Difference between Role and Contact
Overview
MaiAgent offers two permission configuration methods:Contact-based and Role-based, supporting enterprises to precisely control Knowledge access rights in different scenarios.
Contact
The storage that syncs user information with MaiAgent will create a Contact ID to determine user conversation information.
Role
A role that has permission to edit the AI backend, which can be predefined within the enterprise, e.g.: customer service staff, administrative staff, interns, etc. Within the organization you can predefine the permissions and reference knowledge bases available to a role, and members can select a role to directly apply the settings as needed.
1. Comparison of permission methods
🎯 Applicable scenarios
External users, system integrations
Internal users, organization management
👤 Register MaiAgent
❌ No registration required
✅ Registration required to join the organization
📋 Creation method
Automatically created by the system or manually created
Predefined role templates
🔄 Update mechanism
Dynamically sync user information
Static role permission settings
🎯 Purpose of use
Determine user conversation information
Apply default permission settings to manage backend permissions for the AI assistant
👥 Applicable subjects
External visitors, members
Internal employees, organization members
⚙️ Management method
Managed via API integration
Managed via backend role management
📊 Permission control
Dynamically controlled based on Contact ID
Statically controlled based on Role
Typical application scenarios
Contact-based scenario: suitable for use cases that require clear role division and permission definitions
Corporate website：Visitors receive different product information based on identity
Member center：Access corresponding service content based on tier
Customer service center：Provide differentiated support based on customer type
Role-based scenario
Internal operations：Employees handle tasks according to departmental roles
Customer service team：Query knowledge base according to scope of responsibilities
Management level：Perform content review and maintenance according to permissions
Combined usage strategy
External business (where knowing the user identity explicitly is not required) is suitable to use Contact-based management
Internal business (where clear permission division is required / multiple members can use the same permission) is suitable to use Role-based management
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