--- title: Roles & Permissions description: Declare what objects and fields your app's logic functions and front components can read and write. icon: 'shield-halved' --- A **role** is a permission set: which objects an app can read or write, which fields it can see, and which platform-level capabilities it can use. Every app's logic functions and front components inherit the permissions of the role marked with `defineApplicationRole()` (see [The default function role](#the-default-function-role) below). ```ts src/roles/restricted-company-role.ts import { defineRole, STANDARD_OBJECT_UNIVERSAL_IDENTIFIERS, SystemPermissionFlag, } from 'twenty-sdk/define'; export default defineRole({ universalIdentifier: '2c80f640-2083-4803-bb49-003e38279de6', label: 'My new role', description: 'A role that can be used in your workspace', canReadAllObjectRecords: false, canUpdateAllObjectRecords: false, canSoftDeleteAllObjectRecords: false, canDestroyAllObjectRecords: false, canUpdateAllSettings: false, canBeAssignedToAgents: false, canBeAssignedToUsers: false, canBeAssignedToApiKeys: false, objectPermissions: [ { objectUniversalIdentifier: STANDARD_OBJECT_UNIVERSAL_IDENTIFIERS.company.universalIdentifier, canReadObjectRecords: true, canUpdateObjectRecords: true, canSoftDeleteObjectRecords: false, canDestroyObjectRecords: false, }, ], fieldPermissions: [ { objectUniversalIdentifier: STANDARD_OBJECT_UNIVERSAL_IDENTIFIERS.company.universalIdentifier, fieldUniversalIdentifier: STANDARD_OBJECT_UNIVERSAL_IDENTIFIERS.company.fields.name .universalIdentifier, canReadFieldValue: false, canUpdateFieldValue: false, }, ], permissionFlagUniversalIdentifiers: [SystemPermissionFlag.APPLICATIONS], }); ``` ## Row-level security Object and field permissions decide _which objects and fields_ a role can touch. **Row-level permission predicates** go further and decide _which records_ a role can see and act on — for example, a self-service role where each external user sees only their own records. Declare predicates with `rowLevelPermissionPredicates` on the role. Like the rest of the manifest, each predicate carries its own `universalIdentifier`, and references an object and a field by their `universalIdentifier`, an `operand`, and (optionally) a workspaceMember field whose value is injected at query time — so you can express "the record's owner relation **is** the current workspace member": ```ts src/roles/partner-role.ts import { defineRole, RowLevelPermissionPredicateOperand, STANDARD_OBJECT_UNIVERSAL_IDENTIFIERS, } from 'twenty-sdk/define'; import { ACCOUNT_OWNER_FIELD_UNIVERSAL_IDENTIFIER } from '../fields/account-owner.field'; export default defineRole({ universalIdentifier: 'c3c1dc2e-1a08-4de5-abb7-2139b3d99343', label: 'Partner', description: 'External partner — sees only its own records', canBeAssignedToUsers: true, objectPermissions: [ { objectUniversalIdentifier: STANDARD_OBJECT_UNIVERSAL_IDENTIFIERS.company.universalIdentifier, canReadObjectRecords: true, canUpdateObjectRecords: true, }, ], rowLevelPermissionPredicates: [ { universalIdentifier: 'd0f0c1a2-3b4c-4d5e-8f60-111111111111', objectUniversalIdentifier: STANDARD_OBJECT_UNIVERSAL_IDENTIFIERS.company.universalIdentifier, fieldUniversalIdentifier: ACCOUNT_OWNER_FIELD_UNIVERSAL_IDENTIFIER, operand: RowLevelPermissionPredicateOperand.IS, workspaceMemberFieldUniversalIdentifier: STANDARD_OBJECT_UNIVERSAL_IDENTIFIERS.workspaceMember.fields.id .universalIdentifier, }, ], }); ``` Because predicates ship in the manifest, they are created, updated, and removed together with the role on every install and upgrade — there is no separate post-install step to keep in sync. ### Combining predicates with groups By default a role's predicates are combined with `AND`. To combine some of them with `OR` (or to nest logic), declare a `rowLevelPermissionPredicateGroups` entry and point each predicate at it via `predicateGroupUniversalIdentifier`. This role lets a partner see an Opportunity it either **owns** or is the **point of contact** for: ```ts src/roles/partner-opportunities-role.ts import { defineRole, RowLevelPermissionPredicateGroupLogicalOperator, RowLevelPermissionPredicateOperand, STANDARD_OBJECT_UNIVERSAL_IDENTIFIERS, } from 