Core concepts & API governance

Roles and Permissions

ApiShare provides a role-based access control (RBAC) model to enforce governance, security, and API lifecycle management. This model ensures that every user has only the permissions required for their specific responsibilities, maintaining compliance with organizational policies.

Default Roles in ApiShare

ApiShare includes a set of predefined roles, each with specific permissions. These roles follow a hierarchical structure, where each role inherits permissions from lower-tier roles, ensuring structured access control.

Overview of Default Roles

Role

Description
Owner	The highest-level role, with full administrative control over the tenant, organizations, APIs, and configurations.
Organization Admin	Manages an entire organization, including its groups, users, APIs, and applications.
Group Admin	Controls a specific group within an organization, managing API and application access. Approves lifecycle steps such as distribution (for Products) and publication (for Assets).
Contributor	A developer role responsible for creating, modifying, and enhancing APIs (both Products and Assets). Can propose new APIs and contribute to their lifecycle.
Consumer	Can subscribe to API Products, request access, and leave reviews on APIs. Does not have permission to create or modify APIs.
Guest	A user who has been invited to the system but does not belong to an organization. Can browse API and Application catalogs and request to join organizations.

Each role's permissions can be configured based on specific environments (e.g., Development, Test, Production), ensuring granular control over API access.

Default ApiShare Permissions

ApiShare implements a principle of least privilege, ensuring that users can only perform actions relevant to their assigned role. The following tables summarize the default permissions for each role across different lifecycle stages.

PRODUCT Permissions

The following table summarizes the permitted actions concerning the Product lifecycle. The permissions may differ depending on the state of the Product. All combinations of actions and states not included are to be considered as not permitted, according to the principle of least privilege.

Action

Description	Lifecycle Status	Owner	Organization Admin	Group Admin	Contributor	Consumer	Guest
Create	Permission to create a new Product. The action is independent of the lifecycle status.	NA	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
View all	Permission to view all Products in one's own organization, regardless of the group to which the user belongs. The action is independent of the lifecycle status.	NA	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	NA
Save	Permission to make a modification to a Product in the workspace.	Concept, Draft	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
		Concept, Proposed	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		In Progress, Draft	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
		In Progress, Pending for publishing	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		In Progress, Pending for validation	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		In Progress, Validation rejected	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
		Published, Live	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Published, Non production	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Delete	Permission to permanently delete a Product in the workspace.	Concept, Draft	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
		In Progress, Draft	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
		Concept, Proposed	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
		Concept, Rejected	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		In Progress, Pending for publishing	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
		In Progress, Pending for validation	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
		In Progress, Validation rejected	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Retired, Retired	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
Propose	Permission to propose a Product concept for approval or rejection	Concept, Draft	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
Reject	Permission to reject a Product proposal.	Concept, Proposed	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Reject	Permission to reject a Product proposal.	In Progress, Pending for validation	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Accept	Permission to accept a Product proposal	Concept, Proposed	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Request validation	Permission to request validation of a Product in progress.	In Progress, Draft	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
Approve	Permission to accept a Product in progress and to proceed in the lifecycle.	In Progress, Pending for validation	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Publish	Permission to publish the API Product on the gateway in a designated domain belonging to a non-production environment. The published API Product will be visible in the API Catalog.	In Progress, Pending for publishing	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
Republish	Permission that allows the user to republish an API - Product in a previously published environment	Published, Non Production	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Republish		Published, Live	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Promote	Permission to promote the published Product in a hierarchically superior environment.	Published, Non production	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Ready for go-live	Permission to designate a published Product as ready for publication in the production environment. The action will only be available if the Product has been published in all available non-production environments.	Published, Non production	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Go live	Permission to publish the Product in a production environment.	Published, Pending for go-live	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Undo go-live	Permission to remove the Product from the ready-for-go-live state.	Published, Pending for go-live	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
New version	Permission to create a new patch, minor or major version of an API Product.	Published, Live	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
New version		Published, Non production	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
Deprecate	Permission to deprecate a published Product.	Published, Live	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Retire	Permission to retire a published Product.	Published, Deprecated	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Published, Live	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Published, Non production	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Retry	Permission to retry integration with the gateway in the event of an error.	In Progress, Publish error	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Published, Go-live error	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Published, Promoting error	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Published, Retiring error	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA

ASSET Permissions

The following table summarizes the permitted actions concerning the Asset lifecycle. The permissions may differ depending on the state of the Asset. All combinations of actions and states not included are to be considered as not permitted, according to the principle of least privilege.

