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Access & Permissions, from a User's View

This answers the everyday questions — "why can't I see X?", "why can't I edit this?", "how do I get access?" — without needing the permission model internals. For the full model (groups, config flags, the capability rules), see Permissions.

Why a nav group or app isn't showing

A whole app's nav group (Coherence, Gathering, Audax, Outreach) can be missing for two very different reasons — it's worth telling them apart:

  1. You don't have access to that app. Access to some apps is granted by membership of a dedicated group (for example, Coherence access requires the coherence_users group). Being staff or a broad editor does not automatically grant these — they're a deliberate opt-in.
  2. Your current Focus has none of those records. Even with access, an app's nav group only appears when your current Focus actually has the relevant records. Switch Focus (or go to "All") and it may appear. This is scope, not permission — see Focus.

If switching Focus doesn't bring it back, it's an access matter, not scope.

The *_users group pattern

Several capabilities are gated by a named group whose name ends in _users (e.g. coherence_users). If you need access to one of these areas, the fix is usually "be added to the right group" — ask an administrator (someone with broad edit / staff rights) to add you.

"Can't see it" vs. "can see it but can't act"

These are different limits:

  • Can't see the nav item / section at all — an access or scope issue (above).
  • Can see it but can't create/edit/delete — you have view access but not the action right. Many actions (creating holons, managing teams, editing relationships, managing journeys) require broad edit access; viewing the same records may not. So seeing something you can't change is expected, not a glitch.

A useful rule of thumb from the model: editing a holon is possible either with broad edit rights or by being an active team member of that holon (or one of its parents); deleting is narrower (staff only); creating and team management generally need broad edit rights. The full breakdown is in Permissions → What each role can do.

Checking or requesting your own access

  • Settings shows the cards and tools available to you; what's present there reflects your access.
  • To change your access — join a group, get broad edit rights, get Coherence/Audax/etc. access — contact an administrator. Access is granted through Django groups and rights that only admins can set.