Announcing flexible custom object record permissions for light agents and contributors

Announced on | Rollout on
August 26, 2026 | August 26, 2026

Zendesk is excited to announce admin-configurable permissions for light agent and contributor roles on custom objects.

This announcement includes the following topics:

What is changing?

Why is Zendesk making this change?

What do I need to do?

What is changing?

Previously, light agents and contributors always had permission to view custom object records, but couldn't edit, add, or delete those records. These permissions were predefined and couldn't be modified by an admin.

With this release, admins can now use the Permissions tab of the custom object to configure full object-level and record-level access permissions for light agents and contributors. For example, admins can now:

Hide Contract objects that contain pricing, terms, or legal details from light agents.

Allow light agents on the Finance team to add and manage coupon records for promotional campaigns.

For more information, see Configuring permissions to access custom object records.

Why is Zendesk making this change?

Custom objects often contain business data that should be available only to specific roles or teams. Hard-coded permissions make it difficult to protect sensitive objects and prevented customers from building workflows that required light agents or contributors to add, edit, or delete custom object records.

Flexible permissions help admins align custom-object access with their organization's security policies and workflows. They also help customers use the light agent and contributor roles more effectively without granting broader access than necessary.

What do I need to do?

Flexible light agent and contributor permissions are available on all plans that include custom objects.

Existing custom objects retain their current light agent and contributor access behavior until modified by an admin. For any new custom objects created, light agents and contributors will have no access until explicitly granted by an admin.

If you are a marketplace app that creates custom objects and your code expects default read permissions for light agents or contributors, you should update your app to respect the new permission options.

See Configuring permissions to access custom object records.

If you have feedback or questions related to this announcement, visit our community forum where we collect and manage customer product feedback. For general assistance with your Zendesk products, contact Zendesk Customer Support.