Permissions
What this page is — all 60 Orbit Papers permissions, by the names the role editor shows, grouped as the role editor groups them, with what each one actually unlocks.
What it is for — so a role grants exactly what a person's job needs, picked straight off the list.
The problem it solves — "give them Papers access" spans eleven permission groups. Without a map, roles end up with too much, or with screens that only half work.
Route: Organisation Settings → Roles · Permission: the role-management permission
1. What it is
Papers permissions fall into two scopes and three kinds.
| Organisation-wide | Project | |
|---|---|---|
| Applies to | The whole organisation | Documents and types in a project the person belongs to |
| Typical holders | Administrators, records managers, compliance | Authors, approvers, template owners |
| Groups | Papers Records, Papers Settings | Documents, Type Designer, Repository, Obligations, Analytics, Capture Inbox, Knowledge Graph, Reports, Project Settings |
| Kind | Example | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Menu | Show the Documents sidebar entry. | Shows the sidebar entry — nothing more |
| View / manage | View this project's documents. | Opens the screen and its data |
| Feature right | Feature right: download rendered/finalized artifacts and redacted exports (export/print). | One capability, independent of screens |
A permission is never enough on its own. Papers must be on the organisation's plan, and for project permissions the person must be a member of the project.
2. Why you would use it
- Least privilege without guesswork. An author gets authoring. They do not also get voiding signature requests or re-opening sealed documents.
- Separation of duties you can show an auditor. Writing, approving, finalizing and forcing a state change are separate grants, held by different people.
- Fewer "the button is missing" tickets. Menu and view are separate, and some actions need a second right. Knowing that removes most access confusion before it starts.
3. Step by step — building a role
- Start with the menu + view pair for each area the person should see.
- Add the action permissions their job needs, from §4.
- Add organisation-wide permissions only for administrators, records and compliance staff.
- Assign the role, and make sure the person is a member of the projects they work in.
- Test as that person: the screens they need are present, and the buttons they need appear.
4. Field reference — all 60 permissions
Papers Documents (project, 16)
| Permission | What it unlocks |
|---|---|
| Show the Documents sidebar entry. | The sidebar entry |
| View this project's documents. | The documents list, each document, version history and diffs |
| Create documents from a type. | New Document |
| Edit draft documents / data values. | Editing fields in editable states, and Submit |
| Delete drafts (finalized documents are immutable). | No visible action at present — documents cannot currently be deleted. Revoke or rename instead |
| Finalize (number + seal) a document. | Finalize |
| Act on approval steps (approve/reject/return). | Approval decisions, including on unrouted documents |
| Manage counterparty access and redlines. | Adding counterparties, portal invites, accepting and rejecting redlines |
| Distribute documents externally. | Email Document and Create Share Link |
| Send signature requests/envelopes. | Send for Signature, remind and reassign |
| Place/edit signature fields. | Placing fields through the API — the screen uses the template's signature anchors instead |
| Void an in-flight signing ceremony. | Void on a signature request |
| Force transitions / re-open (audited). | Moving a document to any state, with a reason |
| Feature right: download rendered/finalized artifacts and redacted exports (export/print). | Downloads and exports |
| Redaction-aware right: download the CLEAN sealed artifact even when the document has an active external redaction layer. | The unredacted file — grant sparingly |
| Use AI drafting/extraction/Q&A for documents. | Every AI action, and the AI advisor in the approvals inbox |
Papers Type Designer (project, 6)
| Permission | What it unlocks |
|---|---|
| Show the Type Designer sidebar entry. | The sidebar entry |
| View this project's document types. | Reading types and their zones |
| Create/edit/retire project types and template versions. | Building, publishing and retiring types, including zones |
| View this project's clause library. | Reading clauses |
| Create/edit/approve project clauses and fallbacks. | Writing clauses and fallback positions |
| Manage project letterheads, seals and numbering. | Project branding and sequences |
Papers Repository, Obligations, Analytics, Capture Inbox, Knowledge Graph (project, 9)
| Permission | What it unlocks |
|---|---|
| Show the Repository sidebar entry. | The sidebar entry |
| Manage folders, tags, move/file and bulk operations. | Filing and bulk actions |
| Show the Obligations sidebar entry. | The sidebar entry |
| View obligation register and renewal calendar. | The register and calendar feeds |
| Manage obligations and reminders. | Adding, completing and renewing obligations; reminders |
| Show the Analytics sidebar entry. | The sidebar entry |
| View cycle-time / win-rate / bottleneck analytics. | The analytics dashboard |
| Show the Capture Inbox sidebar entry. | The sidebar entry |
| Show the Knowledge Graph sidebar entry. | The sidebar entry |
Papers Reports (project, 3)
| Permission | What it unlocks |
|---|---|
| Show the Papers Reports sidebar entry. | The sidebar entry |
| Open the Papers report builder, run reports, drill down and export results. | Running and exporting reports |
| Create, update, delete and share saved Papers report definitions. | Saving and sharing reports |
Papers Project Settings (project, 6)
| Permission | What it unlocks |
|---|---|
| Show Papers Project Settings in the header settings (gear) menu. | The gear-menu entry |
| Manage the project's branding-asset overrides (requires open branding lock). | Project branding, when the organisation allows it |
| Manage the project's numbering-sequence overrides (requires open numbering lock). | Project sequences, when allowed |
