netlify-access-control

---
name: netlify-access-control
description: 'Picks the right Netlify site-protection layer and disambiguates the three unrelated "auth" concepts users conflate — app-user login (Netlify Identity), site-load gating (Password Protection / project visibility), and dashboard SAML SSO. Use it when asked to password-protect a site or Deploy Preview, make a project private/public, restrict a site to your team, require SSO to view a site, set up company-wide or internal-app SSO, invite users to a private project, or know which team member made a request to a private site. Also use it for SSO-session symptoms on protected sites: "logged out mid-session", 401s after about an hour, or token expiry/refresh questions. Not for wiring auth code — route app-login setup to netlify-identity.'
---

# Netlify access control — pick the protection layer

This skill routes you to the correct protection layer. It does not teach each one. **These settings have no public API, CLI command, or MCP tool.** Never curl `api.netlify.com` or read local auth tokens to inspect or change them — give the user the dashboard path and checklist. On failure, report what you tried and stop.

## First: disambiguate "auth" — three unrelated layers

Users constantly conflate these. Identify which one is meant before recommending anything.

1. **Netlify Identity** — "who is this user *inside my app*." Issues `nf_jwt`. → route to the **netlify-identity** skill; not covered here.
2. **Password Protection / project visibility** — "can this request load the site at all." Covered here.
3. **Team/Org SAML SSO** — "can you log in to the Netlify *dashboard*." Gates dashboard access; also underlies team-login site protection.

Sessions are separate. The same provider (e.g. Google) can appear twice unrelated — Identity OAuth for app users vs. SAML IdP for team members.

**Double-login footgun:** a Password-Protection/team-login perimeter session and an Identity app session have **no bridge** — no shared cookie, no header forwarding, no JWT exchange. Don't try to wire them together. For the combined layered pattern and its tradeoffs, see `references/two-layer-pattern.md`. The Netlify login itself *does* reach app code: on a private project or with team login protection, functions and edge functions receive the signed-in Netlify user as **`context.user`** — if every app user can pass that login, it is the app's identity and no second login is needed.

**Want an internal app with a single sign-in (no double login)?** First ask who uses it:
- **They can pass the project's Netlify login** → **Private project** (Credit-based plans; Pro for anyone beyond the Team Owner) or **team login protection** (Enterprise), and use `context.user` in functions for per-person behavior.
- **They can't** (e.g. employees without Netlify seats) → **Auth0 extension** federating to the corporate IdP, *before* the two-layer stack.

## Decision guide (this skill's job)

- Restrict entire site to your team, invite by email → **Private project** (Credit-based) or **Team login protection** (Password Protection).
- Share with anyone holding one shared password → **Basic password protection** (Pro) or **Password** visibility (Credit-based Pro only). **Not available on Credit-based Free/Personal** — make the project **Private** instead.
- Keep production public, protect previews only → scope **Previews only** / **Non-production deploys only**.
- Require SSO to *view a site* → Organization/Team SSO with **Only SSO allowed (strict)**, then Password Protection with **Team login protection**.
- Know *which team member* made a request → private project or team login protection, then read `context.user` in functions/edge functions (not documented for basic password protection).
- Protect specific pages/sections with multiple passwords → **Basic authentication with custom HTTP headers** (formerly Selective password protection): https://docs.netlify.com/manage/security/secure-access-to-sites/basic-authentication-with-custom-http-headers/
- Authenticate your own end users → **Netlify Identity** / **OAuth provider tokens** / **Role-based access control with JWT** → route to netlify-identity.
- Block malicious/automated traffic or AI crawlers → **Advanced Web Security** (WAF / Firewall Traffic Rules / rate limiting) or **User Agent Blocker** extension: https://docs.netlify.com/build/build-with-ai/block-ai-crawlers/

## Key distinction: Private vs Password

- **Private** already requires Netlify credentials — no shared password. Invite by email; recommended for team-only access.
- **Password** = one universal shared password anyone can use (including managing team members, who must also enter it). No SSO. Doesn't identify individual visitors.
- **Team login protection** = same mechanism as Private: a visitor must log in as a member of your Netlify team, and **Reviewers** you invite can get in too (unlimited and not counted toward the member count on legacy plans; Pro or higher on Credit-based plans). **Git Contributors cannot log in** — invite them as Reviewers rather than upgrading them to Developer.

