How Does Inheritance Work in Node-Level Authorization in KTern Planner?

Authorization Inheritance allows child tasks to automatically adopt the editing permissions of their parent tasks, reducing the need to manually assign User Groups at every level of the project hierarchy.

What is Authorization Inheritance?

When a User Group is assigned as the Editor for a parent task, all child tasks under it automatically inherit that authorization. This means members of the parent's editor group can also edit child tasks without needing a separate assignment.

How Inheritance Flows

Assignment at parent level automatically propagates to all child tasks below as inherited authorization

A child task can be assigned a different User Group in its own Editor field — this does not override the parent's inherited group but instead adds to it, making both groups authorized to edit that task

Once a child task holds both an assigned Editor Group and an inherited group, all further descendants below it inherit both groups cumulatively

Inheritance is additive and propagates downward — every level accumulates the editor groups from all ancestor tasks above it

Inheritance Example Project Root ├── Phase 1.0  →  Editor: Finance Team |   ├── Task 1.1  →  Inherits: Finance Team  ✓ |   └── Task 1.2  →  Editor: Dev Team, Inherits: Finance Team |       └── Task 1.2.1  →  Inherits: Dev Team, Finance Team  ✓ └── Phase 2.0  →  Editor: QA Team     └── Task 2.1  →  Inherits: QA Team  ✓

The Inherited Editor Field

Each task in KTern Planner shows two authorization-related fields: the Editor field (explicitly assigned group) and the Inherited Editor field (group inherited from the parent). If both exist, the explicit Editor field takes priority.

Best Practices for Inheritance

1. Assign User Groups at the highest relevant level to reduce manual setup
   
2. ​Use overrides only when a sub-team needs exclusive ownership of specific tasks
   
3. ​Periodically review inherited assignments when project structure changes
   
4. ​When moving tasks (indent/outdent), be aware that inheritance source will shift accordingly
   

• Related Articles

• How to Add Members to User Groups and Assign Task-Level Edit Permissions Using Node-Level Authorization in KTern Planner?

  Node-Level Authorization controls who can edit each task in KTern Planner. This article walks through creating User Groups, adding members, and assigning those groups as editors to specific tasks. What is Node-Level Authorization? Node-Level ...

• How to Download Filtered Gantt View and Task Insights from KTern’s Project Planner?

  KTern's Project Planner offers a Gantt-style layout designed for efficient planning, tracking, and exporting filtered work items. This guide provides step-by-step instructions to access the planner and export tailored views for status updates and ...

• How Can You Effectively Use KTern’s New Simulation Planner?

  To begin, log in to KTern and navigate to the desired project. Follow the steps below to access and utilize the Simulation Planner effectively: Navigating to the Wave Landing Page and Planner Preview Once logged in, go to the Timeline under Digital ...

• How to manage files with work-items ?

  KTern works toward the idea of a single workspace even for arranging the resource files & documents all at one place. Work-Items Work-Items in KTern consists of : Tasks Issues Test-Cases Files can be directly accessed through the file section on the ...

• How to Bulk Edit and Update Work Items in KTern?

  Bulk editing and updating work items in KTern allows you to save time, maintain consistency, and improve collaboration. By using this feature, you can efficiently manage multiple tasks and eliminate repetitive manual updates. Advantages of Bulk ...