Manage project roles

Space roles are a flexible way to associate users and/or groups with particular spaces. Space roles also allow for delegated administration:

• Jira administrators define space roles — that is, all spaces have the same space roles available to them.

• Space administrators assign members to space roles specifically for their space(s).

  • A space administrator is someone who has the space-specific 'Administer Project' permission, but not necessarily the global 'Jira Administrator' permission.

Space roles can be used in:

• permission schemes

• email notification schemes

• work item security levels

• comment visibility

• workflow conditions

Space roles can also be given access to:

• filters in work items

• dashboards

Space roles are somewhat similar to groups, the main difference being that group membership is global whereas space role membership is space-specific. Additionally, group membership can only be altered by Jira administrators, whereas space role membership can be altered by space administrators. Every space has a space owner and every space component has a component lead. These individual roles can be used in schemes, work items and workflows, just like space roles. You assign space/component leads when defining projects or managing components respectively.

Using space roles

Space roles enable you to associate users with particular functions. For example, if your organization requires all software development work items to be tested by a Quality Assurance person before being closed, you could do the following:

1. Create a space role called Quality Assurance.

2. Create a permission scheme called Software Development, in which you assign the 'Close work item' permission to the Quality Assurance space role.

3. Associate the Software Development permission scheme with all software development spaces.

4. For each software development space, add the appropriate Quality Assurance people to the Quality Assurance space role.

Default space roles

When you install Jira apps, the Administrators role is automatically created, along with space roles specific to each app. You can create, edit, and delete space roles according to your organization's requirements.

Viewing space roles

1. Select Settings (), then System.

2. Under SECURITY, select Space roles. The Space Role Browser displays, which contains a list of all the space roles in your Jira site.

3. To see where a space role is used, select the View Usage link. This displays a list of the space role's associated permission schemes, email notification schemes, work item security levels, and workflow conditions.

4. Select any of the View links in the Space Role Members Per Space column to see which users/groups are associated with a space role for a particular space.

Adding a space role

To define a new space role:

1. Select Settings (), then System.

2. Under SECURITY, select Space roles. The Space Role Browser displays, which contains a list of all the space roles in your Jira site.

3. Under Add Space Role at the bottom of the page, enter your desired role's name and a description

4. Select Add Space Role.

To add members to the role:

1. Select Manage Default Members in the Actions column for your newly created space role.

2. Select Edit under Default Users or Default Groups.

3. Enter group names in the Add user(s) to space role field. Or, select the user picker icon  to add individual users.

4. Select Add.

Once a new space role is created, it is available to all spaces. Space administrators can then assign members to the space role for their space (see Managing project role membership).

Deleting a space role

To delete a space role, locate the space role in the space role browser (see 'Viewing Space Roles' above), and select the Delete link. The confirmation screen that follows lists any permission schemes, email notification schemes, work item security levels, and workflow conditions that use the space role.

Deleting a space role removes any assigned users and groups from that space role, for all spaces. Be aware of the impact this may have. For example, if the space role membership was the sole conveyor of a permission for a user, then the user will no longer have that permission.

Editing a space role

To edit the name and description of a space role, locate the space role in the space role browser (see Viewing space roles above), and select Edit. 

Assigning members to a space role

A space role's members are assigned on a space-specific basis. To assign users/groups to a space role for a particular space, please see Managing project role membership.

To see/edit all the space roles to which a particular user belongs, for all spaces, select the Space Roles link in the user browser.

Specifying 'default members' for a space role

The default members for a space role are users and groups that are initially assigned to the space role for all newly created spaces. The actual membership for any particular space can then be modified by the space admin.

The default members consist of the Default Users plus the Default Groups shown in the space role browser (see Viewing space roles above).

To add to the Default Users or the Default Groups for a space role, select the corresponding Edit link.

For example, if a user called Susie needs to have administration permissions for all newly created spaces, you could add her to the Default Users for the 'Administrator' space role as follows:

1. Open the space role browser (see Viewing space roles above).

2. Select the Manage Default Members link.

3. Select the Edit link in the Administrators column (next to 'None selected').

4. In the 'Assign Default Users to Space Role' screen, select the User Picker icon.

5. Locate Susie in the 'User Picker' popup window, then select the Select button.

6. In the 'Assign Default Users to Space Role' screen, select the Add button.