---
Title: "What Is Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)?"
Url: "https://computer.io/glossary/role-based-access-control"
Topic: "Data and security"
Description: "Role-based access control (RBAC) grants permissions to users based on their role, not individually. How RBAC works, examples, RBAC vs ABAC and AI agents."
---

# What is role-based access control (RBAC)?

Role-based access control (RBAC) is a security model that grants permissions based on a user's role, such as support agent, manager or admin, rather than assigning them one by one, so people only access what their job requires and access is easy to manage.

## Example

| Role | Can do |
| --- | --- |
| Agent | View and reply to tickets |
| Manager | Plus reassign and see reports |
| Admin | Plus configure settings |

## RBAC vs ABAC

RBAC uses roles. Attribute-based access control (ABAC) uses attributes like department, region or data sensitivity.

## RBAC and AI agents

An AI agent should inherit the requesting user's permissions or a narrowly scoped role, never broad admin access.

## FAQ

### What is the principle of least privilege?

Giving users only the access they need.

### Is RBAC the same as permissions?

RBAC is a way of organizing permissions by role.

### How do AI agents respect RBAC?

By checking the user's roles and permissions before retrieving data or acting.

## Related terms

- [Permission-aware AI](https://computer.io/glossary/permission-aware-ai)
- [Single sign-on (SSO)](https://computer.io/glossary/single-sign-on)
- [SCIM](https://computer.io/glossary/scim)
- [How do AI agents handle permissions and access control?](https://computer.io/answers/how-do-ai-agents-handle-permissions)

## How Computer helps

- [How computer works](https://computer.io/how-computer-works)

## Further reading

- [Scim advantage](https://devrev.ai/blog/scim-advantage)