---
title: Permissions in Branching Spaces
slug: docs/permissions-in-branching-spaces
description: What the Read, Review, Write and Publish permissions let a person do in a Space that uses Branches and Reviews, from viewing and commenting to editing a branch, creating a branch and merging to Main.
createdAt: 2026-10-28T12:00:00.000Z
---

In a Space that uses Branches and Reviews, nobody edits Main directly. Changes are made on a branch and reach Main when the branch is merged. The permissions you set in [Team Access Control](docId\:xMU67M0T2_GkhqQ00at_T) decide what each person can do at every step.

## The permissions

- **Read** lets a person view the Space and its branches, and comment on Main.
- **Review** adds editing on branches. A reviewer can edit and comment on a branch, commit, pull Main into the branch and request a review. Reviewers are also the people you can pick when you request a review. Review does not let a person create, delete or merge a branch.
- **Write** adds creating and deleting branches, on top of everything Review allows on a branch. Creating a branch with the Writer Agent or a recurrent branch schedule also needs Write.
- **Publish** lets a person merge a branch into Main, accept a reader's suggestion and publish the Space.

## What each permission allows

The table shows the usual combinations: Read alone, Read and Review, Read and Write, and Read, Write and Publish.

| Action                                            | Read | Review | Write | Publish |
| ------------------------------------------------- | ---- | ------ | ----- | ------- |
| View the Space and its branches                   | Yes  | Yes    | Yes   | Yes     |
| Comment on Main                                   | Yes  | Yes    | Yes   | Yes     |
| Edit and comment on a branch                      | No   | Yes    | Yes   | Yes     |
| Commit, pull Main into a branch, request a review | No   | Yes    | Yes   | Yes     |
| Create a branch                                   | No   | No     | Yes   | Yes     |
| Delete a branch                                   | No   | No     | Yes   | Yes     |
| Merge a branch into Main                          | No   | No     | No    | Yes     |
| Accept a reader's suggestion                      | No   | No     | No    | Yes     |
| Publish the Space or a branch preview             | No   | No     | No    | Yes     |

When a person lacks a permission, the button stays visible but greyed out. Hover over it to see what it needs, for example *Only people who can publish this space can merge to Main.*

## Common setups

- **Subject-matter reviewers**, inside or outside your organization: give them Read and Review. They can edit and comment on the branches sent to them for review, but they cannot create branches or merge.
- **Writers**: give them Read and Write. They create branches, edit, commit and request reviews.
- **Editors who decide what goes live**: give them Read, Write and Publish. Only they can merge into Main and publish.

## Set the permissions

::::WorkflowBlock
:::WorkflowBlockItem
Open the Space settings and click the **Team Access Control** tab.
:::

:::WorkflowBlockItem
Click **Add users or user groups**, then pick a user or a group.
:::

:::WorkflowBlockItem
Tick **Read**, **Review**, **Write** or **Publish** for that user or group.
:::
::::

:::hint{type="info"}
Ticking Review or Write also ticks Read, and unticking Read clears every other permission. The Review column appears only in Spaces that use Branches and Reviews or Drafts and Reviews.
:::

Branches always use the permissions of their Space. When you change a person's permissions on the Space, every branch follows, including branches that already exist. The person sees the change the next time they load the page.

## Spaces synced with GitHub

In a Space synced with GitHub, merging a branch into Main also pushes the change to your repository, so it needs Publish too. Merging changes that wait for review from the repository needs Publish as well. A pull request merged on GitHub itself is not checked against Archbee permissions.