Create a Group

In YouTrack, a group is used as a resource in a project. The group defines how a collection of users gains access to the project. The access rights are defined by assigning one or more roles to the group.

A new group must be linked to at least one project. Once created, an existing group can be linked to multiple projects. Use groups to provide a uniform set of permissions to a collection of users who perform similar tasks and require similar access rights.

In addition to the default user groups, you can create as many user groups as you need for your YouTrack instance.

To create a new group:

In the Access Management section of the Administration menu, select Groups.
Click the Create User Group button in the toolbar.
In the Create User Group dialog, enter a name and select the project to which the group will belong. To narrow down the list of projects, start typing the project name.

Please pay attention to this step! You must add a group to a project to be able to use it later, for example, to use it as a group of assignees in a project.

Click the Create User Group button.

The new group is created, however it does not have any members or role assignments. Select one of the following tabs to perform the corresponding operation:

Tab	Operation
Members	Add one or more users to the group. For more information, see Add and Remove Members.
Settings	Edit the basic settings for the group. For more information, see Edit Basic Group Settings.
Access	Grant a role in one or more projects to every member of the group. For more information, see Manage Group Access.

Why Do I Add a Group to a Project?

When you create a group, you must choose a project. However, this association between the group and the project doesn't grant the members of the group access to the project. To grant access, you must assign the group a role in the project.

The link between the group and the project determines who can manage the group. The permissions that let you manage groups are all assigned on a per-project basis. This means that you must choose a project that uses this group as a resource in order to view and update the group itself.

For example, let's say we have Project A and Project B in YouTrack.

The user 'John Johnson' is granted the default Project Admin role in project A. This role grants John the following permissions in project A (among others):

Read Project
Update Project
Read User Group
Create User Group
Update User Group

John does not have these permissions in project B. When John opens the Projects list, he only sees project A, and not project B.

John can create, read, and update the groups that he wants to use to assign roles in project A. However, because these permissions are granted on a per-project basis, he cannot see groups that are only linked to project B. If John wants to add a group to the list of assignees in project A, he only sees the groups that are linked to this project.

As an administrator, you have fewer limitations. By default the administrator account is assigned the System Admin role in the Global project. This gives you the ability to update groups that are linked to any project in YouTrack.

Last modified: 7 March 2019