Automation Ownership and Permissions (v1)

An Automation v1 runs with its current owner's permissions. Permission to start the Automation, permission to change its configuration, and access to its execution logs are separate. This allows a Folder Admin to start a configured workflow without receiving direct access to every folder that workflow uses.

These rules apply to Automations v1. Automations v2 use site or Workspace ownership and different administration rules.

Manual Runs

A Folder Admin can list, view, and manually run a v1 Automation when they have admin permission on the Automation's path, the folder it operates on. Destination folders are not part of that access check. Starting a run does not change ownership: file operations use the current owner's permissions, regardless of who starts the run.

For example, a Folder Admin who administers an intake folder can run a site-owned Copy Files Automation that writes to a finance folder they do not administer. The configured copy uses site-level permissions. This does not grant the Folder Admin permission to browse the finance folder or change the workflow while retaining site-level permissions.

Edits and Ownership

An Automation created or edited by a Site Administrator is owned at the site level. An Automation created or edited by a Folder Admin is owned by that user. Every edit counts, including a name or description change and enabling or disabling the Automation.

This distinction ties the configured workflow to the authority of its editor. A Folder Admin who edits a site-owned Automation takes ownership, and subsequent runs use that Folder Admin's permissions. If the owner lacks the required source or destination access, the run fails. Changing a destination therefore does not preserve the broader permissions of the previous site-owned workflow.

Permission Changes and Log Access

A user-owned Automation depends on its owner remaining enabled and having the required role and folder permissions. Disabling or deleting the owner, or removing required access, prevents it from continuing under those permissions. Starting it as a Site Administrator does not automatically change its owner. A site-owned Automation continues independently of the administrator who created or last edited it.

A Folder Admin can view runs recorded under their ownership. Starting a site-owned Automation does not give the Folder Admin access to that run's execution logs. Site Administrators can view execution logs across the site.

Ownership & Security (v1) explains how to identify the current owner, transfer ownership, and resolve permission-related failures.