## Identify the visitor: `context.user`

With **team login protection** or on a **private project**, functions and edge functions get the signed-in Netlify user as `context.user`. Don't guess its fields — see https://docs.netlify.com/build/functions/api/#user and https://docs.netlify.com/build/edge-functions/api/#user.

## SSO-session symptom: 401s after ~1 hour

If a user reports being "logged out mid-session" or 401s on an SSO-protected site: **SSO auth tokens expire after 1 hour**, after which requests return `401`. Sites with SSO protection return the header **`Netlify-Site-Protection-Expires-In`** — seconds until the request's token expires. Refresh proactively:

```js
// Client-side. Checks the Netlify SSO protection header and reloads before expiry.
const res = await fetch(window.location.href, { method: "HEAD" });
const secondsLeft = Number(res.headers.get("Netlify-Site-Protection-Expires-In"));
// Tokens last 1 hour (3600s). Reload a bit early to avoid a 401.
if (!Number.isNaN(secondsLeft) && secondsLeft < 60) {
  window.location.reload();
}
```

## UI paths (the only path — no API)

**Credit-based plans (Free, Personal, Pro)** — project-level "Password Protection" is replaced by **Project visibility**:
- Per project: Project configuration > General > Visitor access > **Project visibility** — `https://app.netlify.com/projects/{site_name}/configuration/general/#project-visibility`. Edit visibility → (Customize if a team default exists) → **Public** / **Password** (Pro only) / **Private** → set **Preview access** (Production and previews / Previews only) → Save.
- **Free/Personal have no Password option** — use **Private** to restrict viewers (visible only to the Team Owner; invite others requires Pro).
- Team default: Team settings > General > Visitor access > **Default project visibility** — `https://app.netlify.com/teams/{team_name}/settings/general#default-project-visibility`. Options: Private for new projects / Private for all projects / Public for new projects.
- No per-team default *password* here; set a password per project.

**Enterprise / Open Source / legacy (non-Credit-based)** — use **Password Protection** UI:
- Per site: Project configuration > General > Visitor access > **Password Protection** — `https://app.netlify.com/projects/{site_name}/configuration/general#visitor-access`. Configure → Basic or Team login → scope (All deploys / Non-production deploys only) → Save.
- Team default: Team settings > Access & security > Visitor access > **Default Password Protection settings** — `https://app.netlify.com/teams/{team_name}/settings/access#default-site-protection-settings`. Applies to all sites without their own settings.

**Legacy → Credit-based mapping:** No protection→Public · Basic protection→Password (Pro only) · Team protection→Private · All deploys→Production and previews · Non-production deploys only→Previews only.

## Constraints & footguns

- **Site-specific Password Protection overrides team defaults.**
- **Who can change these settings:** project visibility — Organization Owners (on certain Enterprise plans), Team Owners, and Developers with access to that project; **Internal Builders cannot publish to production, so they cannot make a project public**. Password Protection — a Developer changes it per site, a Team Owner sets the team default.
- **Advanced Web Security runs before password/login prompts** — a blocked IP hits an error page before ever seeing the prompt. Internal order: Firewall Traffic Rules → WAF → Rate limiting.
- **Third-party webhooks (Slack, Stripe, etc.) cannot reach a private project** — receiving webhooks requires the project to be **public**.
- **Make public** requires at least one successful **production deploy**.
- **Protecting only non-production deploys** with Password Protection is **Enterprise only**.
- **Plan gating:** Basic password protection for the whole site → all Pro plans; all Password Protection options → Enterprise. **Password protection is not available on Credit-based Free/Personal.** Project visibility (public/private, private-by-default) → Credit-based Free/Personal/Pro only; password-protected visibility → Pro only. On Free/Personal a private project is visible only to the Team Owner (single-seat); Pro allows unlimited members.
- **Team default changes by creation date:** teams created on/after **July 28, 2026** default to **Private for new projects**; earlier teams default to **Public**.
- **Renamed:** "site-wide password protection" (old name of a Password Protection option); "Selective password protection" → Basic authentication with custom HTTP headers.

