# User Roles

Chamilo uses a role-based permission system. Each user is assigned a role that determines what they can see and do on the platform.

## Platform-Level Roles

These roles control access to platform-wide features:

| Role                              | Level | Description                                                                                                            |
| --------------------------------- | ----- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Learner (Student)**             | 5     | The default role. Can enroll in courses, access learning content, submit assignments, and take exercises.              |
| **Teacher (Trainer)**             | 1     | Can create and manage courses, add content, grade students, and view course-level reports.                             |
| **Sessions Administrator**        | 3     | Can create and manage sessions, enroll users in sessions, and assign coaches. Cannot access general platform settings. |
| **Human Resources Manager (HRM)** | 4     | Can view tracking and reporting data for assigned users. Used for supervisors who need to monitor employee training.   |
| **Portal Administrator**          | —     | Full access to all platform administration features. Can manage users, courses, sessions, plugins, and all settings.   |
| **Global Administrator**          | —     | Same as Portal Administrator but with access across all access URLs in a multi-URL setup.                              |
| **Anonymous**                     | 6     | A special role for visitors who are not logged in. Can access public courses and content if enabled.                   |

## Course-Level Roles

Within a course, users have specific roles:

| Role                 | Description                                                                                        |
| -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Student**          | Default course role. Can access content, take exercises, submit assignments.                       |
| **Course assistant** | Has limited management permissions within the course. Can help manage content and moderate forums. |
| **Teacher**          | Full control over the course: manage content, tools, settings, and enrollment.                     |

## Session-Level Roles

Within a session, additional roles exist:

| Role                              | Description                                                                                                        |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Session coach (Session tutor)** | Oversees all courses within a session. Can view tracking across all courses in the session.                        |
| **Course coach**                  | Teaches a specific course within a session. Can manage content and track learners for that course in that session. |

## Assigning Roles

When creating or editing a user account in the administration panel, you select their platform-level role. Course and session roles are assigned when enrolling users in courses or sessions.

## Role Hierarchy

Higher-privileged roles inherit the capabilities of lower-privileged roles:

* An administrator can do everything a teacher can do
* A teacher can do everything a student can do
* Session-level roles (coach) provide additional capabilities only within their assigned session

## Tips

* **Use the principle of least privilege** — Assign users the minimum role they need to perform their tasks
* **Use Sessions Administrators** for delegated management — If you have staff who need to manage training sessions but not the entire platform, give them the Sessions Administrator role instead of full administrator access
* **Use HRM for supervisors** — Human Resources Managers can monitor training progress without having access to modify courses or platform settings