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

# Source permissions

> Answer each person only from the documents they can read in the source system. An unknown access list is never read as an open one.

With **Respect source permissions** on, a source answers each person only from the documents the source system lets them read. The rule is applied inside the search, before results are ranked, so a document someone cannot read never shapes their answer. When nothing they may read answers the question, the assistant says it does not know.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Source permissions are in **beta** and not available yet. The switch is shown on GitHub repository
> sources but cannot be turned on until the access lists can be stored, which needs a database
> change that has not been released. Until then sources answer exactly as they always have.

## Who is answered from what

| Who is asking | Answered from |
| - | - |
| The website widget, an API key, Slack, an AI employee | Documents that are public in the source |
| A person signed in to your organization | Public documents, documents open to your whole organization, and documents shared with their verified email address |
| An Owner, Administrator, Editor or Knowledge operator | Every document. They can turn the switch off, so withholding from them would protect nothing |

A person is matched by a **verified** email address only, never by a name or an address someone typed.

**A document whose readers the source did not report is answered to knowledge administrators only.** An unknown list is never treated as an open one.

Sources with the switch off answer everyone who can use the assistant, as before.

## Which sources

| Source | What is read |
| - | - |
| GitHub repository | Whether the repository is public. A public repository's files are public. A private or internal repository's files are answered to knowledge administrators only, because GitHub names collaborators by login rather than by an address MITHUNAI can verify |

Other sources cannot turn the switch on yet. Website, sitemap, OpenAPI, Zendesk help center and Discourse sources only read what is already public.

For a GitHub repository, visibility is read on every sync that lists the repository. A sync that is skipped because the repository has no new commit reads nothing, so after making a repository private, run a sync once there is a new commit.

## See who can be answered from a document

Open a document from a source's document list and choose **Who can see this**. It shows the switch, what the source reported, and who is answered now. The same is available from [Get document access](https://docs.mithunai.com/api-reference/knowledge/get-document-access.md).

## Turn it on or off

Open the source and use **Respect source permissions**. The change applies from the next question and does not need a sync. Over the API, set `respect_source_permissions` with [Update a source](https://docs.mithunai.com/api-reference/knowledge/update-source.md).

New GitHub repository sources have it on by default once it is available.


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