Reference: https://docs.netlify.com/manage/security/secure-access-to-sites/overview/ · https://docs.netlify.com/manage/security/secure-access-to-sites/password-protection/ · https://docs.netlify.com/manage/security/secure-access-to-sites/project-visibility/

<!-- Advanced Web Security (WAF, Firewall Traffic Rules, rate limiting) specifics — limits, config keys, plan gating — not in source; referenced by URL only. -->
<!-- Exact per-tier matrix of basic vs team-login options (incl. Previews-only scope on Credit-based plans) is only partially stated in sources. -->
<!-- context.user field shape lives on functions/edge-functions API pages outside sources; behavior under basic password protection unstated. -->

<!-- system: agent-context/access-control/system.md — human-owned, merged by ctx-gen; edit system.md, not this section -->
# Netlify house rules (access-control)

These are org conventions, not docs facts — merged into the rendered skill by
ctx-gen and never generated. Owned by the skills maintainer.

1. This is a routing/disambiguation skill: keep it narrow — its job is
   picking the right protection layer, not teaching each one.
2. The combined Password-Protection + Identity pattern lives in this skill's
   `references/two-layer-pattern.md`.
3. "Auth" on Netlify is three unrelated layers users constantly conflate:
   Netlify Identity ("who is this user inside my app" — issues `nf_jwt`),
   Password Protection / project visibility ("can this request load the site
   at all"), and Team/Org SAML SSO ("can you log in to the Netlify
   dashboard"). Sessions are separate; the same provider (Google) can appear
   in two unrelated places — Identity OAuth for app users, SAML IdP for team
   members. Disambiguate before recommending anything.
4. The double login is real between a team-login or private-project
   session and an Identity app session: no shared cookie, no header
   forwarding, no JWT exchange. Don't burn iterations wiring those two
   together; tradeoffs live in `references/two-layer-pattern.md`. The
   Netlify login itself does reach app code: on a private project or with
   team login protection, functions and edge functions receive the
   signed-in Netlify user as `context.user`. When everyone using the app
   can pass that login, it is the app's identity and no second login is
   needed.
5. These settings have no public API, CLI command, or MCP tool. Never curl
   `api.netlify.com` or read local auth tokens to inspect or change them —
   hand the user the dashboard path and checklist; on failure, report what
   you tried and stop.
6. Identity setup, auth code, and OAuth providers for app users belong to the
   netlify-identity skill — route there; this skill only picks the layer.
7. For an internal app with a single sign-in, first ask who uses it. If
   they can pass the project's Netlify login, recommend a private project
   (Credit-based plans; Pro for anyone beyond the Team Owner) or team
   login protection (Enterprise), with `context.user` in functions for
   per-person behavior. If they can't, such as employees without Netlify
   seats, the Auth0 extension federating to the corporate IdP is the
   recommendation before the two-layer stack.
8. The description's triggers must include the SSO-session symptoms users
   actually report — "logged out mid-session", 401s on an SSO-protected
   site, token expiry/refresh — not only setup phrasing. The
   `Netlify-Site-Protection-Expires-In` guidance is unreachable if the
   skill never triggers on the symptom.
9. Team login protection excludes Git Contributors, and the answer to that is
   **Reviewers**, never a Developer seat. Reviewers can open team-login-
   protected deploys: unlimited and not counted toward the member count on
   legacy plans, Pro or higher on Credit-based plans. Every answer about Git
   Contributor access must name the Reviewer path — recommending an upgrade to
   Developer sells a paid seat per person to solve something the product
   already solves for free. Stating the exclusion without the remedy is the
   failure mode this rule exists to prevent; it has happened. Never frame the
   permitted roles as a closed list ("only X, Y and Z get in") — even with the
   Reviewer path added after it, a closed list reads as Reviewers being shut
   out, and agents repeat it. Naming roles is optional; the question is
   usually only about Git Contributors.
10. Say who can change these settings, not only how to change them. Project
   visibility: Organization Owners (on certain Enterprise plans), Team Owners,
   and Developers with access to that project — and Internal Builders cannot
   make a project public, because they cannot publish to production. Password
   Protection: a Developer per site, a Team Owner for the team default. A
   checklist handed to someone without the role is a dead end.