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Interface Designer permissions
  • 21 Mar 2023
  • 9 Minutes to read
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Interface Designer permissions

  • Updated on 21 Mar 2023
  • 9 Minutes to read
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Because Interface Designer offers flexible ways to simplify workflows, visualize data, and tailor information to different audiences across organizations, it's important to review the permissions assigned to any/all interfaces, bases, and data you share with collaborators. 

Introduction

Plan availabilityAll plan types/levels
Permissions
  • Interfaces are available to all customers on all plans, however, the ability to share interfaces separately from the base is restricted to Pro & Enterprise users only.
  • Unlike share views, interfaces can only be shared with users that have a verified Airtable account. Additionally, Enterprise organizations with SSO enabled must provision users for them to be able to access interfaces associated with their organization's instance.
Platform(s)Web/Browser, Mac app, and Windows app
Related reading
Airtable terminology

Interface - An interface is a curated representation of base data created using Interface Designer. Interfaces are fully customizable and can contain various visual elements, data sources, and permissions.

Interface page - Interfaces break up information into one or more interface pages. And while an interface always contains at least a single page, creators can add more pages.

Element - Elements are the essential building blocks of interfaces. Creators can add visual elements like grids and timelines, design elements like text and dividers, and functional elements like buttons and comments, to present their base data in a customized way.

Interface-only collaborators - Interface-only collaborators are users who are only invited to the interface, not the underlying base.

Interface Designer at a glance

Interface Designer is a powerful way for creators to work and partner with collaborators without those collaborators needing full access to all the information stored in a single base. Instead, creators can build interfaces on top of the same base—ensuring collaborators always see and interact with the information most relevant to them.

Interface Designer permissions overview 

NOTE
The information in this article is specific to Interface Designer. To learn more about general Airtable collaborator permissions, please review this article.

The following chart helps visualize how Interface Designer permissions impact different levels of collaborators:

Interface Designer actionsInterface-only viewerInterface-only commentorInterface-only editorBase viewerBase commenterBase editorBase creatorNon-Airtable user / external colleague
Can view interfaces
✅
✅✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
❌

Can comment on interfaces

❌✅
✅
❌ 
✅
✅
✅
❌

Can edit interface data

❌❌ 
 ✅
❌ 
❌ 
✅
✅
❌
Can create new records via form entry in interfaces containing form functionality❌❌ ✅❌❌ ✅ ✅❌
Can access the full base❌❌
 ❌ 
 ✅ ✅ ✅
✅
❌
Can add or update interface elements❌❌ 
 ❌ 
 ❌❌ ❌
✅
❌
Can share access to interfaces at their permission level ✅ 1 ✅ 1 ✅ 1 ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅❌
Billable (Pro plans)❌ ✅ ✅❌ ✅ ✅ ✅❌

1 When interface access restrictions are enabled, users with interface-only access are not able to share interfaces with other users. You can learn more about this feature below.

Using Interface designer permissions

NOTE
Before sharing an interface with a collaborator or group, we suggest using the Preview or View as features for testing purposes. Testing the sharing flow ensures the intended collaborator has access to — or is limited to — the information you shared with them.

As part of interface building, thinking about permissions allows you more control and flexibility over your and your team’s work. So, once you’ve opened or started creating an interface, consider who you’re sharing your work with — what access their contribution requires — and the sensitivity of the data being shared.

You’ll be able to personalize Interface content for interface users through the current-user filter. For example, simply add an element filter specified to Viewer’s records only to ensure the Viewer only sees records, including them or their associated group* (Enterprise only).

You can also add a Filter element and match a collaborator or email field to the current user or user group* (Enterprise only) to allow end users to adjust the filter based on their needs.

 Keep in mind that interface elements have additional permission options and can be individually set as view-only or editable. You can also specify which fields are visible to interface users and if expanded records show the comment feed.

After publishing your interface, you can share it with collaborators—defining their permission level and offering or restricting access to certain data.

You can share interfaces with individuals or groups* (Enterprise only) directly via email — with the option to notify users — or base creators can create links that automatically grant interface access once clicked.

Invite by link is only available to base creators (when workspace restrictions permit doing so).

And finally, the interface elements, information, and permissions can be modified anytime after publishing.


Interface designer permissions dependencies

With Interface Designer, certain parts of Airtable and how permissions interact with collaborators have changed in ways that impact how creators/collaborators previously used Airtable. Please review and consider the following updates to Airtable when creating interfaces and sharing them:

