How Access Works in Shorter Loop

Shorter Loop uses a simple three-level system to organize your work and control who can see what.

Subscription: Your entire company account. (Handles billing and global settings).

Product: A specific product or major initiative within your company.

Team: The group of people working together on that product day-to-day.

You can give people different levels of access at each stage. For example, someone might be an Admin for one Team, but only a Viewer on another.

The 3 Main Roles

At every level (Subscription, Product, or Team), there are three basic roles:

Admin: Can change settings and manage users.

Editor: Can create and edit work (artifacts, work items, comments) but cannot change settings or manage users.

Viewer: Can only read work and leave comments. They cannot change anything.

How Inviting Works (The Waterfall Effect)

How much access a user gets depends on where you invite them from.

1. Inviting from the Top (Subscription Level)

Access flows downward. If you invite someone at the very top, that role applies to everything below it.

Subscription Admin: Becomes an Admin on every Product and every Team.

Subscription Editor: Becomes an Editor on every Product and every Team.

Subscription Viewer: Can view every Product and every Team.

2. Inviting from the Bottom (Product or Team Level)

Access does not flow upward. If you invite someone directly to a Team, they do not get Admin rights to your whole company.

If you make someone a Team Admin, they are an Admin for that specific team.

To let them actually find that team in the menu, the system automatically makes them a Viewer at the Product and Subscription levels.

Result: They can manage their own team, but can only "look around" the rest of the company.

Special Roles

We have a few specialized roles for specific situations:

Portfolio Manager: Designed for leaders tracking multiple products. They can view and create big-picture "Themes" across the company, edit work items, and manage integrations, but they don't have permission to touch billing or manage top-level Admins.

IDM Member: Very restricted. They can only see and edit the specific ideas/issues they created themselves. They cannot browse the rest of the company's work.

Anonymous: For people viewing public links. Read-only and comment-only. They cannot see your company structure or teams.

Detailed Permissions by Role

Based on the system's strict Access Control List (ACL), here is exactly what each role can and cannot do:

Company, Product & Team Configuration

Permission	Subscription Admin	Product Admin	Team Admin	Editor	Viewer	Portfolio Manager	IDM Member	Anonymous
View Company Profile	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	-	-
Modify Company Profile	✅	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Create Product	✅	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
View Product Details	✅	✅	✅	✅	-	✅	-	-
Modify Product	✅	✅	-	-	-	-	-	-
View Team	✅	✅	✅	✅	-	✅	-	-
Create Team	✅	✅	✅	-	-	-	-	-
Modify Team	✅	✅	✅	-	-	-	-	-
Manage Integrations	✅	✅	✅	-	-	✅	-	-

User Management & Invites

Permission	Subscription Admin	Product Admin	Team Admin	Editor	Viewer	Portfolio Manager	IDM Member	Anonymous
Add Subscription Admin	✅	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Add/Remove Product Admin	✅	✅	-	-	-	-	-	-
Add/Remove Team Admin	✅	✅	✅	-	-	-	-	-
Invite Editor / Viewer	✅	✅	✅	-	-	-	-	-
Invite Portfolio Manager	✅	✅	-	-	-	✅	-	-
Remove Editor / Viewer	✅	✅	✅	-	-	-	-	-
Deactivate Global User	✅	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Content: Artifacts, Work Items & Comments

Permission	Subscription Admin	Product Admin	Team Admin	Editor	Viewer	Portfolio Manager	IDM Member	Anonymous
View Artifacts & Work Items	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	-	✅
Edit Artifacts	✅	✅	✅	✅	-	✅	-	-
Edit Work Items	✅	✅	✅	✅	-	✅	-	-
Edit Work Items (Self-Created)	-	-	-	-	-	-	✅	-
Comment	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	-	✅

Idea Management (IDM) & Portfolios

Note: Portfolio viewing and creation availability relies on the organization's subscription tier.

Permission	Subscription Admin	Product Admin	Team Admin	Editor	Viewer	Portfolio Manager	IDM Member	Anonymous
View Org Portfolio	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
View Portfolio Theme	✅	✅	-	-	-	✅	-	-
Create & Delete Portfolio Theme	✅	✅	-	-	-	✅	-	-
Access IDM End Users Page	✅	✅	-	-	-	-	-	-
Access IDM Admin Page	✅	✅	-	-	-	✅	-	-
View IDM Statuses & Categories	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	-	-

Quick Examples

You hired a new Head of Product: Invite them as a Product Admin. They can manage details and teams strictly within their assigned Product. They can see other products across the company, but cannot modify them, nor can they accidentally alter company-wide subscription settings.

You added a developer to a specific product: Invite them as a Team Editor directly from that Team's page. They can do their daily work, but can't mess with other teams.

You want to share a roadmap with a stakeholder: Make them a Viewer (to see everything read-only)/Subscription Admin.

The 3 Main Roles#

How Inviting Works (The Waterfall Effect)#

1. Inviting from the Top (Subscription Level)#

2. Inviting from the Bottom (Product or Team Level)#

Special Roles#

Detailed Permissions by Role#

Company, Product & Team Configuration#

User Management & Invites#

Content: Artifacts, Work Items & Comments#

Idea Management (IDM) & Portfolios#

Quick Examples#