'twenty-sdk/define'; const OPPORTUNITY = STANDARD_OBJECT_UNIVERSAL_IDENTIFIERS.opportunity; const CURRENT_MEMBER = STANDARD_OBJECT_UNIVERSAL_IDENTIFIERS.workspaceMember.fields.id .universalIdentifier; export default defineRole({ universalIdentifier: 'b2a1c0d9-8e7f-4a6b-9c5d-222222222222', label: 'Partner (opportunities)', canBeAssignedToUsers: true, objectPermissions: [ { objectUniversalIdentifier: OPPORTUNITY.universalIdentifier, canReadObjectRecords: true, }, ], rowLevelPermissionPredicateGroups: [ { universalIdentifier: 'c3b2a1d0-9f8e-4b7a-8d6c-333333333333', objectUniversalIdentifier: OPPORTUNITY.universalIdentifier, logicalOperator: RowLevelPermissionPredicateGroupLogicalOperator.OR, }, ], rowLevelPermissionPredicates: [ { universalIdentifier: 'd4c3b2a1-0e9f-4c8b-9e7d-444444444444', objectUniversalIdentifier: OPPORTUNITY.universalIdentifier, fieldUniversalIdentifier: OPPORTUNITY.fields.owner.universalIdentifier, operand: RowLevelPermissionPredicateOperand.IS, workspaceMemberFieldUniversalIdentifier: CURRENT_MEMBER, predicateGroupUniversalIdentifier: 'c3b2a1d0-9f8e-4b7a-8d6c-333333333333', }, { universalIdentifier: 'e5d4c3b2-1f0e-4d9c-8f8e-555555555555', objectUniversalIdentifier: OPPORTUNITY.universalIdentifier, fieldUniversalIdentifier: OPPORTUNITY.fields.pointOfContact.universalIdentifier, operand: RowLevelPermissionPredicateOperand.IS, workspaceMemberFieldUniversalIdentifier: CURRENT_MEMBER, predicateGroupUniversalIdentifier: 'c3b2a1d0-9f8e-4b7a-8d6c-333333333333', }, ], }); ``` Notes: - Give every predicate and group a stable `universalIdentifier` (any uuid) — it keys the entity across upgrades, and predicates reference groups by it. - Predicates can reference objects and fields owned by your app or by Twenty's standard objects. - Row-level security is enforced for workspaces on plans that include it; the predicates still sync on other plans, they are simply not enforced. ## The default function role When you scaffold a new app, the CLI creates a default role file declared with `defineApplicationRole()`: ```ts src/roles/default-role.ts import { defineApplicationRole } from 'twenty-sdk/define'; export const DEFAULT_ROLE_UNIVERSAL_IDENTIFIER = 'b648f87b-1d26-4961-b974-0908fd991061'; export default defineApplicationRole({ universalIdentifier: DEFAULT_ROLE_UNIVERSAL_IDENTIFIER, label: 'Default function role', description: 'Default role for function Twenty client', canReadAllObjectRecords: true, canUpdateAllObjectRecords: false, canSoftDeleteAllObjectRecords: false, canDestroyAllObjectRecords: false, canUpdateAllSettings: false, canBeAssignedToAgents: false, canBeAssignedToUsers: false, canBeAssignedToApiKeys: false, objectPermissions: [], fieldPermissions: [], permissionFlagUniversalIdentifiers: [], }); ``` `defineApplicationRole()` is a thin wrapper around `defineRole()` that flags **the** role used as your application's default at install time. Validation is identical to `defineRole`, but the build pipeline auto-wires its `universalIdentifier` into the application manifest's `defaultRoleUniversalIdentifier` — so you do not need to reference it from [`defineApplication`](/developers/extend/apps/config/application) yourself. Notes: - Exactly **one** `defineApplicationRole(...)` is allowed per app — the manifest build will fail if it finds more than one. - Use `defineRole()` (not `defineApplicationRole()`) for any **additional** roles your app ships. - Setting `defaultRoleUniversalIdentifier` explicitly on `defineApplication()` is still supported for backward compatibility, but is deprecated in favor of `defineApplicationRole()`. ## Best practices - Start from the scaffolded role, then progressively restrict it — the default grants broad read access, which is rarely what you want in production. - Replace `objectPermissions` and `fieldPermissions` with the exact objects and fields your functions actually need. - `permissionFlagUniversalIdentifiers` control access to platform-level capabilities. Keep them minimal. - See a working example: [`hello-world/src/roles/function-role.ts`](https://github.com/twentyhq/twenty/blob/main/packages/twenty-apps/hello-world/src/roles/function-role.ts).