Permissions & Roles

Every channel in Copera has a built-in permission system that determines what each participant can do. By assigning the right role to each member, you keep conversations productive and ensure sensitive settings stay in trusted hands.

Channel Roles

Copera uses three channel-level roles. Each role grants a specific set of capabilities inside the channel.

Admin

Admins have full control over the channel. They can change settings, manage members, edit channel details, and delete the channel entirely. The workspace member who creates a channel is automatically assigned the Admin role for that channel.

Member

Members are regular participants. They can send messages, reply in threads, react with emoji, share files, and use the AI assistant --- but they cannot change channel settings or manage other participants.

Viewer

Viewers have read-only access. They can see the full message history and browse shared files, but they cannot send messages, reply in threads, or modify anything in the channel.

Permissions Table

The table below summarizes what each role is allowed to do inside a channel.

Action	Admin	Member	Viewer
View messages and history	Yes	Yes	Yes
Send messages	Yes	Yes	No
Reply in threads	Yes	Yes	No
React with emoji	Yes	Yes	No
Share and upload files	Yes	Yes	No
Pin and unpin messages	Yes	Yes	No
Mention @all and @online	Yes	Yes	No
Edit channel name and description	Yes	No	No
Change channel icon	Yes	No	No
Manage channel settings (permissions, notifications)	Yes	No	No
Add or remove members	Yes	No	No
Change member roles	Yes	No	No
Transfer channel ownership	Yes	No	No
Delete the channel	Yes	No	No
Leave the channel	Yes	Yes	Yes

tip

Workspace-level administrators always have Admin-equivalent permissions across every channel, regardless of the role assigned at the channel level.

Message Permission Settings

Beyond roles, admins can fine-tune who is allowed to send messages, reply, and view the channel. These settings are found in the Settings tab of the channel details dialog.

Each setting offers two options:

• All Members --- every participant with the Member or Admin role can perform the action.
• Only Admins --- only participants with the Admin role can perform the action.

These options apply to:

Setting	Effect when set to "Only Admins"
Who can send messages	Only admins can post new messages. Members see the channel in read-only mode.
Who can reply	Only admins can start or continue threads.
Who can view	Only admins can see message content. Other members see the channel in the sidebar but cannot open it.

This is especially useful for announcement channels where you want the leadership team to broadcast information while the rest of the team listens.

Changing a Member's Role

1. Open the channel and click the channel name in the header to open the Channel Details dialog.
2. Navigate to the Members tab.
3. Find the member whose role you want to change.
4. Click the role badge next to their name and select the new role from the dropdown.

Only channel admins (and workspace administrators) can change roles.

Transferring Ownership

If you are the channel owner (the person who created it), you can transfer ownership to another member. This is found in the Danger Zone section of the channel details dialog. After the transfer, the new owner receives full administrative control and the previous owner retains an Admin role unless changed.

note

Ownership transfer is a one-time action. Make sure you select the right person before confirming.

Best Practices

• Keep Admin count low. One or two admins per channel is usually enough. Too many admins can lead to uncoordinated setting changes.
• Use Viewer for stakeholders. If someone only needs to stay informed without participating, assign the Viewer role to keep the conversation focused.
• Combine with categories. Organize channels by department or project using Channel Categories, then apply consistent permission patterns across related channels.
• Review permissions periodically. As teams evolve, revisit channel memberships and roles to make sure the right people still have the right access.