Control who can view or edit a doc — and decide whether those settings apply to subdocs too.
How Permissions Work in Slite
By default, docs inherit permissions from their parent channel or doc.
This is called cascading permissions — it helps you manage access without having to set permissions on every single doc.
You can override these defaults at any level to give specific people access to just one doc or restrict access further down the doc tree.
Setting Doc Permissions
In the Share menu in the top right of a doc you can control:
- Who can view (Reader)
- Who can edit (Writer)
- Whether subdocs inherit the same permissions
- Who can manage the channel (doesn't apply to subdocs)
Here's a summary of the different roles you can set on docs and their associated permissions.
Role
Permissions
Channel admin
Can perform these actions at the channel level:
- change the title of the channel
- archive the channel
- restore the channel from the archive
- delete the channel from the archive
- convert the channel into a doc by moving it into another channel
- give others the Channel Admin role
- do everything writers and readers can do
Writer
Can perform these actions at the doc level:
- write
- move
- share to web
- share with other workspace members
- invite guests to collaborate
- set protect editing
- change icon
- archive
- delete
- do everything readers can do
Reader
Can perform these actions at the doc level:
- read
- comment
- manage doc verification
- see doc history
- see doc insights
- export
No access
Cannot interact with the doc or channel in any way.
Inheriting vs. Overriding
Inheriting Permissions (default)
When you create a new doc under a channel or parent doc, it inherits the permissions of this channel or parent doc.
You’ll see a toggle that says
Include subdocs when sharing a subdoc — leaving this enabled as the default means all docs below will follow the same access.
If you turn this toggle off, permissions for subdocs will be inherited from the channel instead, not the doc.
Overriding Permissions
Want to share just one doc from the channel without exposing the rest?
Open the
Share menu on that specific doc and invite team members directly by typing their name and choosing a role. The doc will appear in their
Shared with me section at the bottom of the left sidebar, and they won't be able to access the parent channel or any other docs in it.
Restoring Inherited Permissions
If a doc has its own permissions and you want it to follow its parent doc or channel again, remove the permissions set directly on that doc. Once they're gone, the doc goes back to inheriting automatically.
Open the doc and click
Share in the top right.Find the entries that don't say "Inherited from…". These are set on this doc and override the parent.
Click the role dropdown next to the entry and choose Remove this permission .
Repeat for any other entries set directly on the doc.
The entries now show "Inherited from…", and the doc has the same access as its parent.
Setting a role to No access doesn't restore inheritance. It blocks access on that doc. To go back to the parent's permissions, use Remove this permission instead.
Restoring inheritance also brings back any guests who have access to the parent. If you only want to give everyone edit access while keeping guests out, select Writer in the dropdown and click Update instead of removing the permission.