> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.humanintelligence.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Categories & Roles
> Control who can see what data across your organization.
Categories and roles are how Human Intelligence controls data access. Categories label the sensitivity of your data, and roles determine which people can see which categories.
## How it works
Data access in Human Intelligence follows a simple chain:
Every metric and dimension can carry one or more categories that describe its sensitivity — things like "compensation" or "PII."
A role is a bundle of categories. For example, an "HR Leadership" role might include the compensation, demographics, and performance categories.
Each person in your organization is assigned one or more roles, usually based on their job function or team.
When someone opens a report or queries data through a connector, Human Intelligence checks their roles against the categories on the data. If there's a match, they see the data. If not, it stays hidden.
## Categories
A category is a plain-language label that describes what kind of data something contains.
Human Intelligence comes with a set of default categories. Your admin can also create custom categories to fit your organization's needs.
| Category | What it covers |
| ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `compensation` | Salary, bonus, equity, and pay-related dimensions |
| `demographics` | Age, gender, ethnicity, and other demographic attributes |
| `interview-notes` | Interviewer feedback, scorecards, and hiring panel notes |
| `performance` | Review scores, ratings, and manager assessments |
| `pii` | Personally identifiable information like SSN, address, or date of birth |
Categories are assigned at the metric or dimension level. A single metric can carry multiple categories if it touches more than one sensitive area.
## Roles
A role is a named group of category-based permissions. Instead of managing access for each person one by one, you create roles that map to the categories your teams need.
For example:
* **Recruiting Ops** — has access to `interview-notes` and `demographics`.
* **HR Leadership** — has access to `compensation`, `performance`, and `demographics`.
* **People Analytics** — has access to all categories.
When a new metric is categorized, everyone with a matching role can see it automatically. No one-off permission changes needed.
## System roles
Human Intelligence ships with two built-in **system roles** that govern administrative access to the platform itself. Unlike custom roles, system roles can't be edited or deleted — they're assigned to the people responsible for running Human Intelligence in your organization.
| System role | What they can do |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Platform Admin** | Configure org-wide platform settings, identity, and access control. |
| **Data Admin** | Manage the data layer — metrics and segments. |
### Platform Admin
Platform Admins own the configuration of the Human Intelligence platform for your organization. They can:
* Configure **SSO** for the org.
* Configure **Directory Sync** for the org.
* Configure **Directory Sync group-to-role mappings** so people are placed into the right roles automatically.
* Create and delete **roles**.
* Assign **categories to roles**.
* Assign **categories to metrics**.
* Manage **policies** and assign policies to roles.
Platform Admin is the most privileged system role. Assign it sparingly — typically to IT, Security, or People Operations leads who own identity and governance.
### Data Admin
Data Admins own the data layer. They can:
* Manage **metrics** — create, edit, and retire metric definitions.
* Manage **segments** — create, edit, and retire reusable filters.
Data Admins do not configure identity, roles, categories, or policies. That separation keeps the people defining the data distinct from the people defining who can see it.
## Creating a category and assigning it
Go to **Settings > Permissions**. You'll see the Categories table at the top with all current categories listed.
Click **Add Category**. Give it a short, descriptive name (like "executive-only" or "recruiting") and add a plain-English description so your team understands what it covers.
Navigate to the metric or dimension you want to protect. Open its detail panel and look for the **Categories** section. Select the category you just created and save.
Go back to **Settings > Permissions** and scroll to the **Roles** section. Edit the role that should have access to this category, add the category to the role's category list, and save.
When a metric has no categories, default access applies — anyone with access to the data source can see it. When a metric has categories but no matching role, nobody can see it.
Review your category assignments carefully. A missing category can accidentally hide data from users who need it. If a team suddenly can't find a metric they used yesterday, check whether a category was recently added without updating the matching roles.