Who can check out assets?
Two things decide it, and both must pass: your plan, and your role.
The plan
Asset Check-Out is available on Orbit, Odyssey, and Cosmos.
It is not available on Nova. The checkout controls appear with an upgrade prompt rather than disappearing, so you can see what the plan unlocks.
The roles
| Role | View checkouts | Check out | Check in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Admin | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Manager | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Employee | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Viewer | Yes | No | No |
Employees can check items out and in — that is deliberate. The people doing the work are usually the people taking equipment out, and requiring a manager for every tool loan would mean the record stops being kept.
Viewers are read-only. They can see custody records but cannot change them.
Checkout sessions
The same roles that can check out and check in can also create and return checkout sessions.
Capabilities are not permissions
These are independent axes.
| Question | Decided by | |
|---|---|---|
| Permission | Is this person allowed to? | Their role |
| Capability | Is this organization's plan allowed to? | The plan |
A Viewer on Cosmos still cannot check an asset out. An Owner on Nova still cannot use check-out at all.
Who assets can be checked out to
Checkouts are made to People, not to login accounts.
That means you can check an asset out to a contractor who has never signed in — no seat is used. It also means archived people cannot borrow, which is what makes archiving a leaver safe.
Troubleshooting
The Check Out button is missing. Either your plan does not include check-out (Nova), or you are a Viewer.
I'm on Orbit and still can't check out. Check your role. Viewers cannot.
The person I want isn't selectable. They are archived, or they do not exist as a Person yet. See How to manage people.
I can see checkouts but the buttons are disabled. That is the Viewer role behaving correctly.
I upgraded and check-out is still locked. Plan is re-read on every request, so an upgrade applies immediately. Reload the page, then confirm the payment completed at Settings → Billing.
Everything is locked and my subscription lapsed. An expired subscription blocks creating new records — including checkouts — while leaving existing data readable.
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