Custom roles and permissions

Administrator and Agent

Administrator has All permissions, and the role Cannot be modified. Some pages are for administrators only and cannot be given through a role: Agents, Custom Roles, Audit Logs, SLA Policies, Custom Attributes, Import & Migration, Webhooks, API Tokens and MCP Server. Only the account owner can make someone an administrator or take that role away.

Agent is the default for every agent without a custom role.

What the standard Agent role includes

• Manage conversations (assign, resolve, reopen)
• Use LiveTranslate
• Summarize conversations with Copilot
• Manage contacts (create, edit)
• Manage canned responses

Everything else is off for the standard Agent role, for example View reports, Send and activate campaigns and Manage email spam filter.

A new custom role starts with nothing ticked, and anything you leave unticked is off. It does not build on the Agent role, so tick the Agent permissions as well if the person should keep them.

Create a role

1. Go to Settings > Custom Roles and click Add custom role.
2. Enter a Role Name, for example "Team lead" or "QA reviewer". Each name can exist only once in a workspace.
3. Under Permissions, tick what the role may do. The groups are listed below.
4. Click Create Role. When you edit a role later, the button reads Update Role.

The list of roles shows how many permissions each role has and how many agents it is assigned to.

Give a role to an agent

1. Go to Settings > Agents.
2. Next to the agent, pick the role in the dropdown. Default gives the agent the standard Agent role again.

When you add a new agent, you can pick the role right away under Custom Role (optional). The dropdown only shows for agents, not for administrators, and only once at least one custom role exists.

Every permission in the editor

Conversations

• Manage conversations (assign, resolve, reopen): also needed to take, merge and start conversations and to run macros. Replying and writing private notes do not need it.
• Delete conversations
• Use LiveTranslate: translate messages in conversations. See Multilingual conversations.
• Summarize conversations with Copilot: the summary is saved as a private note.
• Delete other agents' private notes: everyone can always delete their own notes.
• Restrict view to conversations assigned to this agent: the agent only sees conversations assigned to them or transferred to them, and their folders are Mine and Mentions. They get a Hand back button that returns a conversation to a reviewer. Once you tick this permission, the editor shows Default reviewer for handoffs, the person who gets the conversation back automatically. See Assigning conversations and Inbox folders.

Contacts

• Manage contacts (create, edit): also allows Mark email as deliverable on a contact whose campaign emails bounced.
• Delete contacts

Reports

• View reports: the agent sees Reports, counted only for the conversations assigned to them.
• Export reports: together with View reports, the CSV downloads of conversations and CSAT. See Who can see Reports, and what they see.

AI & Bots

• Manage bots and chatbot flows: opens Settings > Bots.
• Manage Training Hub sources: opens Settings > Training Hub.

Commerce

• Issue refunds (Shopify, Stripe, WooCommerce)
• Cancel orders and subscriptions
• Fulfill orders

These are the order actions inside a conversation.

Campaigns

• Send and activate campaigns: needed for Send now, Activate, the Enable campaign switch and for changing a campaign that is already live. Without it these controls are locked, with the hint "Ask an administrator of your workspace for the permission to send campaigns." Everyone can still create drafts and pause campaigns. See Campaigns.

Settings

• Manage inboxes: opens Inboxes.
• Manage labels: opens Labels.
• Manage teams: opens Teams.
• Manage automation rules: opens Automation.
• Manage canned responses: opens Canned Responses.
• Manage integrations: opens Integrations.
• Manage email spam filter: opens Spam Filter, where Not Spam restores messages the spam filter caught. It also shows Ignore sender in Deskwoot in an email conversation.
• Manage billing & subscription: opens Billing.
• Manage account settings: opens Account Settings, Conversation Workflows, Data Processing Agreement and Data Subject Requests.

Deskwoot checks each permission on every action, not only by hiding buttons. An agent who opens a settings page without the matching permission sees "Your role does not include the permission for this page. Ask an administrator to add it to your role."

Who may use the AI assistant

Separate from roles, administrators decide who may use the AI assistant inside conversations (suggest a reply, improve a draft, summarize, translate). Go to Settings > Account Settings > AI assistant in conversations and choose one of these:

• On for the whole team (default)
• Off for the whole team: nobody sees the AI buttons, administrators included.
• Only for selected agents: pick an agent and click Add.

Fynn, the bot that answers your customers, is not affected; it has its own switch per inbox. Role permissions such as Use LiveTranslate still apply on top. This setting is part of the Enterprise plan as well.

Frequently asked questions

Does a custom role add to the Agent role?

No, it replaces it. A custom role only has the permissions you tick. If the person should keep what the standard Agent role allows, tick Manage conversations (assign, resolve, reopen), Use LiveTranslate, Summarize conversations with Copilot, Manage contacts (create, edit) and Manage canned responses too.

When does a change to a role take effect?

Right away for every agent who has the role, there is no need to assign it again. Deskwoot checks the permissions on every action. An agent who has the dashboard open sees new or removed buttons after reloading the page.

Can I delete a role that agents still have?

No. Deskwoot answers "Cannot delete a role that is assigned to agents. Reassign them first." Give those agents another role or Default in Settings > Agents, then delete the role.

Who can create roles and give them to agents?

Only administrators. A custom role cannot open Agents or Custom Roles, so nobody can raise their own rights through a role.

Can I limit a role to certain inboxes?

No. A role decides what an agent may do. The only limit on what an agent sees is Restrict view to conversations assigned to this agent.

Why can't an agent send a campaign?

Sending needs Send and activate campaigns. Administrators always have it, the standard Agent role does not. Give the agent a custom role with that permission, or let an administrator send the campaign.

Who can restore an email from spam?

Administrators and agents whose role has Manage email spam filter. They click Not Spam in Settings > Spam Filter.

Is there a limit on the number of roles?

No. Each role name can only be used once per workspace.

What happens to roles if we leave Enterprise?

Roles you already gave to agents keep applying. Creating a new role needs Enterprise again. AI assistant in conversations behaves as On for the whole team until you are back on Enterprise, and your saved setting applies again then.