Member database permissions reference

This reference lists the permissions that control what admins can do in the member database and which actions each permission unlocks.

How permissions work

Permissions in MapleGather are assigned to admin roles, not to individual admins. An org owner assigns roles to each admin. If a button or action isn’t visible in your interface, your role may not include the matching permission.

Actions that aren’t available for your role are absent from the interface — they don’t appear as greyed-out or disabled buttons.

Member record permissions

Permission	What it allows
`members:read`	View the member list, open member detail pages, and view contact information.
`members:write`	Create new member records, edit contact information, update email roles, archive members, and restore archived members.
`members:write-config`	Rename status labels and change status colors in Settings → Member statuses.

Custom field permissions

Permission	What it allows
`custom_fields:read`	View custom field definitions.
`custom_fields:write`	Create and edit custom field definitions.
`custom_fields:delete`	Delete custom field definitions.

Field categories

Permissions decide what an admin can do; field categories decide which custom fields they can see while doing it. Every custom field has one category (General by default). Each admin role lists the categories its admins can see: General is always included, an admin with several roles sees every category any of them includes, and Org Owner sees every category. A category isn’t a permission flag: it’s set on the role itself, in the role editor’s Field categories section.

An admin with members:read sees only the custom fields in their categories, on every member and organization record. An admin with custom_fields:read sees only those fields in Settings → Member fields, and an admin with contacts:export can export only those fields. A field in another category isn’t shown, and an export that asks for one is refused.

Tagging a field with a category, or giving a role a category, needs that category in your own roles too. Only an admin who sees every category can create a new one.

A field marked as sensitive has its value hidden on member records, even from admins who can see the field — in MapleGather and in member data read through the MapleGather API. Two permissions govern it. Reveal sensitive field values lets an admin who can see the field (their role includes its category, and the member is in their data scope) select Reveal to see one value at a time; every reveal is recorded in the audit log. It also lets an admin download a member’s personal-data archive when that member has a sensitive value. Export sensitive fields lets an admin with the export permission choose a sensitive field’s column in a member contact export; the export is recorded in the audit log. Org Owner holds both; you can add them to any custom role.

Membership status permissions

Permission	What it allows
`members:write`	Manually transition a member to a different status.
`members:write-config`	Rename status labels and change status colors in Settings → Member statuses.

Export and bulk operation permissions

Permission	What it allows
`contacts:export`	Export the member list as a CSV file.
`members:bulk-write`	Run bulk operations (such as bulk tag-add, bulk archive) from the bulk action bar.

Tag and group permissions

Permission	What it allows
`tags:read`	View tag definitions.
`tags:write`	Create and edit tag definitions.
`tags:delete`	Delete tag definitions.
`groups:read`	View static groups and group memberships.
`groups:write`	Create groups, add and remove members from static groups.
`groups:delete`	Delete static groups.

Saved search permissions

Permission	What it allows
`saved_searches:read`	View saved member searches.
`saved_searches:write`	Create and edit saved member searches.
`saved_searches:delete`	Delete saved member searches.