> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rittly.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Roles and permissions

> Owner, admin, instructor, student, and custom roles.

Rittly uses four built-in roles. Roles are per academy: you can be an instructor in one academy and a student in another.

Cognito only proves **who you are**. The academy membership proves **what you may do here**.

## Built-in roles

| Role           | Typical person                     | What they can do                                                                                              |
| -------------- | ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Owner**      | The person who created the academy | Everything, including rename, domain, billing, and deleting the academy                                       |
| **Admin**      | Day-to-day operator                | People, courses, community, billing, support. Cannot rename or delete the academy                             |
| **Instructor** | Teacher                            | Directory, author and publish courses, support tickets. Cannot manage members, billing, or community channels |
| **Student**    | Learner                            | Enrol, take courses, calendar, calls, community, help center, messages. No staff screens                      |

You can also create **custom roles** under **Settings → People**. A custom role can never grant “manage the academy” (the capability that can delete it).

## What each area requires

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Overview dashboard">
    Staff who can author courses. Students are redirected to **Courses**.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Courses, editor, content library">
    Authoring needs **can author courses**. Publishing a course needs **can publish**. Students still open published courses they are enrolled in.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Students directory">
    Owners, admins, and instructors. Students do not see the roster.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Instructors">
    Everyone in the academy. Staff see a directory they can edit. Learners see who teaches them and can message them.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Settings">
    Owners and admins. Students never see Settings. Theme still lives on the sidebar for everyone.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Integrations and billing">
    Owners and admins.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Change someone’s role

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open People">
    Go to **Settings → People**. You need permission to manage members.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick a role">
    Use the role dropdown on that person’s row. Built-in and custom roles both appear here.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Remove if needed">
    Removing a membership takes them out of this academy. It does not delete their login everywhere else.
  </Step>
</Steps>


## Related topics

- [Community](/teaching/community.md)
- [Academy settings](/academy/settings.md)
- [Create a course](/courses/create-a-course.md)
- [Analytics pages](/analytics/reports.md)
- [Help Center](/teaching/help-center.md)