Builder Guide
Menus and User Types
Create a User Type, assemble its menu from shared or independent pages, and publish safely.
The Design workspace follows one deliberate order: User Types → menus → shared pages. A User Type defines an audience's starting page and eligible page routes. Its menu arranges links to those pages. DataRoles and Locations remain separate and decide what data the signed-in person may use on each eligible page.
From User Type creation to publish
- Inside the SaaS, open Design.
- Under User Types, create or select the audience. Give a new type a stable key and a clear display name.
- Choose its dashboard/home page.
- Add pages to the menu with Add existing, Duplicate, or a new blank page.
- Order the menu items, remove anything this audience does not need, and choose Save menu.
- Select a page and choose Edit page. Build it in Puck, using Monaco only for advanced canonical JSON work.
- Preview the presentation, save the draft, validate it, resolve every error and warning, then publish the exact validated draft.
- Sign in as a representative user of that type and test navigation, direct routes, records, fields, locations, and permitted actions.
Add existing or Duplicate?
| Choice | What it creates | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Add existing | Adds the same PageKey to this menu. The page content is shared; publishing an edit updates every User Type that uses that page. | The audiences use the same workflow or layout, even if their authorized data differs. |
| Duplicate | Creates a new independent PageKey with copied starting content. Later edits and publishes are isolated. | An audience genuinely needs a different layout or workflow that should diverge. |
| Blank page | Creates a new independent PageKey and empty starting document. | No existing page is a useful starting point. |
Do not duplicate a page merely to change data access. Reuse the page and assign each person the correct DataRoles and Locations.
Shared pages can appear in several menus
A single page may be a dashboard, appear in multiple User Type menus, or occupy a different menu position for each audience. The Shared pages list shows menu-placement and dashboard-usage counts so you can understand the impact before editing or publishing it.
Direct-route behavior
When the current User Type has a primary menu, the server accepts only its dashboard and pages assigned to that menu. Typing a direct URL for an unassigned page is rejected. This makes User Types an enforced page-route boundary, not merely a hidden link.
Route eligibility is still not data authorization. Assigning a page does not grant a record, field, export, AI retrieval, location, or mutation. Those checks use the signed-in person's DataRoles, Locations, and action-specific permissions each time.
Safe collaboration and publishing
Menu and page saves use version checks. If another editor publishes or changes the menu first, reload and review the current state instead of overwriting it. Unsaved menu changes prevent page publishing. Preview is non-interactive and User Type simulation changes presentation only; it never borrows another audience's data permissions.
See Build and publish SaaS pages for the Puck, Monaco, preview, validation, and revision workflow, and Tenant Data Security for the three independent security dimensions.
Capability review: 2026-09-14. For exact current technical availability, use the generated API Map and first-class module inventory.