Organization
Access groups
Access groups put dashboard users into named groups. On plans that include them, product lists in the dashboard show each user the products tied to their active group, plus products tied to no group.
Access groups put your dashboard users into named groups. On plans that include access groups, product lists in the dashboard show each user the products tied to their active group, plus products tied to no group. You manage groups on the Groups page, under the Organization group in settings.
What is an access group?
An access group is a named set of dashboard users. On plans that include access groups, product lists in the dashboard, such as API Products, show each user the products tied to their active group, plus every product that belongs to no group.
Every organization starts with a default group named after the organization, and everyone who joins the organization is added to it. A user who belongs to several groups picks the active one with Switch Group in the organization menu of the sidebar.
How do access groups differ from approval groups?
Access groups filter which products a dashboard user sees. Approval groups decide who is notified about requests and who can approve them from a request's page. They are separate pages under the Organization group.
| Access groups | Approval groups | |
|---|---|---|
| Page | Groups | Approval Groups |
| What it controls | Which products dashboard lists show a user. | Who is notified about requests, and who sees Approve and Reject on them. |
| Who it applies to | Your dashboard users. | Your dashboard users, as reviewers. |
| Plan | An enterprise feature. | Available when your plan includes approval groups. |
Approval groups are covered in Approval groups.
How do you create an access group?
Open Groups under the Organization settings group, select + Add Group, name the group, add its members, and save. You are added to a new group as its creator, and a group needs at least one member.
- In settings, open the Organization group and select Groups.
- Select + Add Group.
- Enter the group's name in the Group Name field.
- Add the dashboard users who belong to the group from the users table. You are already in it and cannot remove yourself.
- Save the group. It appears in the Groups list, where you can search it with Search groups..., edit it, or delete it later.
You can edit or delete only groups you are a member of. For any other group, the fields and buttons are disabled and a banner explains why.
How do you tie a product to an access group?
Open the product, choose Change Group Ownership from the menu on the product's title, and select the group. Then save the product. The menu lists the groups you belong to and marks the product's groups as Active.
A product can belong to several groups. A product that belongs to no group appears for every group.
Do access groups control what your API consumers see?
No. Access groups apply to your dashboard users, not to the developers who sign in to your API Portal. What a consumer can see and call is governed by their subscriptions, the plans they are on, and scopes.
For consumer-facing access, see Access control. For who the consumers are, see Consumers.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| + Add Group and Edit are greyed out | The page turns these buttons on for Organisation Admins on plans that also include approval groups. Ask an Organisation Admin, or talk to Apiable about your plan. |
| Saving a group closes the form with an error notice, and the change is not there | Your plan does not include access groups, so Apiable refused the change. Talk to Apiable to add them to your plan. |
| Groups exist, but dashboard users still see every product | Access groups are not on your plan, so product lists are not filtered. |
| A user sees products you did not tie to their group | Products tied to no group appear for every group. Tie each product to its groups with Change Group Ownership. |
| A user does not see a product they need | The product is tied to other groups, not the user's active group. Add the group to the product, or have the user switch their active group. |
| A group's fields and buttons are disabled | You are not a member of that group. Ask a member of the group to make the change. |