# Recommended permissions

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Find out how to lock down published spaces to protect approved content, and how to configure draft spaces for collaboration and privacy.

**Protect your published content, empower your draft creators, and stay in control**

Setting up the right permissions is key to making your publishing workflows in Capable both safe and efficient. A good permission structure ensures:

* ✅ Approved content is protected and trusted
* ✅ Only the right users can create and collaborate in drafts
* ✅ Audiences can access published content without accidentally editing it

This guide outlines recommended permission settings for both **draft spaces** and **published spaces**, based on typical team use cases.

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## [#](#published-spaces-lock-down-for-trust)Published Spaces: Lock Down for Trust

**Recommended Rule**: _No one should be editing content directly in the published space._

Once content has been reviewed and approved, it becomes a **single source of truth**. Allowing edits directly in the published space bypasses your approval workflow, and can lead to:

* Inaccurate or out-of-date information
* Untraceable changes
* Broken trust with users or stakeholders

### [#](#what-to-set)What to Set:

* **Grant View (read-only) access** to anyone who needs to consume the content
* **Deny Edit/Delete/Update permissions** to all contributors
* **Optionally allow anonymous access** if this space is a public help center or external documentation site
* **Restrict space admin rights** to a small number of trusted owners

### [#](#example-use-cases)Example Use Cases:

| **Use Case**                              | **View Access**        | **Edit Access** |
| ----------------------------------------- | ---------------------- | --------------- |
| Internal knowledge base for all employees | All logged-in users    | None            |
| Public help center                        | Anonymous/public users | None            |
| Customer support portal                   | JSM users via portal   | None            |

> 💡 All edits should happen in the draft space. If updates are needed, edit the draft and republish.

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## [#](#draft-spaces-enable-collaboration-hide-from-others)Draft Spaces: Enable Collaboration, Hide from Others

Draft spaces are your team’s working area. Here, content is created, discussed, and revised—possibly many times—before it’s published.

These spaces should be **private**, and only accessible to people who are actively contributing or reviewing content.

### [#](#what-to-set-1)What to Set:

* **Grant full edit (Add/Edit/Delete/Comment) permissions** to:

  * Authors
  * Editors
  * Approvers (if they’ll be leaving inline feedback)
* **Hide the space** from users who are not directly involved
* **Optionally restrict view access** to keep drafts completely private

### [#](#example-scenarios)Example Scenarios

| **Role**                             | **Access in Draft Space** |
| ------------------------------------ | ------------------------- |
| Technical writer                     | Edit & create             |
| Knowledge manager                    | Edit & approve            |
| Product manager (approver)           | View & approve            |
| Regular team member not contributing | No access                 |

> ⚙️ Note: For staged workflows (e.g. Product → Legal → Marketing), each stage can have its own draft space with a unique permission set.

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## [#](#summary-permission-guidelines)Summary: Permission Guidelines

| **Space Type**      | **Who Can View**              | **Who Can Edit**            | **Notes**                      |
| ------------------- | ----------------------------- | --------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| **Draft Space**     | Only contributors & approvers | Authors, editors, approvers | Hide from others               |
| **Published Space** | Anyone who needs the content  | No one                      | Trusted, approved content only |

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## [#](#pro-tips)Pro Tips

* 🛠 Use Confluence's space permission settings to enforce these rules
* 🔒 Lock down published spaces at the page and space level
* 👁 Use Confluence’s anonymous access settings for public-facing docs
* 🧾 For compliance workflows, combine permissions with Capable’s **approval logs** and **publish history** to maintain traceability