Action

Description	Lifecycle Status	Owner	Organization Admin	Group Admin	Contributor	Consumer	Guest
Create	Permission to create a new Asset. The action is independent of the lifecycle status.	NA	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
View all	Permission to view all Assets in one's own organization, regardless of the group to which the user belongs. The action is independent of the lifecycle status.	NA	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	NA
Save	Permission to make a modification to an Asset in the workspace.	In Progress, Draft	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
		In Progress, Proposed	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Active, Published	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Active, Unpublished	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Delete	Permission to permanently delete an Asset in the workspace.	In Progress, Draft	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
		In Progress, Proposed	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
		In Progress, Rejected	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
		Active, Deprecated	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
Propose	Permission to propose a draft Asset for activation, publication or rejection.	In Progress, Draft	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
Reject	Permission to reject an Asset proposal.	In Progress, Proposed	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Edit	Permission to edit a rejected Asset.	In Progress, Rejected	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
Activate	Permission to activate an Asset.	In Progress, Draft	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Activate	Permission to activate an Asset.	In Progress, Proposed	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Activate and publish	Permission to activate and publish an Asset.	In Progress, Draft	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Activate and publish	Permission to activate and publish an Asset.	In Progress, Proposed	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Publish	Permission to publish an active Asset.	Active, Unpublished	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Unpublish	Permission to unpublish an active Asset.	Active, Published	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Productize	Permission to productize an Asset.	Active, Unpublished	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
Productize	Permission to productize an Asset.	Active, Published	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
Duplicate	Permission to duplicate an Asset, creating a new draft Asset.	Active, Unpublished	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
		Active, Published	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
		Active, Deprecated	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
Deprecate	Permission to deprecate an active Asset.	Active, Unpublished	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Deprecate	Permission to deprecate an active Asset.	Active, Published	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA

APPLICATION Permissions

The following table summarizes the permitted actions concerning the Application lifecycle. The permissions may differ depending on the state of the APP. All combinations of actions and states not included are to be considered as not permitted, according to the principle of least privilege.

Action

Description	Lifecycle Status	Owner	Organization Admin	Group Admin	Contributor	Consumer	Guest
Create	Permission to create a new APPLICATION. The action is independent of the lifecycle status.	NA	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	NA
View all	Permission to view all APPs in one's own organization, regardless of the group to which the user belongs. The action is independent of the lifecycle status.	NA	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	NA
Save	Permission to make a modification to an APP in the workspace.	Concept, Draft	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
		Concept, Proposed	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Published, Active	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Delete	Permission to permanently delete an APP in the workspace.	Concept, Draft	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
		Concept, Proposed	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
		Concept, Rejected	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Retired, Retired	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
Propose	Permission to propose an APP concept for activation or rejection	Concept, Draft	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
Reject	Permission to reject an APP proposal.	Concept, Proposed	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Activate	Permission to activate a suspended application.	Concept, Draft	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Concept, Proposed	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Published, Suspended	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Suspend	Permission to suspend an active application.	Published, Active	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Retire	Permission to retire an activated or suspended application. This operation will also permanently delete any associated subscriptions.	Published, Active	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Retire		Published, Suspended	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Retry	Permission to retry integration with the gateway in the event of an error.	Published, Activation error	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Published, Retiring error	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Published, Suspension error	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA

SUBSCRIPTION Permissions

The following table summarizes the permitted actions concerning the Subscription lifecycle. The permissions may differ depending on the state of the subscription and depending on whether a subscription has been requested or received.. All combinations of actions and states not included are to be considered as not permitted, according to the principle of least privilege.

Action

Description	Lifecycle Status	Owner	Organization Admin	Group Admin	Contributor	Consumer	Guest
Subscription Requested
View all	Permission to view all requested subscription in one's own organization, regardless of the group to which the user belongs. The action is independent of the lifecycle status.	NA	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	NA
Save	Permission to make a modification to an existing subscription.	Pending, New	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Delete	Permission to permanently delete a subscription.	Pending, New	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Rejected, Rejected	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Revoked, Api retired	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Suspend	Permission to temporarily or indefinitely suspend a subscription.	Active, Active	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
Edit	Permission to propose a modification to an existing subscription.	Active, Active	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NA
Reject	Permission to reject a subscription request.	Active, Pending for approval	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
Reject	Permission to reject a subscription request.	Pending, New	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
Accept	Permission to accept and activate a subscription request.	Active, Pending for approval	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
Accept	Permission to accept and activate a subscription request.	Pending, New	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
Activate	Permission to activate a subscription.	Suspended, Suspended	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
Retry	Permission to retry integration with the gateway in the event of an error.	Active, Suspension error	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
		Active, Update error	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
		Pending, Activation error	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
		Suspended, Activation error	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
Subscription Received
View all	Permission to view all received subscription in one's own organization, regardless of the group to which the user belongs. The action is independent of the lifecycle status.	NA	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	NA
Save	Permission to make a modification to an existing subscription.	Pending, New	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
Delete	Permission to permanently delete a subscription.	Pending, New	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
		Rejected, Rejected	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
		Revoked, Api retired	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
Suspend	Permission to temporarily or indefinitely suspend a subscription.	Active, Active	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Edit	Permission to propose a modification to an existing subscription.	Active, Active	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
Reject	Permission to reject a subscription request.	Active, Pending for approval	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Reject	Permission to reject a subscription request.	Pending, New	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Accept	Permission to accept and activate a subscription request.	Active, Pending for approval	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Accept	Permission to accept and activate a subscription request.	Pending, New	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Activate	Permission to activate a subscription.	Suspended, Suspended	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
Retry	Permission to retry integration with the gateway in the event of an error.	Active, Suspension error	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Active, Update error	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Pending, Activation error	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA
		Suspended, Activation error	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	NA