| Manage the project's smart-field overrides (requires open smart-fields lock). | Project smart fields, when allowed |
| Manage the project's legal-translation glossary overrides (requires open glossary lock). | Project glossary, when allowed |
| Manage the project's regulation-rule overrides (requires open rules lock). | Project regulation rules, when allowed |
Papers Records (organisation, 3)
| Permission | What it unlocks |
|---|---|
| Show the Records Management sidebar entry. | The sidebar entry |
| View file plans, record series, retention status, legal holds, disposition and vital-review queues. | Every Records screen, read-only |
| Manage record series/file plans, apply/release legal holds, execute disposition and stamp vital reviews. | Every Records action |
Papers Settings (organisation, 17)
| Permission | What it unlocks |
|---|---|
| Papers module limits, defaults, integrations and signature-provider toggles. | Module settings — and also embed tokens and publishing to the public library |
| View the org-canonical template-type library. | Reading organisation types |
| Manage org-canonical types/templates (projects inherit). | Organisation types, inherited by projects |
| View the org-canonical clause library. | Reading organisation clauses |
| Manage org-canonical clauses, fallbacks and playbooks. | Organisation clauses and playbooks |
| Manage org letterheads, seals, watermarks and numbering sequences. | Organisation branding and sequences |
| Manage the authorized-signatory matrix. | The signatory matrix |
| Set retention policies and legal-hold defaults. | Retention defaults |
| Configure triggers/webhooks/auto-generation rules. | Generation triggers |
| Configure intake-form bridges: map a marketing form to a Papers document type with a field mapping so each submission auto-generates a document (FB-238). | Intake forms |
| Manage which customers can access the Papers document portal for a project (enroll by email, suspend/remove, send invitations). | Customer enrolment |
| Browse & view Papers customer-portal pages. | Portal pages in Experience Manager, read-only |
| Edit Papers customer-portal pages. | Editing portal pages |
| Publish Papers customer-portal pages. | Publishing portal pages |
| Use the page builder for Papers customer-portal pages. | The page builder |
| Data & Privacy tools for Orbit Papers: export everything held about a counterparty email (GDPR subject access, FB-185) and request erasure with a legal-hold/retention withheld report (FB-186). | Subject-access export and erasure |
| Cross-project compliance read; unlocks "All projects" mode in the Repository. | Every project's documents in the Repository |
5. Things the names do not tell you
| Fact | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Submitting needs Edit draft documents / data values., not an approval permission | Authors submit their own work |
| Deciding an unrouted approval needs Act on approval steps (approve/reject/return). — and the submitter can never decide their own | See submitting for approval |
| Self-approval for one-person organisations is an organisation setting, not a permission | No role can grant it |
| API keys and webhook endpoints are managed with Manage Api Keys under Developers | Papers permissions do not cover them |
| Public pages — verification, share links, portal, signing, library — need no permission | The link or code is the credential |
6. Worked example
Gatiro's five-person legal department needs four roles in its Commercial project.
| Role | Holders | Grants |
|---|---|---|
| Contract author | 2 paralegals | Show the Documents sidebar entry. · View this project's documents. · Create documents from a type. · Edit draft documents / data values. · Manage counterparty access and redlines. · Distribute documents externally. · Use AI drafting/extraction/Q&A for documents. · Show the Obligations sidebar entry. · View obligation register and renewal calendar. |
| Contract approver | General counsel | The author's two Documents view permissions, plus Act on approval steps (approve/reject/return). · Finalize (number + seal) a document. · Send signature requests/envelopes. · Void an in-flight signing ceremony. |
| Template owner | Senior counsel | Show the Type Designer sidebar entry. · View this project's document types. · Create/edit/retire project types and template versions. · View this project's clause library. · Create/edit/approve project clauses and fallbacks. |
| Records & compliance | Compliance officer | The three Papers Records permissions · Cross-project compliance read; unlocks "All projects" mode in the Repository. · Set retention policies and legal-hold defaults. |
Force transitions / re-open (audited). goes only to the general counsel, in a separate Emergency override role that is reviewed quarterly. Nobody receives the clean-artifact redaction right.
7. The admin contract
| What must be true | Otherwise |
|---|---|
| Papers is on the plan | No permission has any effect |
| The person is a project member | Project permissions show nothing |
| The permission groups are enabled for the organisation's package | They do not appear in the role editor |
| Override locks are open, for the Project Settings permissions | The screen stays greyed out whatever the role |
8. Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause |
|---|---|
| Sidebar entry present, but the screen is refused | The menu permission was granted without the view permission |
| The screen works, but has no sidebar entry | The view permission was granted without the menu permission |
| An approver cannot decide an unrouted document | They submitted it, or they lack the approval permission |
| Cannot publish to the public library or mint embed tokens | These need Papers module limits, defaults, integrations and signature-provider toggles. |
| A project setting is greyed out despite the permission | The organisation lock is closed |
| No delete button despite the delete permission | Documents cannot currently be deleted — revoke, or rename a draft clearly |
| A person with every permission sees no documents | They are not a member of the project |