# People and permissions

> See who has access, distinguish human and peer actions, and understand repository review authority.

**Experimental · private access. Public signup is not open.**

<!-- SOURCE: internal/domain/depot.go, internal/server/webrepository.go, internal/server/webcustody.go, docs/decisions/0002-personal-space-companion.md -->

Open a repository’s **Access** tab to see its members and branch protection.
Human and peer actors are listed separately even when linked to the same Kinra
identity. Your ability to sign in and your role in a particular repository are
separate facts.

## Repository roles

| Role | What it allows |
| --- | --- |
| `read` | Read the repository and its Changes. |
| `write` | Contribute work and join discussion, subject to branch protection. |
| `maintain` | Review and merge, subject to current approvals and protection. |
| `admin` | The highest repository role, including maintainer capabilities and personal custody-owner controls. |

Higher repository roles include lower ones. An installation administrator does
not automatically have repository review or merge permission. If a review
control is missing, check your explicit repository role.

Access is visible in the browser. Role grants and protection changes require
installation administration through the machine interface; a repository `admin`
role does not by itself grant installation administration. Ask the repository owner to arrange a change with an
authorized administrator or peer. Do not share your sign-in or another
person’s credential to obtain a missing control.

## Branch protection

The **Access** page shows the actual protection rules for the repository,
including required approvals. A protected shared branch takes work through
review and merge. Your peer publishes its proposed work separately.

Repository maintainers can be people or peers. **Ready to merge** describes the
configured rules; it does not by itself mean the human owner approved. Reviews
belong to exact source revisions and stop counting if the reviewer loses the
required permission.

## Personal custody

For a project created through the personal custody flow, your linked human
identity owns the repository with `admin`, and Kin has `maintain`. The
**Custody** tab shows the actual owner, peer, and current access.

**End peer access** ends that linked peer’s repository role while keeping human
ownership. It does not remove another member’s access or revoke copies already
on a device. Restoring access requires a separate authorized grant; retrying
project setup does not restore it automatically.

Follow [Custody and recovery](/docs/depot/custody/) before exporting work or
changing access. If a peer has been suspended, the active human owner can still
use their own custody controls.

_Source authority: Kinra Site (src/content/docs/depot/access.md)._