# Create and Edit Roles

If you want to create a custom set of permissions that are available to a group or user account, you can create new roles or edit the permissions that are assigned to an existing role.

If you want to create a role that is similar but not identical to an existing role, create the role with the Clone action instead. For more information, see [Clone a Role](clone-role.html).

> **Note: Roles with Mixed Permission Scopes**
> YouTrack separates role definition from role assignment. While you can create roles with mixed scopes, the system only activates permissions compatible with the specific level where the role is assigned.
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> * If you assign a role with mixed permission scopes at the global level, all permissions are considered as valid.
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> * If assigned at the organization level, globally scoped permissions are disregarded and have no effect.
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> * At the project level, permissions with global and organizational scopes are disregarded. YouTrack blocks the assignment of roles unless they contain at least one project-scoped permission.

## Create a Role

If you want to provide specific access to a user or group but do not want to modify any of the predefined roles, create a new role.

Procedure: To create a new role:

> **Tip:**
> Requires permissions: Low-level Admin Write

1. From the main navigation menu, select ![](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/youtrack/2026.2/settings.svg) `Administration > Access Management > Roles`.

2. Click the New role button.

* A dialog for defining the new role opens. ![New role general settings page showing its configuration fields and current values.](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/youtrack/2026.2/new-role-general-settings.png)

3. Enter a name for the new role.

4. Enter an optional description of the new role.

5. To configure the set of permissions that are available to the role, activate one or more options in the Permissions section of the form.

* Use the search box to filter the list of permissions by permission name.

* Use the Group by option to group the list of permissions by Entity or Operation.

6. Click the Create button.

Once you have created and configured all the roles that you want to use, you can [create or configure groups](manage-user-groups.html) and [assign roles](configure-access-for-a-user-group.html) to them on a per-project basis.

## Edit an Existing Role

If there is a specific permission you would like to enable for users who are already assigned a specific role, you can modify an existing role.

> **Note: Predefined Roles**
> The default roles that are predefined in YouTrack are read-only. If you want to make customizations to a predefined role, you can clone it, then customize the copy. To learn how to clone a role in YouTrack, see [Clone a Role](clone-role.html).

> **Warning: Prevention Against Permission Escalation**
> Users who have the permissions required to edit roles can remove any permission from a role, including permissions that they don't have access to themselves. To avert permission or privilege escalation attacks, YouTrack blocks users from granting permissions that are unavailable to their own accounts.

Procedure: To edit an existing role:

> **Tip:**
> Requires permissions: Low-level Admin Write

1. From the main navigation menu, select ![](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/youtrack/2026.2/settings.svg) `Administration > Access Management > Roles`.

2. Select a role from the list.

3. To update the role name or description, click the ![](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/youtrack/2026.2/pencil.svg) icon, update the existing values, then click the Save button.

4. To modify the set of permissions that are available to the role, activate or deactivate specific permissions in the Permissions section of the form. For more information about specific permissions, see [Permissions](youtrack-permissions-reference.html).

* Use the search box to filter the list of permissions by permission name.

* Use the Group by option to group the list of permissions by Entity or Operation.

Changes to permissions are applied and saved automatically.