Understand how account-wide permissions control administrative access across Frame.io resources.
When you add users to Frame.io through the Adobe Admin Console, you assign them an account role that determines their baseline permissions across your organization's Frame.io environment. These account-wide roles determine what users can access and manage before any project- or workspace-specific permissions take effect.
Frame.io account roles define permissions at the organizational level and operate independently from resource-level access controls. This separation lets you establish broad administrative capabilities while maintaining granular control over projects and workspaces.
Account role functionality
Account roles apply across your entire Frame.io organization and determine whether users have administrative access to all public resources or need explicit invitations to access specific content. Unlike resource-level permissions that control access to individual projects or workspaces, account roles set the foundational access pattern for each user.
When you assign an account role in the Adobe Admin Console, it follows the user throughout Frame.io. System admins can modify account roles in the Admin Console or Frame.io's User Management page. Changes take effect immediately.
Frame.io integrates account roles with its permissions inheritance model, which determines how users gain access to nested resources within your organization's structure. Understanding both account roles and the inheritance model helps you design an access control strategy that balances administrative efficiency with appropriate security boundaries.
Content Admin role
The Content Admin role provides administrative access to all public resources within your Frame.io organization. Users with this role can view, manage, and modify projects, files, and workspaces without needing to be explicitly invited to each resource. Content Admins also have the authority to assign existing Frame.io users to any resource within the organization, simplifying user management across complex project structures.
This role is for team leads, project managers, and operations staff who need visibility across projects and control over resource assignments. Content Admins cannot change organizational settings or manage user accounts.
Member role
The Member role requires explicit resource-level invitations before users can access specific projects or workspaces. Members cannot see or access Frame.io resources unless another user with appropriate permissions grants them access to those specific items.
This role provides the most restrictive account-wide permissions and works well for contributors who work on defined projects without needing broader organizational visibility. Members can still have extensive permissions within their assigned projects or workspaces, but those permissions must be granted individually for each resource rather than inherited from an account-wide role.
Most Frame.io users operate as Members, receiving access to specific projects through team-based invitations rather than account-wide administrative privileges. This approach maintains clear boundaries between projects and reduces the risk of unintended access to sensitive content.
Account roles and Adobe Admin Console permissions
Frame.io account roles function separately from the administrative roles you assign in the Adobe Admin Console. An Adobe Admin Console System Admin has full control over Frame.io provisioning and user management via the Admin Console, but this role does not automatically grant Content Admin privileges within the Frame.io application.
When you assign Frame.io licenses to users, you select their Frame.io account role (Content Admin or Member) as part of the provisioning process. Users then access Frame.io with the account role you specified, which determines their baseline permissions within the Frame.io environment. Changes to Frame.io account roles require action in either the Admin Console or Frame.io's User Management interface. Frame.io account roles do not automatically synchronize with changes to Admin Console administrative roles.
