Manage project members

Manage who has access to your project and what they can do by adding members and assigning roles.

For background on the available roles, see Member roles.

Prerequisites:

• You must be a Project Admin or Workspace Admin to manage project members.
• Users must be workspace members before they can be added to projects.

All of this lives on the Members tab in project settings. The tab shows the project lead, default assignee and subscribers at the top, then the teamspaces linked to the project, then the member list with search, filters and pagination.

How users join projects

Users can become project members in two different ways, and understanding both helps you manage your project team effectively.

Direct project membership is when you specifically add users to your project and assign them roles. These members have access only to the projects you've added them to, and you have full control over their permissions. Members can also join a public project on their own. See Join a public project.

Teamspace-based membership happens automatically when your project is linked to a Teamspace. All members of that teamspace automatically receive Contributor access to the project. Plane does not add them to the member list or change a role stored on a direct membership.

Users can have both types of access simultaneously. When this happens, Plane evaluates both grants. Direct membership is checked first, and either source can grant the access.

For example, if someone is a Guest on your project and joins a linked teamspace, they get Contributor access to the project through the teamspace while the member list still shows Guest. If they're already an Admin, they keep their Admin role through their direct membership.

When a member joins a public project or is added through automatic membership, their project role follows their workspace role: workspace owners and admins become project admins, workspace members become contributors, and workspace guests become guests.

Add members to a project

Users must be workspace members before you can add them to a project.

If the user isn't in your workspace yet:

1. First, invite them to the workspace.
2. Once they accept the workspace invitation, proceed with adding them to the project.

Add existing workspace members to your project:

1. Navigate to Project Settings > Members.
2. Click Add member.
3. In the Invite members dialog, click Select co-worker and pick the workspace member. The list shows only workspace members who aren't in the project yet.
4. Select their role: Admin, Contributor, Commenter, or Guest. Each new row starts as Guest.
5. Click Add more to add another person.
6. Click Add member (or Add members for several).

Plane shows "Members added successfully." The member now has access to the project with the permissions defined by their role.

Project roles

Role	What it's for
Admin	Full project access including settings, member management, and all features.
Contributor	Can create and manage work items, cycles, modules, pages, and views. Can delete content they created themselves.
Commenter	Can view all work items in the project and add comments and reactions. Can also create intake submissions.
Guest	Limited access. Can submit intake forms and view, edit, and delete intake issues they created.

Custom project roles, if your workspace has them, appear in the same dropdown.

Renamed roles

The role previously called Member is now called Contributor. Permissions are unchanged. The previous Guest view access toggle has been replaced by the Commenter role. To grant view access plus commenting, assign the Commenter role.

What each role can do

A quick reference. "Own" means only items the person created. For the complete breakdown, see Permissions matrix.

Area	Admin	Contributor	Commenter	Guest
Project settings, members, archive, delete, publish	Yes	No	No	No
Work items	Everything	View, create, edit, assign, archive, bulk edit. Delete own	View	View own only
Cycles and modules	Everything	View, create, add work items. Edit and delete own	View	No access
Pages	Everything	View, create, edit, share. Archive, lock, delete, move and publish own	View. Edit, archive, lock, delete own	View. Edit, archive, lock, delete own
Views	Everything	View, create. Edit, share, publish, delete own	View. Edit own	View
Intake	Everything	View, create, submit. Edit and delete own	View, create, submit. Edit and delete own	View own, create, submit. Edit and delete own
Comments and attachments	Everything	Create. Edit and delete own	Create. Edit and delete own	Attachments: create, edit and delete own. Comments: react
Project updates	Everything	View, post. Edit and delete own	View and react	View and react
Milestones	Everything	Create, edit, delete	View	No
Project releases	Everything	View	No	No
States, labels, estimates, workflows	Manage	View	View	View
Project audit logs	View and export	No	No	No

Who can assign which role

Only a project admin can give someone the Admin role, or change or remove an existing admin. Anyone else who can change roles can assign Contributor, Commenter or Guest. A workspace owner or admin who isn't a member of the project counts as a project admin here.

You can't change your own role from the member list.

Workspace Guest restriction

If you're adding a workspace Guest to your project, you can only assign them the Guest or Commenter role. Attempting to assign Admin or Contributor returns an error. This guardrail prevents external collaborators from being accidentally over-privileged.

