Access in Alwin is controlled by separate permission layers. A role in one layer does not give you access in another. For example, an Owner in the DataSnipper Dashboard (ManageDS) can't automatically see every space in Alwin, and an Alwin Admin can still have View-only rights in a space. If something is missing, check each layer.
New to Alwin? Start with Getting Started with Alwin.
Is this article for you?
I can sign in to Alwin but I can't see a space, project or client engagement
I only see "Join a Space to start"
I can't create a new space
I can open a project but can't edit it or run agents
I'm an Owner or Admin somewhere, but I still can't see a space
I can't build or publish agents
The permission layers at a glance
Layer | What it controls | Who usually needs it |
1. DataSnipper Dashboard (ManageDS) | Account administration. Owner: add and remove users and manage seats. Dashboard Viewer: view analytics. | IT or firm administrators |
2. Alwin platform role | What you can do across your organization in Alwin: Viewer, Member, Admin or Owner | Everyone who uses Alwin |
3. Space and project permissions | Which engagements and files you can see and work on: View-only, Editor or Full access | Set per person, per space or project |
4. Agent Builder role | Who can build, publish and manage agents | A small group per firm |
5. UpLink access | Access to UpLink | Turned on per user |
Alwin platform roles
Role | Can do | Can see |
Viewer | Has no Alwin platform role. Can't open or work in spaces. | Nothing until given Member or higher |
Member | Create and work on tasks, and assign task owners. Can't create spaces. | Only the spaces and projects they've been added to |
Admin | Everything a Member can do, plus create spaces and manage user access to Alwin | Only the spaces they belong to |
Owner | Full administrative control. Create and manage spaces. | Every space in the organization |
Note: Give the Alwin Owner role to as few people as possible, because Owners can see everything across the organization.
Which role new users start with
It depends on how they were added:
Added through ManageDS (Dashboard): starts as Viewer. An Admin or Owner then gives them Member or higher on the Alwin Users page.
Added on the Alwin Users page: starts as Member.
Added with the Alwin user import, with no role filled in: starts as Member.
Note: Alwin doesn't send an invitation email when someone is added, whether through the Users page, the user import or ManageDS. Tell new users to sign in at app.datasnipper.com.
Change a platform role
Only Alwin Admins and Owners can change platform roles. A ManageDS (Dashboard) Owner can also change them, even without an Alwin platform role.
Sign in at app.datasnipper.com.
Open Users.
Find the person and select Edit user.
Choose the new platform role.
Ask the person to sign out of Alwin and sign back in so the new role loads.
You can't give someone a role higher than your own, and you can't change someone whose role is higher than yours. This rule doesn't apply to a ManageDS (Dashboard) Owner. If you try:
A role you can't give appears unavailable, with the message "You cannot assign a role higher than your own."
If the person outranks you, the form shows "You can't change the role of a user who outranks you."
The user import shows "You can't change a user whose role is higher than yours."
[SCREENSHOT 2 – optional, to add] Edit user panel showing a greyed-out role with the "You cannot assign a role higher than your own" message.
Create a space
A space keeps the work for one client, engagement or team separate. Projects sit inside a space and are optional. Only people with the Alwin Admin or Owner platform role can create a space.
Click the space name in the top-left corner to open the space switcher.
Select New space.
From the same menu, open Manage spaces to control who has access to each space.
When your organization starts using Alwin, an Admin or Owner must create the first space. Nobody can start working until a space exists and people have been added to it.
Space settings
When you create a space, you give it a name and a prefix. You can also choose a color and an icon.
Space name: up to 100 characters.
Prefix: 1 to 10 letters or numbers, with no spaces or punctuation. Alwin suggests one from the space name and shows it in capitals. The prefix labels the space's tasks, for example ABC-12. Each space needs its own prefix. If another space already uses it, Alwin shows "That prefix is already used by another space."
Summary: on the space page, you can add a short summary of up to 1,000 characters.
People with Full access to a space can change these settings later.
[SCREENSHOT 4 – to add] New space form showing Space name, Prefix, color and icon fields.
Space and project permissions
This layer decides what you can see and do in a specific space or project. Each person added to a space or project gets one of three permission sets:
Permission | Can do |
View-only | Read tasks, requests and files, and download files. Can't make changes or run agents. |
Editor | Everything View-only allows, plus create and run tasks, upload and delete files, and work with requests. In a space, an Editor can also create projects. |
Full access | Everything an Editor can do, plus manage who has access, change the settings of the space or project, and delete it. |
Anyone with Full access to a space can add people to it, whatever their platform role. This means a manager can add their own team without being an Admin. Unlike platform roles, space and project permissions have no rank rule. Only someone with Full access to that space or project can change them.
How permissions pass from spaces to projects
A permission on a space applies to every project inside it.
Access to one project gives access to that project only. The person can see the space name, but not the other projects in it.
Permissions add up and never take access away. For example, View-only on a space plus Editor on one project means Editor on that project and View-only on the rest of the space.
A lower permission on a project doesn't limit someone who has a higher permission on the space.
When you run an agent, it works within your own access. If you're removed from a project, the agent no longer has access to it on your behalf.
Tip: For confidential engagements, add people to the specific project only, not to the whole space.
Give someone access
Open the space or project.
