Access to KPI Composer

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated June 11, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Access to KPI Composer

    Access to KPI Composer in ServiceNow controls whether users can create, edit, or simply view KPI Composer projects. It also determines which projects are accessible and if users can interact with underlying records or just the user interface. Access is governed by user roles, project responsibilities, and sharing settings.

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    User Roles

    • KPI Composer Admin (snkpicomposer.admin or admin, paviewer): Has full access to all KPI Composer components and records, all projects, and can share projects or assign responsibilities. Admins can also link indicator and breakdown definitions with Performance Analytics entities.
    • KPI Composer User (snkpicomposer.user): Can access and manage only projects they created, including sharing and assigning responsibility for those projects. Their access is limited to design tabs, artifact properties, indicator and breakdown definitions within those projects. They cannot add Performance Analytics indicators or breakdowns. Additional access to other projects may occur through responsibility or sharing.

    Responsibility for Projects

    Users designated as responsible for a project can view, edit, share, and assign responsibility for that project. Their access level matches that of the KPI Composer user role, allowing interaction with design elements but not adding Performance Analytics indicators or breakdowns. Responsibility is a procedural designation named in project properties and is independent of user roles. Being the project creator does not automatically confer responsibility.

    Shared Projects

    • Edit Access: Shared users with edit rights have the same technical access as responsible users or those with the KPI Composer user role, but without the responsibility implication. No specific role is required for edit access when a project is shared.
    • View Access: Users with view-only access can read all design components and use viewing tools like search and filter but cannot make changes. Their only permitted addition is journal entries.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    Understanding these access levels enables you to control collaboration within KPI Composer projects effectively. Assigning the correct roles and responsibilities ensures that users have appropriate permissions for creating, editing, or viewing KPIs and their underlying components. Sharing settings allow flexible collaboration without necessarily granting full editing rights or project oversight.

    The level of access to KPI Composer determines whether a user can create, edit, or only view a KPI Composer project. It also determines which projects a user can access and whether they can access the underlying records or only the UI.

    Access to KPI Composer depends on the following things, singly or in combination:
    • User role
    • Responsibility
    • Access granted during sharing

    Role-based access

    An admin can grant a user the role of a KPI Composer admin or user. A KPI Composer admin has the same privileges as a ServiceNow AI Platform admin for KPI Composer. A KPI Composer user does not automatically have access to all projects and cannot associate indicator or breakdown definitions with actual Performance Analytics entities.
    Table 1. User roles for KPI Composer
    Role Contains Description
    sn_kpi_composer.admin or admin pa_viewer
    • Full access to all components of KPI Composer, including records.
    • Full access to all projects.
    • Can share or assign responsibility for projects.
    • Can associate indicator and breakdown definitions with Performance Analytics indicators and breakdowns.
    sn_kpi_composer.user None
    • Can access only projects that they have created.
    • Can share or assign responsibility for projects they create.
    • Can access only the design tabs, artifact properties, indicator definitions, and breakdown definitions of those projects.
    • Cannot add Performance Analytics indicators or breakdowns to the respective definitions.

    A user with this role may have access to more projects based on responsibility or on projects being shared with them.

    The appropriate Performance Analytics roles are also necessary to implement KPI Composer designs in Performance Analytics.

    Responsibility for projects

    A responsible user has the following access to the projects they are responsible for:
    • Can view and edit the projects.
    • Can share or assign responsibility for the projects.
    • Can access only the design tabs, artifact properties, indicator definitions, and breakdown definitions of those projects.
    • Cannot add Performance Analytics indicators or breakdowns to the respective definitions.

    This level of access is equivalent to what the sn_kpi_composer.user role grants. It is also equivalent to having a project shared with edit rights. Responsibility differs first in being independent of any role. The second difference is procedural, not technical: Responsible users are understood to be in charge of oversight and implementation of the project. Even the creator of a project is therefore not automatically responsible for it.

    Responsible users are named in the project properties. Any user with edit rights can name responsible users. For more information about naming responsible users, see Define properties for a project.

    Shared projects

    Any user with edit rights can share a project. When you share a project, you grant one of two levels of access:

    Edit access
    This level of access is technically the same as the access of a responsible user, or a user with the sn_kpi_composer.user role. The first difference is that no role is required. The second difference is that there is no implication of responsibility to oversee or implement the project.
    View access
    A user with view access can read the design tabs, artifact properties, indicator definitions, and breakdown definitions of the shared project. They can use all viewing utilities, like search and filter. However, they cannot change anything in the project. The only thing they can add is a journal entry.

    For more information, see Share a KPI Composer project.