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Role assignments in Microsoft Discovery

Microsoft Discovery uses Azure role-based access control permissions to control who can access resources and what actions they can perform. This article explains the three built-in Microsoft Discovery roles, the other Azure roles commonly required alongside them, and how to assign roles using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or Azure PowerShell.

Understanding role assignments

A role assignment is the mechanism by which access is granted or revoked in Azure. Each assignment binds a security principal (user, group, or service principal) to a role definition at a particular scope (subscription, resource group, or resource).

Example: "User Sarah Johnson has the Microsoft Discovery Platform Contributor (Preview) role assigned on the resource group contoso-discovery-rg."

In that example:

Component Value
Principal Sarah Johnson (user)
Role Microsoft Discovery Platform Contributor (Preview)
Scope Resource group contoso-discovery-rg

For background on Azure RBAC concepts, see Azure role-based access control documentation.

Built-in Microsoft Discovery roles

Microsoft Discovery provides four built-in roles. Three are designed around research personas; one is a specialized role for agent-knowledgebase integration scenarios. They're listed here in order of decreasing permissions.

Microsoft Discovery Platform Administrator (Preview)

Role definition ID: 7a2b6e6c-472e-4b39-8878-a26eb63d75c6

Target persona: Platform admins (IT administrators, DevOps engineers)

Platform admins manage the infrastructure that scientists and engineers depend on. They're familiar with Azure, prioritize security and governance, and are responsible for creating the core resources that other users need to work with Microsoft Discovery.

Assignable scopes: Subscription, resource group

Primary interfaces: Azure portal, Microsoft Discovery Studio, REST APIs, CLIs, and SDKs

Description: Grants full access to manage all Microsoft.Discovery resources, including both control plane and data plane operations.

Key capabilities:

  • Full administrative access to all Microsoft Discovery resources
  • Create, update, and delete workspaces, supercomputers, storage containers, and node pools
  • Complete control over project lifecycle management
  • Manage tools, models, agents, workflows, investigations, and bookshelves
  • Full access to data containers and data assets
  • Configure platform settings and manage access controls

Note

Assigning any of the Microsoft Discovery built-in roles requires the Owner, User Access Administrator, or Role Based Access Control Administrator role at the target scope. The Microsoft Discovery Platform Administrator (Preview) role doesn't grant the ability to assign the Microsoft Discovery built-in roles to other users or groups.

Permissions:

Permission Purpose
Microsoft.Discovery/locations/operationStatuses/read Fetch the status of ongoing API operations
Microsoft.Discovery/checkNameAvailability/action Verify workspace name uniqueness during creation
Microsoft.Discovery/* Read, write, and delete access to all Microsoft Discovery resource types
Microsoft.Authorization/*/read Check assigned permissions for each resource
Microsoft.Insights/alertRules/* Read and modify alert rules on resources
Microsoft.Resources/deployments/* Fetch deployment status of resources in the resource group
Microsoft.Resources/subscriptions/resourceGroups/read Read resources within a resource group
Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/subnets/read Read subnet configuration used during supercomputer deployment
Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/read Read virtual network configuration during supercomputer deployment
Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/subnets/join/action Linked access check for supercomputer node pool subnet references
Microsoft.Support/* Raise support tickets for the subscription
Microsoft.Authorization/roleAssignments/write Assign supporting infrastructure roles to service principals such as managed identities during resource provisioning
Microsoft.Authorization/roleAssignments/delete Revoke those supporting role assignments when required

Data actions: Microsoft.Discovery/*

Microsoft Discovery Platform Contributor (Preview)

Role definition ID: 01288891-85ee-45a7-b367-9db3b752fc65

Target persona: Scientists and researchers (computational scientists, domain experts, research teams)

Contributors are end users of the platform: trained scientists and researchers working at commercial enterprises who are domain experts in science verticals such as chemistry, physics, or biology. They work across multiple early-stage R&D projects and are not comfortable with Azure administration or high-performance computing setup.

Assignable scopes: Subscription, resource group

Primary interface: Microsoft Discovery Studio

Description: Grants permissions to view and operate on most Discovery platform resources—including workspaces, supercomputers, storages, agents, bookshelves, data containers, models, tools, workflows, and investigations—and to perform data plane actions. Doesn't allow creating, updating, or deleting core infrastructure resources such as workspaces, supercomputers, storages, bookshelves, node pools, or projects. This role is in preview and subject to change.

