---
sourceDocument: Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Capabilities
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/servicenow-platform

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Capabilities

ft:clusterId :

    - platcap

bundleId :

    - platcap

workflow :

    - Platform


---

# Control access at the knowledge article level through user criteria

# Control access at the knowledge article level through user criteria {#ariaid-title1}

* Release version: Australia
* 
* Updated March 12, 2026
* 
* ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 2 minutes to read

You specify user criteria for a knowledge article to control which users are granted
read access to the knowledge article.

## Before you begin

Role required: knowledge_manager, knowledge_admin  
Note:  
You may need to configure the form to add Can Read and Cannot Read fields.

## About this task

Try to use only user criteria, which were introduced in Knowledge Management v3, to control access to knowledge articles. Roles were used for this purpose in Knowledge Management v2. For more information, see [Managing access to knowledge bases and knowledge articles](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/3BXkJNu_yngCF5YeYJmACA "Determine whether certain users or categories of users can access knowledge bases and knowledge articles by controlling contribute and read access.").  
Note:  
Starting with the Washington DC release, the Knowledge Management v3 homepage (com.snc.knowledge3) is being prepared for deprecation in the future Y release. It is replaced by the Knowledge Management
Service Portal (com.snc.knowledge_serviceportal), which is active by default for customers on Madrid and later releases. For more information about the new experience, see [Knowledge Management Service Portal homepage features](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/hlTiRCSbSkIvg3FhlVXqtQ "The Knowledge Management Service Portal homepage displays knowledge articles organized by knowledge base and category, as well as featured content and popular articles. Learn how to navigate the homepage to search for and find useful and relevant information quickly.").

As a knowledge base owner or a manager if the glide.knowman.apply_article_read_criteria property is enabled and you don't satisfy the article level user criteria, then the article will not be visible in
portal search. To be able to view the article in the portal search, you must configure article level user criteria accordingly.

If you are a part of the ownership group associated with the article then you can see the article in portal search, irrespective of the article level user criteria.

## Procedure

1. Open a knowledge article.  
   Note:  
   You can update only the latest version of the knowledge article.
2. Assign access based on user criteria.

   | Access | Procedure |
   | Allow read access | In the Can Read field, search for and add user criteria. For example, to allow read access to a user, search for a user criteria that the user matches and add it to this field. |
   | Deny read access | In the Cannot Read field, search for and add user criteria. For example, to deny read access to a user, search for a user criteria that user matches and add it to this field. Note: * If users have contribute access to the knowledge base, they also have read access to the knowledge article regardless of the Cannot Read setting. Activate the property (glide.knowman.apply_article_read_criteria) to override contribute access to a knowledge article based on Can Read and Cannot Read user criteria at the article level. For more information, see [Knowledge Management properties](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/dOG2gE5jKqdnUKB2HL6Ogg#r_KnowledgeProperties "As an administrator, you can configure the look and functionality of many knowledge base features with Knowledge Management properties."). * Users who meet both Can Read and Cannot Read user criteria are denied read access to the knowledge article. The Cannot Read setting overrides the Can Read setting for the knowledge article. {#t_SelectUCArticle__ul_fvd_p4p_tjb} |
   |-|-|

   {#t_SelectUCArticle__choicetable_sqz_z3v_qjb}  
   Note:  
   If the Can Read and Cannot Read fields aren't visible, configure the Knowledge form to display them. For more information, see [Configuring the form
   layout](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=configure-form-layout&version=australia&pubname=australia-platform-administration&ft:locale=en-US).
3. On the Knowledge form, click Update, and then click Publish to apply the changes.
{#t_SelectUCArticle__steps_ncq_dgv_2jb}

## What to do next

After you add user criteria, you can use the user criteria diagnostics feature to verify the access users have to a knowledge base or a knowledge article. For more information, see [User criteria diagnostics for Knowledge Management](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/CxMWCT_EBzmIA5RcGQe50w "Manage user access to a knowledge base or an article using user criteria diagnostics. Understand what access users have to a knowledge base or an article and determine which user criteria define those permissions.").  
Important:  
After making user criteria additions or changes, you may need to log out and log back in to clear the prior configuration.
**Related tasks**   

* [Create user criteria for controlling access to knowledge bases and articles](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ABfqO3sqNndQKz6J9Hu9lA "Control access to knowledge bases and articles by creating user criteria.")
* [Control access at the knowledge base level through user criteria](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/9_RtaGtyXgnwf_aRq5oqWA "You specify user criteria for a knowledge base to control which users are granted access to read and contribute knowledge articles to that knowledge base.")