Creating groups and assigning users to them makes privilege management easier.

Before people can log in and use ThoughtSpot, you need to create a username, a password, and a membership in one or more groups for them.

This page describes manual creation of users, groups, and privileges, but you can also manage users through SAML.

Privileges and groups

Privileges determine what kinds of actions users are allowed to do. You assign privileges to groups. Then, you create users and assign them to groups. This is how you grant users access to different capabilities in ThoughtSpot.

Each group includes a set of privileges for its users. The privileges a group has determine the actions that its members are allowed to do. If a user belongs to more than one group, they will have the highest level of the privileges from all the groups they belong to. Plan your groups so that you can use them to assign a common set of privileges to multiple users. Good planning will pay off in ease of administration and a better search experience.

There is a default group called All, which includes every user in ThoughtSpot. When you create a new user, they will be added to the All group automatically. You cannot delete the All group or remove members from it.

You can also have a hierarchy of groups. That is, groups can belong to (that is, be children of) other groups. When using group hierarchies, permissions are inherited from the parent group. So if you’re a member of a sub-group, you would automatically have the privileges of the parent group.

List of privileges

Here are the different privileges, and the capabilities they enable:

Privilege Description
Can administer ThoughtSpot Can manage Users and Groups and has view and edit access to all data. Users with this privilege can also download a saved answer.
Can download data Can download data from search results and Liveboards.
Can share with all users Can see the names of and share with users outside of the groups the user belongs to. Members of groups with this privilege can also share with groups marked as NOT SHAREABLE.
Can manage data Can create connections. To view or edit other people's connections, you must have the Can administer ThoughtSpot privilege.
Can create worksheets and views.
Note that to edit a worksheet or a view created by another user, you must have the Edit permission on that object, and it must be shared with you.
Can use experimental features Can access trial and experimental features that ThoughtSpot makes available to early adopters.
Can schedule Liveboards Can create Liveboard schedules and edit their own scheduled jobs.
Has SpotIQ privilege Can use the SpotIQ feature.
If this privilege is not enabled for the user, they can still see "Did you know" SpotIQ insights on the ThoughtSpot home page.
Can administer and bypass RLS

Users in groups with this privilege (directly or through group inheritance):

  • Are exempt from row-level security (RLS) rules.
  • Can add/edit/delete existing RLS rules.
  • Can check or uncheck Bypass RLS on a worksheet.

Your installation configuration may enable or disable the availability of this privilege. By default, it is enabled. Administrators or groups with the privilege Can administer ThoughtSpot can grant this privilege.

Has Developer privilege Can access and use the Developer Portal to explore the ThoughtSpot APIs and developer tools, and build web applications with ThoughtSpot content.
Cannot create or update Liveboards

Users are limited to viewing and exploring curated Liveboards (and Answers). They cannot copy, edit, download, or share them.

This privilege is designed to support embedded implementations, and is not available by default. Contact ThoughtSpot Support to enable it.

See Granular access to Liveboards for a deeper discussion of this privilege, and an implementation example.

Privileges are additive, meaning that if a user belongs to more than one group, they will have the highest level of privileges from among the groups they are a member of. They are also inherited from the parent, so that a sub-group gets all the same privileges of its parent, all the way up the group hierarchy.

If you add the privilege Has administration privileges to a group, note that all users in that group will be able to see all the data in ThoughtSpot. Administrators can see all data sources, and Row level security does not apply to them.

Permissions to see and edit tables, worksheets, and Liveboards are set when you share them with users and groups, as described in the topic Data security.

The following table shows the intersection of user privilege and ability:

Create/Edit WS
Create View
Create Connection
Modify Col. Props.1
Download Data
Share within Group
Share with all users
Manage and bypass RLS rules
CrUD Relationships
Read Relationships
See Hidden Cols
Join with Upload Data
Schema Viewer
Use Scheduler
Use Auto-Analyze
Access Developer Portal
Can administer ThoughtSpot Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y2 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Can download data
N N N N Y Y N N N
Y4
N N N N N N
Can manage data
Y Y Y Y N Y N N
Y4
Y4
Y5
Y N N N N
Can share with
all users
N N N N N Y Y N N
Y4
N N N N N N
Has SpotIQ privilege
N N N N N N N N N
Y4
N N N N Y N
Can Administer and Bypass RLS
N N N N N Y N Y Y N N N N N N N
Has Developer privilege N N N N N Y N N N N N N N N N Y
None N N N N N Y N N N
Y4
N N N N N N

Table notes:

  1. Applies to non-owners only.
  2. Any tables.
  3. Author of at least one table in relationship.
  4. Only when read permission for columns used in the relationship.
  5. With edit permission.