How the permissions model works

How groups, record types, and permission levels combine to control what each team member can do.

Updated October 29, 2026

Access control in Tooling Metrics is built around three concepts: Users, Groups, and Permission Levels set per record type. Understanding how these interact allows you to configure access that matches your organization’s workflows without over-restricting or under-restricting any role.

The structure

A user can belong to one or more Groups. Each Group sets a permission level for each record type — Pick Lists, Tool Assemblies, Purchase Orders, and so on. The group form lists the record types under their module headings (Production, Inventory, Purchase, Engineering, Library, Reports), but the level is set on each record type, not on the module.

User → belongs to → one or more Groups → each has a permission level per → Record type

Where a user belongs to more than one Group, Tooling Metrics combines the levels they hold for a record type: the user gets every ability that any of those levels gives. In practice the highest level wins (Admin > Manager > User > No permission).

There is no per-user permission override. If you need a user to have different access than their current Groups give them, add them to another Group or move them out of one.

Permission levels

Level	Sees records	Creates	Edits and deletes own records	Edits and deletes other people’s records
Admin	All	✓	✓	✓
Manager	All	✓	✓	—
User	Only their own	✓	✓	—
No permission	—	—	—	— (record type hidden)

“Own records” are the ones the user created. A User’s lists show only the records they created (plus records with no creator, such as imported ones); a Manager sees everyone’s records but changes only their own; only an Admin can change records someone else created.

A record’s tabs follow the same rule. Anyone who may view a record opens all of its tabs, and a tab that lists related records, such as an item’s stock moves or a project’s jobs, shows them the way that record type’s own list does: a User sees the ones they created, a Manager or Admin sees everyone’s.

Record-type independence

Permission levels are set per record type, per group. A user can be a Manager on Projects and a User on Purchase Orders at the same time, or an Admin on Stock Rules and a User on every other Inventory record type. This mirrors real job functions: a CNC programmer has no reason to create purchase orders, and a buyer has no reason to edit tool assemblies.

No permission hides the record type from the user’s sidebar, and a module disappears from the sidebar when none of its record types has a level. This reduces cognitive load and prevents accidental navigation to unrelated parts of the system.

Admin Center access is separate from group permissions

Access to the Admin Center — Groups, Users, Sequences, Currencies, and organization settings — is not one of the record types on the group form. It works differently:

The owner (the user who created the organization) always has full access to everything, including the Admin Center, and never needs a Group for it.
Every organization also has two built-in Groups, <org-name>-admins and <org-name>-users, created automatically and not editable through the Groups form. Members of the admins group get Admin Center access; members of the users group do not.

A user’s Admin Center access is therefore controlled by which of these built-in groups they belong to, not by a permission level you set on a custom Group. Custom Groups you create only control the record-type permission levels above — they cannot grant or remove Admin Center access.

A user can still hold Admin Center access (via the built-in admins group) alongside No permission on every Library record type from their other Groups: they could manage users and organization settings but not see or edit the tool library.

Recommended group configurations

The right configuration depends on your organization. These are starting points, not prescriptions.

Each table gives one level per module. On the group form, set every record type under that module to the level shown, or set individual record types differently where a role needs it. Where a role needs to read everyone’s records in a module, Manager is the level to give: it is the lowest level that shows every record, and it never lets anyone change a record they did not create.

Engineers — CNC programmers and tooling engineers who design processes and maintain the library

Module	Level	Reason
Library	Manager	Build tool assemblies and see everyone’s
Engineering	Manager	Build projects and see everyone’s
Inventory	Manager	Read stock levels when selecting tools
Production	Manager	Read setup sheets and tool status
Purchase	Manager	Visibility into order status
Reports	Manager	Review cost and life data

Inventory & Production — Tool room, operators, and setup technicians

Module	Level	Reason
Library	No permission	No library editing needed
Engineering	Manager	Read setup sheets
Inventory	Manager	Create stock movements and see everyone’s
Production	Manager	Create tools and see all tools and machines
Purchase	Manager	See incoming deliveries
Reports	Manager	Review tool usage

Purchasing — Buyers and purchasing managers

Module	Level	Reason
Library	Manager	Read product data for sourcing
Engineering	Manager	See project requirements
Inventory	Manager	Check stock before ordering
Production	No permission
Purchase	Manager	Create orders and see everyone’s
Reports	Manager	Review spend data

None of these roles need Admin Center access — see Admin Center access is separate from group permissions above.

Common misconfiguration patterns

Giving everyone Admin: Feels safe (“they can do everything they need”) but breaks workflow accountability. Admin is the only level that can edit or delete records someone else created, so keep it for the people who own that record type.

Setting Inventory record types to No permission for Engineers: Engineers selecting tool assemblies in the Process Designer need to see inventory levels to know what is in stock. Manager on Items and Serialized Items is the right level for them: it shows everyone’s stock without letting them change records they did not create.

Giving the Production team Admin on everything: Production users do not need to change stock rules, machines, or WAPs that someone else set up. Manager on Production and Inventory record types is sufficient for day-to-day operations; give Admin on Stock Rules and Machines only to the people who own them.