Refining custom object record permissions with access rules

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<p id="docs-ai-summary-content">Enhance control over custom object records by setting up access rules. These rules let you manage which records are visible to agents and end users, based on their roles. You can create up to 50 rules per object, apply them to view, add, edit, and delete permissions, and even restrict access by brand. Edit or delete rules as needed to maintain security and organization.</p>
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<div class="p">
<div class="note fastpath">
<span class="fastpathtitle">Location: </span> <span class="ph">Admin Center &gt; Objects and rules &gt; Custom objects &gt;
Objects</span>
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<p class="p">When <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5392409465370" target="_blank">creating custom objects</a>, you need to
understand how agents and end users (also called <em class="ph i">customers</em>) can access the object
and its records. On Enterprise plans, this is defined on the Roles page in Admin Center.
On all other plans, access is pre-defined for each system role except Customer. </p>
<p class="p">Access rules are additional conditions that determine which of an object's records are
visible to end users and agents in custom roles with permission to access the object's
records. Access rules provide a way to limit access to an object's records rather than
choosing between full access and no access.</p>
<div class="p">This article contains the following topics:<ul class="ul" id="topic_mbf_52c_4gc__ul_irv_j4c_4gc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_mgb_k4c_4gc">Creating access rules</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_mnn_k4c_4gc">Applying access rules to an object's permissions</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_px5_l4c_4gc">Editing an access rule</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_qsn_m4c_4gc">Deleting an access rule</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">Related article: <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6034260247066" target="_blank">Configuring permissions to access custom object
records</a>.</p>
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<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_mgb_k4c_4gc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Creating access rules</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Access rules are unique to each custom object. Create them to help you control which
records are accessible to users in roles with permissions to access the object's
records. </p>
<p class="p">Access rules can be applied to each role's view, add, edit, and delete permissions
separately. It is important to ensure users who have permission to add, edit, or
delete records also have sufficient permission to view those records, too.
Therefore, if a role has full access to add, edit, or delete an object's records,
they must also have full access to view those records. Similarly, if a role has
limited access to add, edit, or delete an object's records, they must have limited
or full access to view those records.</p>
<p class="p">Admins can create up to 50 access rules per object.</p>
<div class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To create an access rule</strong><ol class="ol" id="topic_mgb_k4c_4gc__ol_eyj_s2c_4gc">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_mgb_k4c_4gc__d9e1639" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_objects_rules_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Objects and rules</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Custom objects &gt;
Objects</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click the name of the custom object for which you want to create an access
rule, then click the <strong class="ph b">Permissions</strong> tab.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Access rules</strong>, click <strong class="ph b">Create access rule</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Enter a <strong class="ph b">Rule name</strong>.<p class="p">This is visible to agents.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">(Optional) Enter a <strong class="ph b">Description</strong> of the access rule.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Add condition</strong> to set up a rule to apply <strong class="ph b">All</strong> or
<strong class="ph b">Any</strong> of the conditions you specify.<p class="p">Conditions are the
qualifications needed for the user to access the custom object's
records. </p>
<p class="p">You can add up to 20 conditions per access
rule.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Select a <strong class="ph b">Category</strong>, <strong class="ph b">Field operator</strong>, and <strong class="ph b">Value</strong> for each
condition you add.<p class="p">The field operator determines the relationship between
the condition and the value. For example, if you select the field
operator "Is", your condition will need to be equal to the value.
Different conditions will contain different field operators.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.<p class="p">The rule is immediately available for use when
configuring limited access permission for a role.</p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested2" id="topic_dtd_j3f_rhc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title3">Using access rules to restrict access by brand</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">If you’re using lookup relationship fields to define relationships
between custom objects and brands, it is common practice to also restrict access
to objects based on brand. Access rules are the only way to accomplish this.</p>
<div class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To create an access rule based on the user's brand</strong><ol class="ol" id="topic_dtd_j3f_rhc__ol_dwd_l3f_rhc">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_dtd_j3f_rhc__d9e1639" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_objects_rules_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Objects and rules</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Custom objects &gt;
Objects</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click the name of the custom object for which you want to create an
access rule, then click the <strong class="ph b">Permissions</strong> tab.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Access rules</strong>, click <strong class="ph b">Create access rule</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Enter a <strong class="ph b">Rule name</strong>, such as <strong class="ph b">Associated brand</strong>.<p class="p">This is
visible to agents.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">(Optional) Enter a <strong class="ph b">Description</strong> of the access rule.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Add condition</strong> and select the following values: <strong class="ph b">Brands |
is | (current user brand)</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_mnn_k4c_4gc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Applying access rules to an object's permissions</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">To refine which of an object's records are available to users in a role, you can use
the Objects page to edit the object's permissions to limited access and specify the
access rules that should be applied to each permission.</p>
<p class="p">See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6034260247066#topic_yv1_5xs_3yb" target="_blank">Defining Enterprise custom role permissions for
agents</a> and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6034260247066#topic_obw_4w5_gbc" target="_blank">Defining end-user permissions for custom
objects</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested1" id="topic_px5_l4c_4gc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title5">Editing an access rule</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You can update an access rule's name, description, and conditions as needed.</p>
<div class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To edit an access rule</strong><ol class="ol" id="topic_px5_l4c_4gc__ol_ghk_3vc_4gc">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_px5_l4c_4gc__d9e1639" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_objects_rules_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Objects and rules</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Custom objects &gt;
Objects</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click the name of the custom object for which you want to edit an access
rule, then click the <strong class="ph b">Permissions</strong> tab.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Access rules</strong>, find the access rule you want to edit and click
its name.</li>
<li class="li">Update the access rule as needed.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested1" id="topic_qsn_m4c_4gc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title6">Deleting an access rule</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">If you no longer need an access rule, you can delete it. Before you can delete an
access rule, you must stop using it within limited access permissions for all
roles.</p>
<div class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To edit an access rule</strong><ol class="ol" id="topic_qsn_m4c_4gc__ol_e5c_1wc_4gc">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_qsn_m4c_4gc__d9e1639" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_objects_rules_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Objects and rules</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Custom objects &gt;
Objects</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click the name of the custom object for which you want to delete an access
rule, then click the <strong class="ph b">Permissions</strong> tab.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Access rules</strong>, find the access rule you want to delete, click
the menu icon (<img class="image" id="topic_qsn_m4c_4gc__image_f5c_1wc_4gc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/support_trigger_options.png" width="16">) and select <strong class="ph b">Delete</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">In the confirmation dialog, click <strong class="ph b">Delete</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
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