Select Manage access.
Add the person and choose View-only, Editor or Full access.
Good to know:
People you add get View-only unless you choose another level.
You can only add people from your own organization.
If you remove your own access, Alwin asks you to confirm first.
What "Join a Space to start" means
You see this screen when you're signed in to Alwin but haven't been added to any space or project yet. A license isn't enough on its own. You need the Member platform role or higher and access to at least one space or project.
[SCREENSHOT 6 – to add] The "Join a Space to start" screen, as seen by a new user.
To get started:
Ask someone with Full access to the space you need, or an Alwin Admin or Owner, to add you through Manage access.
If your platform role is Viewer, ask an Admin or Owner to give you Member or higher on the Alwin Users page.
If no space exists yet in your organization, an Admin or Owner needs to create the first one.
Agent Builder roles
Agent Builder access is separate from your platform role and your space permissions. It controls who can build, publish and manage agents.
Role | Can do |
Viewer | Run approved agents. Can't build, edit or publish agents. |
Builder / Member | Build, test and manage their own private agents. |
Content Manager | Publish and manage agents across the firm, including editing or removing shared agents. |
You don't need an Agent Builder role to use agents a Content Manager has published for your firm.
Only a Dashboard Owner can set Agent Builder roles, in Users > Edit user.
[SCREENSHOT 7 – to add] Users > Edit user showing the Agent Builder role selector.
UpLink access
UpLink access is turned on or off for each user with the UpLink add-on toggle in Users. For a project, the people added in Manage access are the same list as the UpLink project team, so there's only one list to keep up to date.
[SCREENSHOT 8 – to add] Users > Edit user showing the UpLink add-on toggle.
How to get access: quick checklist
Get added to DataSnipper. Ask your firm's Dashboard Owner (usually IT) to add you as a user.
Get the Member role. If you see "Join a Space to start" and your role is Viewer, ask an Alwin Admin or Owner to give you Member.
Get added to a space or project. Ask the engagement lead, or anyone with Full access to that space, to add you with the permission you need.
Need a new space? Ask an Alwin Admin or Owner to create it, or ask for the Admin role if you'll set up engagements regularly.
Need to build or publish agents? Ask your Dashboard Owner for the right Agent Builder role (Builder or Content Manager).
Need UpLink? Ask your Dashboard Owner to turn on the UpLink add-on for you.
Recommended setup for a firm
1–2 Dashboard and Alwin Owners, usually central IT
A small number of Admins who set up new engagement spaces
Most users as Members, with Editor on their assigned engagements only
Engagement leads as Members with Full access to their own engagement space
Partners and reviewers as Members with View-only where oversight is enough
A small group of Content Managers in Agent Builder, usually the methodology or innovation team
Rule of thumb: keep platform roles narrow (mostly Members), then grant access at the space or project level, engagement by engagement.
Example: setting up an audit engagement
A firm sets up a year-end audit space with four projects: Revenue Testing, Inventory & COGS, A/R Confirmations, and Cash & Equivalents.
IT adds the team through the DataSnipper Dashboard, then gives everyone the Member platform role in Alwin.
The engagement partner is given the Admin role and creates the space and its four projects.
The partner gives the audit manager Full access on the space. The manager can now add and remove team members while still being a platform Member.
The manager gives a senior associate Editor on two projects. The senior can't see the other two.
The manager gives a staff associate Editor on one project only.
The manager gives the quality review partner View-only on the whole space, so they can review everything without editing or running agents.
Separately, the firm's innovation lead, as a Content Manager, publishes a firm-wide agent that every engagement team can use.
Troubleshooting
I can't see the option to create a space
Only people with the Alwin Admin or Owner platform role can create spaces. The ManageDS (Dashboard) Owner role doesn't give this option on its own.
Solution: Check your platform role on the Alwin Users page. If it was changed recently, sign out of Alwin and sign back in so your new permissions load.
I only see "Join a Space to start"
You haven't been added to a space or project yet, or your platform role is Viewer.
Solution: Ask someone with Full access to the space, or an Admin or Owner, to add you. If your platform role is Viewer, ask an Admin or Owner to give you Member or higher on the Alwin Users page.
I'm an Owner but only see "Join a Space to start"
You're an Owner in ManageDS (Dashboard), but you don't have the Alwin Owner or Admin platform role. These are two separate roles, even though both are called Owner.
Solution: Give the ManageDS Owner the Alwin Owner or Admin platform role. An Alwin Admin or Owner can do this, and so can a ManageDS Owner. Only an Alwin Owner or a ManageDS Owner can give the Owner role.
Open Users in Alwin.
Find the person and select Edit user.
Choose Owner or Admin as the platform role.
Ask the person to sign out of Alwin and sign back in so the new role loads.
I can open a project but can't run tasks or make changes
You probably have View-only.
Solution: Ask someone with Full access to that space or project to give you Editor.
I can't see a project my colleagues are working in
You haven't been added to that project or its space.
Solution: Ask someone with Full access to add you.
I can't build or publish agents
Your Agent Builder role is Viewer, or you don't have one.
Solution: Ask your Dashboard Owner for the Builder or Content Manager role.
None of these steps solved the problem
Solution: Contact support. Tell us your platform role, what you expected to see or do, and include a screenshot of what you see.