> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.meetlocal.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Roles and permissions

> What Staff, Admin and Venue Owner can each do in your Venue.

Three roles exist in a Venue. All three are created by the Local support team — you cannot add people yourself, except as Owner.

| Role | In one line |
| - | - |
| **Staff** | Front-of-house. Talks to guests, posts announcements, responds to alerts. |
| **Admin** | Manages the Venue — content, settings, coupons, analytics. |
| **Venue Owner** | Everything, plus control of who else has access. |

## Full matrix

| Capability | Staff | Admin | Owner |
| - | :-: | :-: | :-: |
| Post in Announcement rooms | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Upload announcement media | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Unrestricted direct messages with guests | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Staff badge on profile and messages | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Receive sentiment incident alerts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Access Business Tools and analytics | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Edit menu items | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Manage Venue maps | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Manage Contents Hub (events, news) | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Gift coupons to guests | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Configure Venue settings and toggles | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Create and delete rooms | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Add and remove staff and admins | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Billing and tenant ownership | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |

## What this means in practice

### Staff can talk, but not configure

A staff member has everything needed to work a shift: they can message any guest without waiting for a connection request, post to the Announcements room with images, and receive sentiment alerts when something is going wrong on the floor.

They cannot open Business Tools at all. No analytics, no coupon gifting, no settings.

<Warning>
  Staff **cannot gift coupons**. If your service model involves a server rewarding a guest on the spot, that person needs the Admin role, not Staff. This is the permission most often discovered the hard way, on a busy night.
</Warning>

### Admins run the Venue

Everything operational: menu, maps, content, coupons, rooms, settings, reports. An Admin can do anything an Owner can except change who has access and handle billing.

For most Venues, the manager should be an Admin.

### Owner is the account

Only the Owner can add or remove staff and admins, and only the Owner controls billing and ownership of the Venue itself.

<Note>
  The Owner role is granted automatically to whoever claims the Venue with the phone number or email used at signup. See [Claim your Venue](/get-started/claim-your-venue).
</Note>

## The staff badge

Staff, Admins and Owners all carry a badge visible on their profile and next to their messages. Guests can tell at a glance that they are talking to someone who works there — which is what makes the Contact Staff conversation worth having.

## Direct messages work differently for your team

Guests must send and have accepted a connection request before they can message each other privately. Your team does not: Staff, Admins and Owners can open a direct conversation with any guest in the Venue, and guests can reach them without a connection request.

## Adding people

Contact Local support with the person's details, the Venue, and the role you want them to have. There is no self-serve route, including for Owners.

<Tip>
  When requesting a new team member, ask yourself one question: will they ever need to hand a guest a coupon? If yes, they need Admin. If they are purely front-of-house conversation and announcements, Staff is enough.
</Tip>


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