If you’re responsible for sharing internal know-how but not keen on oversharing (or worse—accidentally leaking sensitive info), this guide is for you. Spekit’s a good tool for in-app learning and knowledge sharing, but its real value shows up when you get access control right. This isn’t just about checking boxes for compliance—it's about making sure the right people see the right stuff, and no one else does. Here’s how to wrangle role-based content access in Spekit without making your team’s life harder—or yours.
Why Role-Based Access Actually Matters
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: not everyone on your team needs to see everything. Sales shouldn’t see HR onboarding docs. New hires shouldn’t get the keys to your quarterly strategy. If you’re not careful, Spekit’s default can be “everyone sees everything”—not ideal if you care about privacy or just not overwhelming people.
Role-based access lets you:
- Keep sensitive info locked down (think: pay info, strategic plans)
- Cut down on noise, so folks only see what’s relevant
- Stay on the right side of compliance, if that’s a thing for your industry
It’s not a silver bullet—someone with too much access can still mess up—but it’s way better than letting chaos reign.
1. Get Your House in Order: Know Your Roles
Before you touch anything in Spekit, pause. Don’t start by clicking around and making groups—figure out what roles you actually have.
- Map out your team structure. Who needs to see what? (Sales, Support, HR, IT, etc.)
- List out sensitive content. What truly needs protection? Be honest; not everything is confidential.
- Decide on “need-to-know”. Default to less access, not more. It’s easier to open up later than to clean up a mess.
Pro tip: If you’re not sure, ask a few team leads what gives them heartburn to imagine “everyone” seeing. That’ll clarify what’s sensitive, fast.
2. Set Up Teams and Groups in Spekit
Spekit organizes access using “Teams.” You can create Teams based on department, job function, seniority—whatever fits your org. Don’t overthink it; start simple.
- Go to Admin Settings > Teams.
- Create a Team for each major role or department. (Sales, Support, HR, etc.)
- Add users to Teams. Keep it tight—don’t just add “everyone” to everything.
What Works
- Teams are easy to set up and change as people move around.
- You can reuse Teams for content access, notifications, and analytics.
What Doesn’t
- Teams aren’t super granular. If you want to get specific (like “only Sales Managers in New York”), you’ll need to get creative or set up nested Teams.
- There’s no “dynamic” membership, so someone has to remember to update Teams when people join, leave, or change roles. No magic here.
Ignore: Trying to reflect your entire org chart. Stick to main groups you’ll actually use for access.
3. Assign Content Access by Team
Now for the meat of it: controlling who sees what.
- Go to the content you want to restrict (Spot, Topic, or Category).
- Click “Share” or “Edit access.”
- Choose specific Teams (or individuals) who should see it.
- Set visibility to “Only visible to selected Teams.”
What Works
- Restricting access at the Topic or Category level saves you from micromanaging every single Spot.
- It’s easy to check who can see what at a glance.
What Doesn’t
- If you go too granular, it’s a pain to maintain.
- You can’t do “exceptions” easily (like, “everyone in Sales except Bob”). If you need that, you’ll need to set up a separate Team or handle it manually.
4. Audit and Test Your Setup
Most people skip this. Don’t be most people.
- Use the “Preview as” feature to see what a user in a given Team sees. This catches mistakes before they cause problems.
- Regularly review Team memberships and content permissions—especially after org changes.
- Ask at least one person from each Team to verify access. They’ll catch things you miss.
Pro tip: Set a calendar reminder to review permissions every quarter. It takes five minutes and saves you from embarrassing slip-ups.
5. Train Your Admins (and Keep It Simple)
Access controls only work if the people managing them know what’s what.
- Keep admin rights limited to people who get the risks.
- Document your access rules somewhere outside Spekit (Google Doc, Notion, whatever). This way, when admins change, your logic doesn’t get lost.
- Avoid one-off exceptions unless you absolutely have to. Every manual fix is a future headache.
6. Handling Special Cases and Common Headaches
No system is perfect. Here’s how to deal with things Spekit doesn’t make easy:
- Temporary Access: There’s no built-in “expire after X days” feature. If someone needs access for a project, put a reminder on your calendar to revoke it.
- Contractors or External Users: Be extra careful. Only give them access to what’s absolutely necessary, and use a dedicated Team for contractors.
- Onboarding/Offboarding: Make updating Team membership part of your HR process. Otherwise, people linger with more access than they should.
Honest Shortcomings and What to Watch Out For
- No automated provisioning: If you’re hoping for full sync with your HR system or SSO groups, Spekit isn’t there yet. All changes are manual.
- Audit logs are basic: You get some visibility into who accessed what, but don’t expect enterprise-grade reporting.
- No “read-only” or custom roles: Admins can do everything; everyone else can’t. If you want more nuance, you’ll need to work around it.
If you’ve got a huge, fast-changing org, expect to spend time keeping things tidy. For smaller teams, the manual work is manageable.
Keep It Simple, Review Often
Role-based access in Spekit isn’t rocket science, but it’s easy to overcomplicate. Start with a few Teams, keep your rules clear, and review access quarterly. Most importantly, don’t fall for the “set it and forget it” trap. Your team, your org, and your content will all change—your access controls need to change with them. Simple beats perfect. Iterate as you go, and you’ll keep your info safe without making everyone’s job harder.