ORGANIZATION-GROUP Permissions

The following table summarizes the allowed actions concerning organizations and groups.

Action

Description	Owner	Organization Admin	Group Admin	Contributor	Consumer	Guest
Organization
Add [Organization]	Permission to create a new organization	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
Add [Group]	Permission to create a new group associated with an organization.	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	NA
Edit	Permission to edit an organization (Name, Organization Contact, Description, Set internal /external).	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	NA
Delete	Permission to remove an organization.	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
Synchronize [All organizations]	Permission to synchronise all tenant organizations simultaneously. Allowed only if the synchronization of organizations with the gateway is enabled.	Yes	No	No	No	No	NA
Synchronize	Permission to synchronise an organization. Allowed only if the synchronization of organizations with the gateway is enabled.	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	NA
Group
Quit	Permission that allows a user to remove themselves from a group.	NA	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	NA
Auto edit role	Permission that allows a user to change their role	NA	No	No	No	No	NA
Add user [Org Admin group]	Permission that allows a user to invite/add users to the 'org admins' group.	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	NA
Add user [My groups]	Permission that allows a user to invite/add other users to their own group	NA	NA	Yes	No	No	NA
Add user [Not my groups]	Permission that allows a user to invite/add other users in all the organization's groups except his own group	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	NA
Edit user [Org Admin group]	Permission that allows a user to change the role of another user in the 'org admins' group. (currently never possible)	No	No	No	No	No	NA
Edit user [My groups]	Permission that allows a user to change the role of another user in his own group	NA	NA	Yes	No	No	NA
Edit user [Not my groups]	Permission that allows a user to change the role of another user in all groups in the organization except his own group.	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	NA
Remove user [Org Admin group]	Permission to remove a user from the 'org admins' group.	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	NA
Remove user [My groups]	Permission allowing a user to remove another user from their own group	NA	NA	Yes	No	No	NA
Remove user [Not my groups]	Permission allowing a user to remove another user from any group in the organisation other than their own group.	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	NA
Edit [Org Admin group]	Permission to edit the 'org admins' group (Name, Group Contact, Description).	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	NA
Edit [My groups]	Permission to edit one's own group (Name, Group Contact, Description).	NA	NA	Yes	No	No	NA
Edit [Not my groups]	Permission to edit any group in the organisation except one's own (Name, Group Contact, Description).	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	NA
Delete [Org Admin group]	Permission to remove the group 'org admins'. (currently never possible)	No	No	No	No	No	NA
Delete [My groups]	Permission that allows the user to remove the group to which he belongs. (currently never possible)	NA	NA	No	No	No	NA
Delete [Not my groups]	Permission to remove any group in the organisation except the one to which the user belongs.	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	NA

Custom Roles and Access Control

ApiShare allows for the creation and configuration of custom roles, enabling organizations to enforce fine-grained governance that aligns with their internal policies and processes.

Custom Role Configuration

Administrators can create and manage custom roles through the Admin Functionalities section in ApiShare. Custom roles can be configured with:

Environment-based restrictions: Define whether a role can access APIs in Development, Test, or Production environments.
Lifecycle step permissions: Restrict actions such as API proposal, publishing, deprecation, and retirement.
Entity-specific permissions: Grant different levels of access to API Products, API Assets, and Applications.
API Subscription Policies: Control how a role can request, approve, or manage API subscriptions.

Benefits of Custom Roles

The ability to configure custom roles provides the following advantages:

✅ Greater control over API governance: Organizations can define precise access permissions aligned with security policies.

✅ Separation of duties: Ensures compliance by granting the minimum required permissions to each role.

✅ Scalability: Custom roles support complex multi-tenant API ecosystems, enabling different governance models for internal teams, partners, and citizen developers.

✅ Security and Compliance: Limits access to sensitive APIs and ensures that governance workflows align with company-wide security policies.

Conclusion

By leveraging default and custom roles, ApiShare provides a flexible and secure governance model that ensures efficient API lifecycle management, minimizing risks while maximizing control. Administrators can fine-tune role permissions at every stage of the API lifecycle, creating a governance structure tailored to their organizational needs

Entity Relationships and Governance Model

Organizations and Groups