How to build secure, scalable systems without slowing teams down.
Most monday.com accounts fail quietly.
Not because teams don't use them — but because the data slowly becomes unreliable, permissions become political, and nobody fully trusts what they see on dashboards anymore.
That breakdown almost always traces back to two things:
- Permissions were added reactively.
- Data modeling was never consciously designed.
This article explains how permissions and data modeling work together in monday.com, what the platform actually supports, and how to design systems that are safe, scalable, and still fast to use.
monday.com is a database with a user interface
monday.com is not a task manager. It is a collaborative database with a UI.
- Boards are tables.
- Items are records.
- Columns are fields.
- Connect boards are relationships.
- Permissions are integrity constraints.
If this framing is new to you, read Why Monday.com Is a Database first.
Once you see it this way, every design question becomes simpler:
- Who owns the truth of this data?
- Who depends on this data?
- Who is allowed to write to it?
Those three questions drive everything else.
The core design principle
People should only be able to edit the data they own — but they should be able to see the data they depend on.
- Ownership defines write access.
- Dependencies define read access.
Everything else is implementation detail.
The four layers of permissions in monday.com
monday.com permissions exist at four levels:
1. Account level
Admin / Member / Viewer / Guest
Controls global powers like billing, security, and user management.
2. Workspace level
Open / Closed / Private
Controls visibility. For deeper patterns on workspace design, see Multi-Team Workspace Design.
3. Board level
Main / Private / Shareable
Controls access.
4. Board permissions
Controls who can:
- edit items
- change statuses
- move items
- change columns
- delete items
This is where data integrity is enforced.
Layered data modeling
A scalable system has layers, not just boards.
| Layer | Purpose | Edit Access |
|---|---|---|
| Systems of Record | Clients, Products, Employees | Very few |
| Operational Boards | Projects, Tickets, Content | Team owners |
| Shared Programs | Cross-team initiatives | Program owners |
| Dashboards | Reporting | Read-only |
This prevents accidental corruption while keeping teams fast. For a complete overview of board types, see Understanding Monday.com Architecture.
Systems of Record: your truth layer
Systems of record define entities, not work:
- Clients
- Products
- Vendors
- Employees
- Pricing
They should be:
- Stable
- Restricted
- Rarely edited
- Referenced everywhere
Use Connect + Mirror instead of copying values.
For implementation patterns, see Reference Boards.
Operational boards: your process layer
Operational boards define events:
- Deals
- Tickets
- Projects
- Content items
They change constantly and should be editable by the team running the process — but should not redefine core data.
See Lifecycle Boards for workflow patterns.
Permissions as part of your schema
Permissions are not security — they are schema constraints.
- Every field has an implicit owner.
- Permissions encode that ownership.
Practical permission tiers
Tier 1 — Execution
Fast, collaborative, low risk.
Tier 2 — Coordination
Shared ownership, limited editors.
Tier 3 — Data integrity
Restricted, controlled, auditable.
Tier 4 — Sensitive data
Private, minimal access.
Designing around monday's limitations
monday.com does not support:
- row-level permissions
- true role-based permission sets
- per-user column permissions
So you design around this by:
- splitting boards by ownership
- using connect boards for visibility
- using ownership columns + automation
Instead of "locking harder," you architect better.
For board splitting patterns, see Intake vs Processing Boards.
Common failure modes
| Mistake | Result |
|---|---|
| Everyone edits systems of record | Data drift |
| Everything locked | Shadow systems |
| Copying instead of connecting | Inconsistency |
| No ownership clarity | Permission conflicts |
A mental model that scales
Think of your monday.com account as:
- A database
- With schemas
- With constraints
- With relationships
Not as folders of tasks.
When you do that, permissions stop being political — and start being structural.
Final takeaway
Good permissions are invisible.
They quietly:
- prevent mistakes
- preserve data integrity
- enable reliable reporting
- and allow teams to move fast safely
And they only work when paired with good data modeling.
You cannot design one without the other.
Summary
- Boards are tables.
- Permissions are constraints.
- Ownership defines write access.
- Dependencies define read access.
- Connect core data; don't copy it.
- Layer your system.
- Architect before you restrict.
That's how you build monday.com systems that actually scale.