User permissions require a careful balance. If permissions are too broad, a teammate could change an account-wide setting. If permissions are too limited, your team might not be able to collaborate effectively on applications. Aha! Builder helps teams create trusted business applications, so it is important to give the right people access.
With the right user permissions, owners can build applications, while administrators can manage account settings, billing, and application governance.
User permission levels vary by Aha! Builder plan. The main difference is that customers on the Aha! Builder Team and Aha! Builder Scale plans have access to additional governance features.
In this article, we explain the available user permission levels, the differences between the two administrator roles, and how to manage user permissions in your account.
Click any of the following links to skip ahead:
Non-administrator user role
Aha! Builder has one non-administrator user role: owner. You can give a user owner access in some applications and no access in others.
Aha! Builder applications come with built-in user roles, and you can add more custom roles as you need them.
Permission |
Owner |
|---|---|
Add and manage users within the account |
x |
Create new applications |
x |
Configure application settings (authentication, secrets, database) |
x |
Configure single sign-on (SSO) for an application |
x |
Deploy an application to production |
x |
Define application strategy (vision, goals, personas) |
x |
Create and manage features on the features board |
x |
Work with Elle to build and refine application code |
x |
Manage application design themes |
x |
Add and manage application secrets and integrations |
x |
View and export application code |
x |
View application server logs and issues |
x |
Preview the application in Aha! Builder |
x |
x |
|
View application strategy, features, and design |
x |
View the deployed production application |
x |
Manage application roles and end users |
x |
Owners are the only non-administrator users who can deploy applications to production, configure authentication, and manage database settings. Choose this role for the primary builders of each application.
Administrator roles
Administrator roles let users manage account-level settings. You can grant administrator permissions to any user in your account, including users who do not have access to any applications.
There are four administrator roles:
Account: Account administrators can access account settings such as the account profile, security and single sign-on configuration, and user management. Account administrators can manage default permissions and invite new users. Each account must always have at least one account administrator.
Billing: Billing administrators can access account-level billing and user permissions. Each account must always have at least one billing administrator. You cannot delete or disable your only billing administrator.
Customizations: Customizations administrators can manage account-level customization settings such as the recycle bin.
Governance: Governance administrators can access the governance page to track all applications, set default rules, and manage rules templates. This role requires a Builder seat. Governance administrators do not have access to account settings — their scope is limited to the governance page. This role is available on the Aha! Builder Team and Scale plans.
Permission |
Account |
Billing |
Customization |
Governance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Change the account profile |
x |
|||
Adjust security settings |
x |
|||
Monitor account activity |
x |
|||
Manage Builder application settings (account-level) |
x |
|||
Manage users and user permissions |
x |
x |
||
Add and remove paid seats |
x |
|||
Manage account billing |
x |
|||
Manage account customizations |
x |
|||
View all applications and their configurations |
x |
|||
Set default rules for applications |
x |
|||
Create and manage rules templates |
x |
|||
View application secrets and API requests |
x |
|||
Delete applications |
x |
Default user permissions
Set default permissions as a starting point for inviting new users to your account. Updating default permissions will not affect existing users or users provisioned through single sign-on (SSO).
Navigate to User menu → Settings → Account → Users.
Click Set default permissions in the upper right.
Set the default permission level for each application. You can also choose to apply a blanket permission level to all applications.
Click Save to apply your changes.
New users invited to your account will be assigned the default permission levels you have set. You can adjust permissions for individual users at any time.
Users with no permissions
Users with no permissions cannot access any applications in your Aha! Builder account. They can still log in to Aha! Builder, but they will not see any applications until an administrator grants access.
This option is useful when you want to add someone to the account before deciding which applications they should access.
Bulk edit user permissions
To change permissions for multiple users at once:
Navigate to User menu → Settings → Account → Users.
Select the checkboxes next to the users you want to update. A Bulk edit users button appears above the list.
Click Bulk edit users.
Set the desired permission level for each application, then click Save.
Manage users with the Aha! API
Account administrators can also manage users programmatically through the Aha! API. Use the users API to list users, invite new users, update user permissions, and deactivate users. This is useful when you provision users from an external identity system or sync permissions with another source of truth.
For authentication, endpoint paths, and request schemas, see the Aha! API reference.
Export user information to a CSV file
To export a list of all users and their permissions:
Navigate to User menu → Settings → Account → Users.
Click the Export menu in the upper right.
-
Choose one of these options:
Users CSV file (.csv): Download a CSV with user names, email addresses, roles, and permission levels for each application.
Activity CSV file (.csv): Download a CSV with each user’s last login and recent activity data.