permissions determine whether someone can:

  • create decisions in a workspace
  • manage workspace membership
  • view or update workspace-level content

For most user-facing docs, it is enough to remember this distinction:

  • workspace role controls broad workspace access
  • decision role controls collaboration inside a specific decision

Practical Permission Rules For MVP​

During the closed beta, keep role assignment simple.

Recommended pattern:

  • one owner
  • one or two editors if setup is shared
  • most invitees as responders
  • viewers only when someone needs visibility without participation

That keeps the workflow clear and reduces accidental changes.

Who Should Get Which Role​

Use this quick guide:

If this person needs to...Give them...
run the decision and lock the outcomeOwner
help prepare the decision and maintain contentEditor
provide input on the optionsResponder
stay informed without changing anythingViewer

Common Mistakes​

Too many editors​

If everyone can restructure the decision, the setup can become noisy. Reserve editing power for the people actually shaping the decision.

Too few responders​

If you invite only viewers or rely on one person's input, the decision loses the collaborative signal that Confab is meant to surface.

Unclear expectations​

A role alone does not explain the job. Invitees still need to know whether they should answer every question, focus on one area, or simply review the final outcome.

In the shared domain model and backend code, decision roles are represented by ConfabRole and workspace roles by WorkspaceRole.

User-facing docs should still prefer decision role and workspace role unless the page is explicitly technical.