Update July 2026: Originally a public beta, this API is now Generally Available after years of stable operation. Because the permission options (API actions) differ slightly between BIM 360 and Forma, the tables in this blog document each.
Folder Permission API allows you to set/edit/remove user/role/company permissions in a given specific folder the same functionalities in UI. Following four(4) endpoints are available:
- Create Permissions POST projects/:project_id/folders/:folder_id/permissions:batch-create
- GET Permissions GET projects/:project_id/folders/:folder_id/permissions
- Update Permissions POST projects/:project_id/folders/:folder_id/permissions:batch-update
- Delete Permissions POST projects/:project_id/folders/:folder_id/permissions:batch-delete
You can use these endpoints to manipulate the permission of one or multiple users/roles/companies.
A couple of points to highlight:
- This API is compatible with BIM360 and Forma.
- It is important to understand how Folder Permissions work in the BIM360 or Forma UI before you use API. Folder permissions can be a combination of multiple settings; it could be defined by inheritance from a parent folder, by a group (company/roles), and by user. For example, a user’s permission in the child folder may override the setting in a parent folder. For more information about product feature, please take a look at BIM 360 Folder Permissions and Forma Folder Permissions.
- The follow lists permission levels in UI and corresponding “actions” in API in BIM360 and Forma respectively. The permission options in UI are slightly different in the two platforms.
BIM 360
| UI | API |
| View Only | VIEW, COLLABORATE |
| View/Download | VIEW, DOWNLOAD, COLLABORATE |
| Upload Only | PUBLISH |
| View/Download+Upload | PUBLISH, VIEW, DOWNLOAD, COLLABORATE |
| View/Download+Upload+Edit | PUBLISH, VIEW, DOWNLOAD, COLLABORATE, EDIT |
| Folder Control | PUBLISH, VIEW, DOWNLOAD, COLLABORATE, EDIT, CONTROL |
Forma
| UI | API |
| View Only | VIEW, COLLABORATE |
| View(View + Download) | VIEW, DOWNLOAD, COLLABORATE |
| Create (View + Download+Publish Markup) | VIEW, DOWNLOAD, COLLABORATE, PUBLISH_MARKUP |
| Create (View + Download+Publish Markup + Upload) | VIEW, DOWNLOAD, COLLABORATE, PUBLISH, PUBLISH_MARKUP |
| Edit( View + Download+Publish Markup + Upload+Edit ) | VIEW, DOWNLOAD, COLLABORATE, PUBLISH, PUBLISH_MARKUP, EDIT |
| Manage | VIEW, DOWNLOAD, COLLABORATE, PUBLISH, PUBLISH_MARKUP, EDIT, CONTROL |
- Permission API can work with Plans folder, Project Files folders and their sub folders. It cannot modify the rootFolder of a project.
- Project Admin will have full control of the folders by default.
- These APIs support 3-legged token and SSA token.
- These APIs introduce terminology subjectId, which corresponds to the unique identifier for user/role/company used in BIM 360/Forma Admin API.
Tutorials:
These tutorials use BIM360 GET projects/users/:id endpoint to get the association role/companies with this user. If Forma, please use Forma Admin API: projects/{projectId}/users.