> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.ruler.nl/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.ruler.nl/getting-started/roles-and-access.md).

# User roles and access

The four user types, how departments and profiles decide what you see, and what active and passive users are.

What you can see and do in Ruler depends on three things: your user type, the departments you belong to, and the profiles your organisation has.

## User types

| User type         | Rights                                                                            |
| ----------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Administrator** | Can use all functionality, including the settings and the optional Control module |
| **User**          | Can use almost all functionality, except administration                           |
| **Reader**        | Can view everything, but cannot change anything                                   |
| **Planner**       | Can assign tasks                                                                  |

Administrators can also grant individual permissions to other users, for example the right to archive Inbox items or to delete risk assessments. See [Users](/administration/users.md).

## Departments

Every Ruler account starts with one department, called **General**. Administrators can create more departments to separate content, for example for different licences or business lines.

You only see the alerts, topics, control measures, risks and tasks that are visible to the department you are currently working in. That is why a colleague in another department may not receive the same alert as you. The **Info** button on an item shows which departments it has been sent to.

Within a department, users are either **active** or **passive**:

* **Active** users have full access to the department's content.
* **Passive** users cannot see the department's content, but can receive tasks from it. Use this to assign a task to someone outside your department without giving them access to everything in it.

## Profiles

A profile is a type of financial institution, for example a financial service provider, a mortgage provider or an investment firm. Your organisation has a profile for each licence it holds. The editors link every theme, topic, alert and radar item to the profiles it applies to, so profiles determine which content reaches you at all.

Administrators can see the profiles on the account under [Profiles](/administration/profiles.md), and can link profiles to departments under [Departments](/administration/departments.md).

{% hint style="info" %}
If you switch a profile off in the **Profiles** dropdown at the top right of a page, content that only applies to that profile disappears from view. Switch it back on to see it again.
{% endhint %}