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DataHub Editor Permissions Not Working for Specific Assets

Angelo Bresci
Updated

Area: Product Issues

Sub-Area: Access Control and Permissions

Issue

Users who are members of editor groups like "DataHub-Editor Users" cannot edit table column descriptions or other metadata for specific datasets, even though they have proper group membership. This occurs when the user's group has role assignment but lacks the specific privileges required through DataHub's policy-based access control system.

You Might Be Asking

  • Why can't I edit column descriptions when I'm in the editor group?
  • What's the difference between group membership and actual editing permissions?
  • Why do I see disabled edit buttons or get unauthorized errors?

Solution

DataHub uses policy-based access control (PBAC), which means group membership alone doesn't automatically grant editing privileges. You need both group membership and a policy that grants specific privileges.

  1. Verify Current Policy Configuration

    Have a DataHub admin check the access policies:

    • Navigate to Settings → Access Policies
    • Search for policies that include your editor group as an actor
    • Verify the policy is Active
  2. Check Required Privileges

    For editing column descriptions, the policy must grant one of these privileges:

    • EDIT_DATASET_COL_DESCRIPTION - Edit Dataset Column Descriptions
    • EDIT_ENTITY - Edit Entity (broader privilege that includes column editing)
  3. Verify Policy Scope

    Ensure the policy scope covers your target datasets:

    • Policy should apply to All datasets OR
    • Explicitly include the dataset domains/patterns you need to edit
  4. Update Policy if Needed

    If the policy is missing required privileges:

    1. Go to Settings → Access Policies
2. Find the policy for your editor group
3. Click "Edit Policy"
4. Add "Edit Dataset Column Descriptions" privilege
5. Ensure scope includes your datasets
6. Save changes
  5. Alternative: Create Custom Policy

    If no suitable policy exists, create one:

    1. Go to Settings → Access Policies
2. Click "Create New Policy"
3. Set actors to your editor group
4. Grant "Edit Dataset Column Descriptions" privilege
5. Set appropriate resource scope
6. Activate the policy

Additional Notes

Note that table-level description editing and column-level description editing are controlled by separate privileges. A user might be able to edit table descriptions but not column descriptions if their policy only grants table-level privileges. Additionally, if datasets are ingested via automated pipelines configured to overwrite descriptions, manual edits may be reverted on subsequent ingestion runs. This would appear as edits not persisting rather than being blocked initially.

Related Documentation

Tags: permissions, access-control, editor-role, column-descriptions, policy-based-access, privileges, group-membership, dataset-editing, authorization, ui-permissions