  • Field visibility - Interface Designer replaces the need for hidden fields because now collaborators only see fields and information you've shared with them specifically.
  • Filter elements - In addition to showing a filtered set of records to all users, interface creators can also add filter elements, allowing end users to control what they see.
  • Viewing individual records details: When expanding a record to see its details, you now see a full-page experience fully customizable in Interface Designer.
    1. List elements require these detail pages to be enabled. Once enabled, creators can design record detail pages showing specific fields — in any orientation to their end users.
    2. Collaborators only see fields that creators add to their record detail pages. As a result, hidden fields are no longer available. 
    3. Detail pages are reusable per table and per interface. So, for example, if a creator has two grids on two separate detail pages in an interface showing records from their “projects” table, they’ll use the same record detail page layout.
  • Notifications - Mentioning a collaborator in an interface notifies them and redirects them to the interface.
  • Disappearing records - If a collaborator’s access is revoked, they will immediately lose access to the interface they’re using. But if the collaborator updates an interface, causing the row not to match filters. In that case, they will retain access to that record for 5 minutes.
  • Workspace restrictions - For Pro plans, workspace sharing restrictions are extended to interfaces (but not domain restrictions). While Enterprise plans restrictions impact both workspace sharing and domain restrictions.
  • Commenting: When mentioning someone in a comment, comment on the intended interface, not the base. Any person mentioned in a base comment — who doesn't have previous access to that base — will not receive notifications.  
  • Interface-only impact on billing: It's important to remember that granting interface-only permissions to collaborators impacts the owner's billing. To learn more about how billing works, review Airtable's billing overview.


Restricting interface sharing

In some cases, creators on Pro/Enterprise plans may want to restrict interface sharing to only allow base collaborators to share the interface with other users. Enter interface sharing restrictions.

A few notes to consider about this feature
  • When this toggle is turned on, only users with base access are able to share the interface with other users.
    • Users with interface-only access will not be able to share the interface with other users.
    • This feature is on a per-interface basis. For bases that contain multiple interfaces, this option will need to be configured for each separate interface.
    • Creators will also be able to invite new users by email. However, to limit new users from getting access without approval, they will no longer be able view or manage invite links. The Invite by Link tab will be disabled in the Share Dialog.
  • When this toggle is turned off (default), users with interface or base access are able to share the interface with other users.
    • This means that a user with interface-only access can grant interface-only access to other users at or below their permission level.
    • Users with interface-only access can still request access for other users and the workspace owner(s) will ultimately decide if access to the interface is granted.
  • If a workspace has workspace sharing restrictions enabled, sharing will always be disabled for all bases and interfaces within that workspace.
  • This feature is only available to Creators/Owners with base access on Pro/Enterprise plans
To access this feature's settings
  1. Navigate to the interface that you wish to restrict and enter editing mode by clicking Edit at the upper right portion on the page.
  2. Click the settings icon in the upper right corner of the interface navigation bar.
  3. This will open up the interface settings where the interface sharing restrictions can be enabled or disabled.


FAQs

Can I share an interface with anyone as a view-only link or do they have to have an Airtable account?

There are other related considerations outlined in the FAQs below, however, an Airtable account login is the first requirement in order to view an interface. To share information from a base with people who do not have an Airtable account consider creating a base or view share link.

Who can create new interfaces/interface pages?

Collaborators with “Owner” or “Creator” collaborator permissions on a base can create new interfaces and groups of interfaces.

Can I share an interface without sharing the base?

While interfaces are available to all customers on all plans, the ability to share interfaces separately from the base is restricted to Pro & Enterprise users only.

If I share an interface with another individual or team, can they see the underlying data?

Not necessarily. It depends on whether the option to allow access to the base was checked when the invitation was sent. Ultimately, only base collaborators can view the underlying base.

What happens if more than one collaborator is editing an interface at the same time?

Interface Designer will always save the most recent changes to an interface. So, if more than one collaborator is editing the same interface, Interface Designer will reflect the last changes to both collaborators.

If a base collaborator has "Commenter" or "Read-only" base permissions, can they edit an interface’s "Editable" fields?

No, a base collaborator with Commenter or Read-only permissions on a base can't edit or modify a base’s records through an interface. This also means that commenters and read-only users are not able to fill out form elements in interfaces.

I updated an interface's appearance, why isn't the change visible to my collaborators?

If you made a change to an interface or to the elements contained in an interface itself, you must first publish the changes for that interface in order for other collaborators in a base to see those changes.

What happens if someone who is not a base collaborator tries to navigate to an interface URL?

Suppose you share an interface URL with someone who is not a base collaborator. In that case, they can request access to the interface without needing access to the underlying base. The workspace owner can then grant access or ignore the request. If you share an interface URL with someone who is an interface collaborator — but not a base collaborator — they may or may not be able to see the exact record you linked depending on their permissions as set by the interface.

On Free & Plus plans, if you share an interface URL with someone who is not a base or interface collaborator, they will have to request access to the interface, granting them access to the underlying base. The workspace owner can then give access or ignore the request. 

Can I duplicate an interface into another base?

We do not support duplicating interfaces into another base at this time.

How do field and table permissions impact Interfaces?

Field and table permissions set in the base will extend and be respected in Interfaces as well.

Who can share Interfaces?

All Interfaces users will be able to share the Interface further at their permission level or below. For the Enterprise & Pro plans, if workspace sharing restrictions are turned on, then only workspace owners can share the base. See this workplace restrictions article for more information.

Can I only share a specific page on an interface?

No, sharing an interface will share all published pages on that interface.

Can I see what interfaces a user has access to?

Enterprise admins can navigate to the Admin panel’s Users tab to view a particular user and confirm the interfaces they have access to and their permission level per interface.

How can I see all the Interfaces that exist across my organization?

Enterprise admins can navigate to the Admin panel’s Interfaces tab to see the full list of interfaces within the organization.

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