Default Roles
YouTrack provides a set of predefined default roles: System Admin, Project Admin, Contributor, Issue Creator, and Observer. For a comparison of the default permissions granted to default roles, see Permission Comparison for Default Roles.
You cannot delete the Project Admin, or Contributor roles. However, you can update the set of permissions that are assigned to these roles, change their names, and modify their descriptions.
If you want to create a custom set of permissions that are available to a group or user account, you can create new roles or edit predefined roles.
System Admin
The System Admin role is intended for use by the users who are responsible for the administration of your YouTrack instance.
This role is assigned all available permissions in YouTrack.
Project Admin
The Project Admin role is intended for use by the users who create and manage projects. The Project Admin role has the same access rights as a Contributor and can also manage project settings like assignees, fields, and workflows.
Add Attachment
Create Article
Create Article Comment
Create Issue
Create Issue Comment
Create Work Item
Create Not Own Work Item
Create Tag or Saved Search
Create Project
Create Report
Create User
Create Group
Delete Article
Delete Article Comment
Delete Attachment
Delete Issue
Delete Issue Comment
Delete Not Own and Permanent Comment Delete
Delete Tag or Saved Search
Delete Group
Edit Tag or Saved Search
Link Issues
Read Article
Read Article Comment
Read Issue
Read Issue Comment
Read Report
Read Work Item
Read Issue Private Fields
Read Organization
Read Project Basic
Read Project Full
Read Role
Read User Basic
Read Group
Read Work Item
Share Report
Share Tag, Saved Search, Agile Board, or Gantt Chart
Apply Commands Silently
Update Article
Update Article Comment
Update Attachment
Update Issue
Update Issue Comment
Update Issue Private Fields
Update Not Own Issue Comment
Update Not Own Work Item
Update Project
Update Self
Update Group
Update Watchers
Update Work Item
View Voters
View Watchers
Contributor
The Contributor role is intended for use by the users who create and work with issues.
Starting from version 2023,1, this role logically replaces the Developer role used in older versions of YouTrack. The difference between the Contributor and the Developer role is that the Developer role doesn't include the Read User Full permission.
To prevent permission escalation, both roles coexist in YouTrack installations that were upgraded from versions older than 2023.1. The Developer role remains in the existing projects, while the Contributor role is the default team role for the projects created after the upgrade to 2023.1.
Users with the Contributor role have the same access rights as a Issue Creator and can also change all issue attributes. This role is assigned the following permissions by default:
Add Attachment
Create Article
Create Article Comment
Create Issue
Create Issue Comment
Create Report
Create Tag or Saved Search
Create Work Item
Delete Attachment
Delete Issue Comment
Delete Issue
Delete Tag or Saved Search
Edit Tag or Saved Search
Link Issues
Read Article
Read Article Comment
Read Issue
Read Issue Comment
Read Report
Read Issue Private Fields
Read Organization
Read Project Basic
Read Project Full
Read User Basic
Read User Full
Read Work Item
Share Report
Share Tag, Saved Search, Agile Board, or Gantt Chart
Update Attachment
Update Issue
Update Issue Comment
Update Issue Private Fields
Update Self
Update Watchers
Update Work Item
View Voters
View Watchers
If your YouTrack was upgraded to version 2023.1 or later from an older version,
Issue Creator
The Issue Creator role is intended for use by the users who create issues and monitor their progress. Users with the Issue Creator role can create new issues and comments, view existing issues and comments, and manage their own profile.
This role is assigned the following permissions by default:
Add Attachment
Create Issue
Create Issue Comment
Delete Issue Comment
Link Issues
Read Issue
Read Issue Comment
Read Project Basic
Read Report
Update Issue Comment
Update Self
Observer
The Observer role is designed to grant a slightly elevated level of access to registered users. When granted together with the Issue Reader role, you can let users and groups view issues and comments that don't have visibility restrictions in specific projects while also being able to access and update their own YouTrack profiles and viewing basic profile data for other users who also have access to the project. This role is assigned the following permissions by default:
Read User Basic
Update Self
Issue Reader
The Issue Reader role is intended for use by users who monitor the progress of issues. This role basically enables read-only access for issues in a project. You can, for example, grant this role to the guest account in one or more projects to let anonymous users view issues and comments that don't have any visibility restrictions in these projects. This role is assigned the following permissions by default:
Read Project Basic
Read Issue
Read Issue Comment
Read Report