Key capabilities:

  • Create, modify, and manage investigations, tools, models, agents, and workflows
  • Full control over data containers and data assets
  • Read access to workspaces, supercomputers, storages, bookshelves, and node pools
  • Share and collaborate on research through conversations and shared investigations

Key limitations:

  • Can't create, update, or delete workspaces, supercomputers, storages, bookshelves, node pools, or projects
  • Can't manage platform configuration or assign roles to other users

Permissions:

Permission Purpose
Microsoft.Discovery/locations/operationStatuses/read Fetch the status of ongoing API operations
Microsoft.Discovery/operations/read Fetch operations and their details
Microsoft.Discovery/workspaces/read Read workspace details
Microsoft.Discovery/supercomputers/read Read supercomputer details
Microsoft.Discovery/storages/read Read discovery storage details
Microsoft.Discovery/agents/* Read, write, and delete agents
Microsoft.Discovery/bookshelves/read Read bookshelf details
Microsoft.Discovery/dataContainers/* Read, write, and delete data containers; for backward compatibility with v1
Microsoft.Discovery/dataContainers/dataAssets/* Read, write, and delete data assets within data containers; This is for backward compatibility with v1
Microsoft.Discovery/storageContainers/* Read, write, and delete storage containers
Microsoft.Discovery/storageContainers/storageAssets/* Read, write, and delete storage assets within storage containers
Microsoft.Discovery/models/* Read, write, and delete models; for backward compatibility with v1
Microsoft.Discovery/supercomputers/nodePools/read Read node pools within supercomputers
Microsoft.Discovery/tools/* Read, write, and delete tools
Microsoft.Discovery/workflows/* Read, write, and delete workflows; for backward compatibility with v1
Microsoft.Discovery/workspaces/projects/read Read project details
Microsoft.Insights/alertRules/* Read and modify alert rules on resources
Microsoft.Authorization/*/read Read role assignments for a resource
Microsoft.Resources/deployments/* Fetch resource deployment details, including status
Microsoft.Resources/subscriptions/resourceGroups/read Read resource groups within the scope
Microsoft.Support/* Create support tickets when assistance is required

Not actions (explicitly denied):

Not action Description
Microsoft.Discovery/workspaces/write Can't create or update workspaces
Microsoft.Discovery/workspaces/delete Can't delete workspaces
Microsoft.Discovery/supercomputers/write Can't create or update supercomputers
Microsoft.Discovery/supercomputers/delete Can't delete supercomputers
Microsoft.Discovery/storages/write Can't create or update storages
Microsoft.Discovery/storages/delete Can't delete storages
Microsoft.Discovery/bookshelves/write Can't create or update bookshelves
Microsoft.Discovery/bookshelves/delete Can't delete bookshelves
Microsoft.Discovery/supercomputers/nodePools/write Can't create or update node pools
Microsoft.Discovery/supercomputers/nodePools/delete Can't delete node pools
Microsoft.Discovery/workspaces/projects/write Can't create or update projects
Microsoft.Discovery/workspaces/projects/delete Can't delete projects

Data actions: Microsoft.Discovery/*

Microsoft Discovery Platform Reader (Preview)

Role definition ID: 3bb7c424-af4e-436b-bfcc-8779c8934c31

Target persona: Observers and reviewers (guest users, internal teams, partners)

Readers have limited privileges to view and review information. They can't create or update resources and can't perform any computational work on the platform.

Assignable scopes: Subscription, resource group

Primary interface: Microsoft Discovery Studio (read-only)

Description: Grants read-only permissions to view all Microsoft.Discovery resources for both control plane and data plane operations. This role is in preview and subject to change.

Key capabilities:

  • Read-only access to all resources, including workspaces, projects, investigations, and research outputs
  • Monitor research activities, workflow executions, and results
  • Read access to bookshelves, conversations, and shared research data
  • View tools, models, agents, and workflow configurations

Key limitations:

  • Can't create, update, or delete any resources
  • Can't run workflows, start investigations, or perform computational work
  • Can't upload or modify data containers or data assets

Permissions:

Permission Purpose
Microsoft.Discovery/*/read List and view all Microsoft Discovery resource types
Microsoft.Resources/deployments/read List and view deployments of resources within the scope
Microsoft.Resources/subscriptions/resourceGroups/read Read resource group details within the scope

Data actions: Microsoft.Discovery/*/read

Microsoft Discovery Bookshelf Index Data Reader (Preview)

Target persona: AI developers other than the owner who created the Knowledge base

Assignable scopes: Subscription, resource group, resource

Primary interface: REST APIs, SDKs

Description: Grants query access to search and retrieve data from Microsoft Discovery Bookshelf knowledge bases.

