Catalog permissions control who can see a catalog, who can see the products associated with it, and who can associate products with its categories. They represent the broadest level of control over product data: they act on the entire catalog, not on individual fields within a product card.

If you are working on products and cannot find a catalog or a reference you expected to see, the cause is almost always here.

What catalog permissions control

A catalog permission produces three distinct effects:

1. Catalog visibility: whether or not you see the catalog and category hierarchy.

2. Associated products visibility: whether products linked to that catalog appear in the product list.

3. Product association: whether you can link or unlink products from that catalog's categories.

The four permission levels

Each catalog has only one active level at a time, which you set from the Set permissions field.

When you select Specific permissions by group, each group you add receives one of these two levels:

Configure catalog permissions

To view and manage access permissions for a catalog, you must be an Administrator or have the "Can manage product data modeling" permission.

When creating a catalog

1. Go to Platform Settings → Products → Catalogs and categories

2. Click Add catalog

3. Enter the Catalog code: this is the same code used by APIs as a category path node

4. Click Manage access permissions to proceed to the second step and choose the level

On an existing catalog

1. In the Catalogs and categories list, click the catalog's action icon and select Edit

2. In the Catalog configuration panel, open the Access permissions section

3. Choose the level from the Set permissions field

4. Click Save changes in the header to confirm

Until you save, the header will indicate Unsaved changes. Use Cancel to discard everything and revert to the last saved configuration.

Assign permissions to specific groups

1. Select Specific permissions by group from the Set permissions field

2. In the Specific access field, open Add user group and check one or more groups

3. Choose the level to assign: Can view only or Can associate products

4. Click Add and repeat for other groups with a different level

5. Click Save changes

The Access permissions column in the catalog list summarizes the active level of each catalog: use it for a quick check without opening each card.

What changes for product users

Catalog permissions do not produce error messages: they directly change what you see in the platform.

Isolating brands on a single platform

The most common use case is a multi-brand or multi-market organization working on a single THRON instance that needs each team to only see its own perimeter.

The configuration pattern is as follows:

1. Create a catalog for each brand or market, for example brand-a and brand-b

2. Set each catalog to Specific permissions by group

3. Add only the working group of the corresponding brand, with the level Can associate products

4. Add cross-functional groups that need to consult without editing (such as a coordination team) with Can view only

The result: team members of Brand A work on products in their own catalog and do not encounter Brand B products, neither in the product list nor in category filters.

Recommended configuration

Three standard starting scenarios.

Catalog permissions vs attribute permissions

Both mechanisms work on different levels and must both be configured for complete governance.

## Additional articles
- Configure Product Catalogs and Categories
- Set access permissions on product attributes
- Configure Users and Groups
- Folder permissions: how they work

Need help?

For technical issues, write to support@thron.com.