Allow Users to Upload Documents to Admin-Created Vectors

💬 Queries and Resources
1

  1. My goal:
    Allow regular organization users to see and add documents to vectors created by admins, without giving them admin access.

  2. Issue:
    Vectors created by admins are only visible/editable to admins. Regular users see an empty Vectors page, although they can access these vectors through workflows in our chatbot.

  3. Steps I've taken to troubleshoot:

  • Created vectors as an admin with universal access.

  • Confirmed admins can see and edit them.

  • Tested with regular users; the Vectors page is empty.

  • Confirmed regular users can still access the vectors through chatbot workflows.

  1. Additional info:

  • Retool Cloud

  • Using Retool Vectors

2

Summary

On Retool Cloud, Vectors created by an admin (with universal access) are only visible and editable to admins — regular org users see an empty Vectors page even though they can already reach those vectors through chatbot workflows. The goal is to let non-admin users view and add documents to admin-created vectors without granting them admin access.

AI Response

Retool Vectors is a resource, so what a non-admin user can see and edit on the Vectors/Resources page is governed by object (resource) permissions, not by having admin access. Regular users can already query the Retool Vectors resource in workflows (which is why the chatbot works), but the Vectors editor page stays empty until they're granted direct resource access. As of August 2026, Cloud orgs are moving to the rebuilt permission model, where you grant an object role (Use or Edit on the Retool Vectors resource) to the relevant group at /settings/groups without making anyone an admin; note that 'universal' is a property of the role itself, and object roles are an Enterprise capability. Grant Edit-level access on that resource to the non-admin group so they can both see the vectors and add documents to them.

Sources

:bookmark: Understanding the new permission system: How to use it and what changed
Staff explainer on the new permission model (rolling out to Cloud orgs in August 2026) detailing how to grant resource/object access (Use/Edit/Own) to non-admin groups via roles — directly relevant to exposing vectors to regular users.
:bookmark: Manage embeddings in Retool-managed Vectors | Retool Docs
Confirms Vectors are managed as a resource on the Resources landing page and can be listed/added to via the Retool Vectors resource in apps and workflows, explaining why workflow access works while the Vectors page appears empty without direct resource access.

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