Change a project member's role

Update project member roles as responsibilities change.

1. Navigate to Project Settings > Members.
2. Find the member in the Members list.
3. Click the role next to their name.
4. Select the new role.

The role change takes effect immediately. If a member's workspace role gives them more than their project role, an info icon next to the role reads "Permissions elevated beyond assigned role due to workspace {role} access."

Remove a member from a project

Remove members who no longer need project access.

1. Navigate to Project Settings > Members.
2. Find the member in the Members list.
3. Click the three dots next to their name and select Remove.
4. In the Remove {name}? dialog, confirm.

The member loses access to the project immediately but remains in the workspace.

What happens when you remove a member:

• They can no longer access the project or its work items.
• Work items they created remain in the project.
• Their comments and activity history are preserved.
• They remain a workspace member (unless removed separately).

Removing workspace Owners and Admins

Removing a workspace Owner or Admin from a project removes the project membership record but does not restrict their access. They retain access to all project content via their workspace role.

If Plane can't remove the member, it says "You can't remove the member from this project yet." with the reason.

Default assignee

Configure a default assignee to make sure all work items get assigned when created without an explicit assignee.

1. Navigate to Project Settings > Members.
2. Find the Default assignee setting.
3. Click Select default assignee and pick a project member.

Plane saves the change and shows "Project updated successfully".

How default assignee works:

• When someone creates a work item without selecting an assignee, the default assignee is automatically assigned.
• This keeps work items from being left unassigned.
• Useful for projects where a specific person triages new work items.
• The creator can still manually assign work items to different members.
• Guests and commenters can't be the default assignee.

To disable: Select No assignee from the Default assignee dropdown.

Project lead

Designate a project lead who serves as the primary point of contact for the project.

1. Navigate to Project Settings > Members.
2. Find the Project lead setting.
3. Click Select project lead and pick a project member.

Plane saves the change and shows "Project updated successfully". To clear it, select No lead. Guests and commenters can't be the lead.

What a project lead does: The project lead is the go-to person for questions about the project's execution, goals, and status. This is an informational role that helps team members know who to contact, not a permission level.

Project lead vs. Project Admin:

• Project lead is a designation that identifies a point of contact.
• Project Admin is a role with specific permissions.
• They can be the same person but don't have to be.
• When you set a lead while creating a project, Plane also makes that person a project admin.

Project subscribers Business

Project subscribers receive notifications for all work items in the project: status changes, comments, and updates. This is useful for project leads, managers, or stakeholders who need visibility across the entire project without being subscribed to individual work items.

By default, members only receive notifications for work items they're assigned to, have created, or are subscribed to individually. Adding someone as a project subscriber keeps them informed about all project activity.

To configure project subscribers:

1. Navigate to Project Settings > Members.
2. Under Project subscribers, click to open the member picker.
3. Select the members who should receive notifications for all work items.

Only project admins can manage project subscribers.

View project member activity Enterprise Grid

INFO

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Track member actions like additions, role changes, and removals to maintain visibility over project access management.

To view member activity:

1. Navigate to Project Settings > Members.
2. Click Activity in the top right corner of the Members section.

The activity panel shows recent project member events:

• Member additions: who added which members to the project and when.
• Role changes: role updates with who made the change and when.
• Member removals: who removed members from the project.

Each activity entry shows the action taken, who performed the action, and when it happened (relative time like "6 days ago" or "3 days ago").

This audit trail helps project admins monitor membership changes and verify that access permissions are correct. Activity is retained for project history. The same events also appear under the Member and Permission categories in Project audit logs.

Leave a project

If you no longer need access to a project, you can leave it yourself.

1. Navigate to Project Settings > Members.
2. Click the … menu next to your own name and select Leave.
3. In the Leave project? dialog, confirm.

The dialog reads "Are you sure you want to leave the {project} project? You will be able to join the project if invited again or if it's public."

You'll lose access to the project immediately but remain in the workspace. If you need to rejoin later, a Project Admin or Workspace Admin will need to add you again, or you can join yourself if the project is public.

Last admin protection

If you're the only Project Admin, you cannot leave the project. Plane says "You're the only admin. Assign another member as admin before leaving." Promote another member to Admin first.

See also

• Manage workspace members
• Member roles
• Permissions matrix
• Teamspaces
• Project settings