Troubleshoot permissions configurations

This page outlines some common reasons and ways to troubleshoot your setup, including:

• A user has permission in the scheme, but can’t perform an action

• I can’t grant a space permission to a user

• My Jira integrations can’t perform key actions

• My (or a user’s) User Picker fields are empty

If you haven’t already tried it, the Permission helper can help identify problems with your setups based on a specific work item. More about the Permission helper

A user has permission in the scheme, but can’t perform an action

To resolve, ensure that the user has the most specific permission available related to the action.

As a general rule, permissions that grant specific capabilities take precedence over generic ones. For example, if a space doesn’t have the Assign work items permission configured, any user with the Edit work items permission can update the Assignee field. But once you restrict the Assign work items permission, only users with that permission can change the Assignee field. Users without it can still edit other fields, just not the Assignee field.

This behavior ensures that only users who are explicitly granted a permission can perform certain actions. More about how permissions interact

I can’t grant a space permission to a user

Some space permissions can only be granted to users who have been invited by a Site admin, and occupy a paid seat in your Jira site.

Our page on the permissions available in a space mentions which ones can only be granted to paid users.

My Jira integrations can’t perform key actions

To allow users to perform actions in Jira from apps or integrations (like Slack), add the atlassian-addons-project-access space role to the relevant permission scheme.

More about space roles in schemes

More about integrating apps into Jira

My (or a user’s) User Picker fields are empty

To resolve, make sure that the user in question has the Browse users and groups permission.

This permission allows users to view everyone in your site when using User picker type fields or @mentioning users in comments.

Users without this permission will only be able to see users who have the Browse spaces permission in the space they’re viewing. This is a common way to limit information when sharing spaces widely.

More about sharing spaces publicly

To see which permissions also require the Browse users and groups permission, see the space permissions page.