Permissions Reference: All Roles and Access Rights

RefactKit’s RBAC system is built on Better Auth’s createAccessControl API. Every organization member is assigned one of three roles — member, admin, or owner — and each role grants a specific set of permissions over resources like members, invitations, and the organization itself. Permissions are enforced server-side in every server function, so unauthorized actions are rejected before any database query runs.

Roles

Role	Description
Member	Read-only access to the dashboard. Cannot manage other members, invitations, or organization settings. Suitable for end users who need workspace access but no administrative control.
Admin	Can manage members (except owners) and invitations. Cannot update or delete the organization itself, and cannot remove members with the Owner role.
Owner	Full control over the organization. Can update or delete the organization, manage all members including other admins, and transfer ownership. There must always be at least one owner per organization.

Permission matrix

The table below lists every permission in the system and which roles have it.

Permission	Member	Admin	Owner
`dashboard:read`	✅	✅	✅
`member:read`	❌	✅	✅
`member:create`	❌	✅	✅
`member:update`	❌	✅	✅
`member:delete`	❌	❌	✅
`invitation:read`	❌	✅	✅
`invitation:create`	❌	✅	✅
`invitation:update`	❌	❌	✅
`invitation:delete`	❌	✅	✅
`organization:update`	❌	❌	✅
`organization:delete`	❌	❌	✅

Checking permissions in code

Use authClient.organization.hasPermission to check whether the current user holds a given permission. The method returns a data object with a success boolean.

import { authClient } from '~/lib/auth-client'

const { data } = await authClient.organization.hasPermission({
  permission: 'member:create',
})

if (!data?.success) {
  throw new Error('You do not have permission to invite members.')
}

You can use this check in server functions, route loaders, or UI components to conditionally render controls or gate actions.

Permission checks in UI components are for user experience only. Always enforce permissions server-side in your server functions. Client-side checks can be bypassed.

Adding a new permission resource

When your application needs a resource that does not exist in the default permission set — for example, a billing page — follow these three steps. Step 1 — Register the resource and its actions in lib/auth.ts:

import { createAccessControl } from 'better-auth/plugins/access'

const ac = createAccessControl({
  dashboard: ['read'],
  member: ['read', 'create', 'update', 'delete'],
  invitation: ['read', 'create', 'update', 'delete'],
  organization: ['update', 'delete'],
  billing: ['read', 'manage'], // ← new resource
})

Step 2 — Assign the new actions to roles using ac.newRole:

const adminRole = ac.newRole({
  dashboard: ['read'],
  member: ['read', 'create', 'update'],
  invitation: ['read', 'create', 'delete'],
  billing: ['read'], // Admin can view billing
})

const ownerRole = ac.newRole({
  ...adminRole.statements,
  member: ['read', 'create', 'update', 'delete'],
  invitation: ['read', 'create', 'update', 'delete'],
  organization: ['update', 'delete'],
  billing: ['read', 'manage'], // Owner can manage billing
})

Step 3 — Check the new permission in any server function or component:

const { data } = await authClient.organization.hasPermission({
  permission: 'billing:manage',
})

Owner protection

Better Auth prevents you from removing the last owner of an organization. If you attempt to delete or demote the only owner, the operation will be rejected. To change ownership, first transfer the owner role to another member, then update or remove the original owner.

Attempting to remove the last owner of an organization without first transferring ownership will result in an error. Always transfer ownership before leaving or deleting an owner account.

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Configuration

Reference

Permissions Reference: All Roles and Access Rights

Roles

Permission matrix

Checking permissions in code

Adding a new permission resource

Owner protection

​Roles

​Permission matrix

​Checking permissions in code

​Adding a new permission resource

​Owner protection

Roles

Permission matrix

Checking permissions in code

Adding a new permission resource

Owner protection