Override locks
What this page is — the grid that decides, per project and per surface, whether a project keeps its own Papers settings or uses the organisation's.
What it is for — so consistency is the default, and a project that genuinely needs its own numbering, branding or glossary is granted it deliberately.
The problem it solves — either every project invents its own settings, or a project with a genuine need cannot get one.
Route: /org/settings?tab=papers → Override locks · Permission: Papers module limits, defaults, integrations and signature-provider toggles..
1. What it is
Five surfaces can be delegated, and locked is the default for every project:
| Surface | Lock key | When unlocked, the project's own… |
|---|---|---|
| Rules | rules_locked | Regulation rules are used for its documents |
| Numbering | numbering_locked | Sequences can be created and edited by its members |
| Branding | branding_locked | Default letterhead is used for its documents |
| Smart fields | smart_fields_locked | Extraction definitions replace the organisation's |
| Glossary | glossary_locked | Terms for a language replace the organisation's for that language |
Everything else in Papers settings is organisation-wide and cannot be delegated.
A lock does two separate jobs, and people usually only know about the first:
| Job | Locked | Unlocked |
|---|---|---|
| Who may write project overrides | Organisation admins only | Project members with the matching permission, too |
| What documents use | The organisation's settings | The project's, where it has any |
2. Why you would use it
- One grid answers "why is this greyed out?" — the most common Papers settings confusion, and it is almost never a permission problem.
- A subsidiary gets exactly what it needs. Unlock Branding for one project; its documents carry its letterhead, and nothing else about its setup diverges.
- Relocking is reversible. A project's own settings are kept while locked, and used again if reopened.
- Admins are never blocked. Organisation admins can prepare a project's overrides before unlocking it.
3. How each surface resolves
| Surface | Locked | Unlocked |
|---|---|---|
| Branding | The organisation's default letterhead | The project's default letterhead, if it has one; otherwise the organisation's |
| Smart fields | The organisation's definitions | The project's matching definitions instead of the organisation's — only when it has at least one |
| Glossary | The organisation's active terms for the language | The project's active terms instead of the organisation's, when it has at least one for that language |
| Rules | The organisation's rules | The project's rules |
| Numbering | Unchanged — a document uses whichever sequence its type names | Unchanged |
A project that adds one smart field of its own stops using all twelve of the organisation's for matching documents. Copy the organisation's definitions into the project first if it should keep them.
Numbering is the exception: the lock only decides who may manage project sequences. A type bound to a project sequence keeps using it after the lock closes.
4. Step by step
- Organization Settings → Papers → Override locks.
- Find the project row.
- Switch the surface on to unlock it, off to lock it.
- Tell the project admin: they manage the surface from Papers Project Settings in the gear menu.
5. Field reference
| Element | Holds |
|---|---|
| Rows | Every project |
| Columns | Rules, Numbering, Branding, Smart fields, Glossary |
| Switch off | Locked — the default |
| Switch on | Unlocked |
Refusals a project member may see
| Message | Means |
|---|---|
| This project's branding configuration is locked to the organization defaults — ask an org admin to open the override lock | The surface is locked (the surface name varies) |
| org.papers.branding.manage is required to manage the organization defaults | They tried to edit an organisation-level row |
| unknown lock surface "x" | An API call named a surface that does not exist |
Project permissions per surface: Manage the project's regulation-rule overrides (requires open rules lock)., Manage the project's numbering-sequence overrides (requires open numbering lock)., Manage the project's branding-asset overrides (requires open branding lock)., Manage the project's smart-field overrides (requires open smart-fields lock)., Manage the project's legal-translation glossary overrides (requires open glossary lock). — each only effective while that surface is unlocked.
6. Worked example
The group runs Papers across twelve projects. Its retail subsidiary, Contoso Retail, trades under its own brand and issues Hindi contracts.
- The compliance lead unlocks Branding and Glossary for Contoso Retail. The other eleven stay locked.
- A Contoso Retail project admin uploads the subsidiary letterhead and stars it default. Its finalized PDFs now carry it; every other project keeps the group letterhead.
- They add eight Hindi glossary terms. Legal translations of Contoso Retail documents into Hindi now use only those eight — the organisation's twenty Hindi terms no longer apply there, so they copy the ones they still want.
- A year later the subsidiary rebrands to the group identity. The lead relocks Branding. Documents revert to the group letterhead; the subsidiary letterhead stays stored, unused.
7. The admin contract
| Must be true | Where | What breaks without it |
|---|---|---|
| The role holds Papers module limits, defaults, integrations and signature-provider toggles. | Role editor | The grid is not editable |
Project admins hold the matching settings.*.manage permission | Role editor | Unlocking alone does not let them edit |
| Project members are active in the project | Project membership | Writes are refused as out of scope |
| Replacement sets are complete before unlocking smart fields or glossary | Project hub | The project silently loses the organisation's definitions |
8. Downstream
| When you… | Then |
|---|---|
| Unlock Branding | The project's default letterhead is used from the next render |
| Add a project smart field | Its documents stop using the organisation's definitions |
| Relock a surface | Project rows are kept but ignored; the organisation's apply again |
9. Don't confuse this with…
| Permissions | Decide who may change a setting. Locks decide whether a project's setting is its own |
| Org-wide types | Shared type definitions. Locks are about settings, not types |
| Behaviour settings | Belong to a type, not a project |
10. Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause |
|---|---|
| A project setting is greyed out | The surface is locked |
| Unlocked, but the admin still cannot edit | They lack the project settings.*.manage permission |
| A project lost the organisation's smart fields | It has its own now, which replace the set |
| Relocking did not change a document's number format | Numbering follows the type's bound sequence, not the lock |
| A project's letterhead is ignored | Branding is locked, or no project letterhead is marked default |