Key capabilities:

  • Retrieving data from Microsoft Discovery Bookshelf knowledge base versions using Discovery Agents
  • Minimum required access for agents to query linked knowledge bases

Key limitations:

  • Can't create, update, or delete any resources
  • Can't perform any control plane or other data plane operations
  • No data action permissions; access is limited to the single search action

Permissions:

Permission Purpose
Microsoft.Discovery/bookshelf/knowledgeBaseVersions/search Search and retrieve data from Bookshelf knowledge base versions

Data actions: None

Discovery NSP Perimeter Joiner (custom role)

Target persona: Microsoft Discovery first-party service principal (Discovery control-plane service App, app ID 92c174ac-8e41-4815-a1b7-d81b19ab03ce) — not a human user.

Assignable scopes: Subscription

Primary interface: Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, Azure portal (created by a subscription Owner during initial setup)

Description: A customer-created custom role that grants the Microsoft Discovery control plane the minimum permissions it needs to associate (join) managed PaaS resources to the workspace's Network Security Perimeter (NSP) when provisioning network-hardened workspaces, supercomputers, and bookshelves. The NSP itself, and its access-rule profiles, are created by the Discovery service in the workspace's managed resource group; this role only authorizes the resource-association step. Network hardening is enabled by default for all new Discovery resources, so this role assignment is a one-time setup step per subscription.

Key capabilities:

  • Joins managed PaaS resources (Azure OpenAI, Cosmos DB, Key Vault, Storage, Azure AI Search) to the Discovery-managed NSP at deployment time (creates the resourceAssociations entry on the NSP)
  • Reads NSP operation status to track association progress

Key limitations:

  • Can't create, modify, or delete the NSP resource itself, its profiles, or its access rules
  • Can't create, modify, or delete resourceAssociations outside the join action (no broad write/delete on the NSP)
  • Can't read or modify any other Azure resource
  • Doesn't grant any data plane access

Permissions:

Permission Purpose
Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityPerimeters/joinPerimeterRule/action Join managed resources to a Network Security Perimeter
Microsoft.Network/locations/networkSecurityPerimeterOperationStatuses/read Read the status of NSP operations

Data actions: None

Important

This role isn't a built-in Azure role — you create it once per subscription. Workspace, supercomputer, and bookshelf creation fail with NSP association errors if this role isn't assigned to the Discovery control-plane service App service principal before the first deployment. For full instructions, see Assign the NSP Perimeter Joiner role.

Roles required by persona

The following table summarizes the recommended role combinations for each user persona. Roles can be assigned at the subscription or resource group scope. You can add more roles as your requirements grow.

Tip

Start with least-privilege roles scoped to the narrowest scope needed, and expand permissions only as required.

Platform administrator Scientist / researcher Reader / viewer
Microsoft Discovery Platform Administrator (Preview) Microsoft Discovery Platform Contributor (Preview) Microsoft Discovery Platform Reader (Preview)
Managed Identity Contributor Storage Account Contributor Reader
Managed Identity Operator Storage Blob Data Contributor
Storage Account Contributor AcrPush
Storage Blob Data Contributor Reader (subscription level)
Network Contributor Foundry User (Workspace MRG level)
AcrPush Microsoft Discovery Bookshelf Index Data Reader (Preview)
Reader
Foundry Owner (Workspace MRG level)
Microsoft Discovery Bookshelf Index Data Reader (Preview)

Other Azure roles definition

Some workflows require Azure built-in roles beyond the Microsoft Discovery roles. The following table lists the most common ones.

Role Scenario Recommended scope
Managed Identity Contributor Create, read, update, and delete User Assigned Managed Identity (UAMI) resources Subscription, resource group
Managed Identity Operator Assign roles to managed identity resources Subscription, resource group, resource
Storage Account Contributor Create, read, update, and delete Azure Storage account resources including blob containers Subscription, resource group
Storage Blob Data Contributor Upload, manage, and delete files within Azure Blob Storage containers Subscription, resource group, resource
Network Contributor Create, read, update, and delete virtual network resources Subscription, resource group
AcrPush Upload tool or model images to Azure Container Registry Subscription, resource group, resource
Reader Read API operation status for deployments Subscription

Who can assign Microsoft Discovery roles

To assign Microsoft Discovery roles, you need one of the following Azure RBAC permissions at the target scope:

Role Description
Owner Can assign any Microsoft Discovery role at subscription, resource group, or resource level. Recommended for initial platform setup.
User Access Administrator Designed for managing user access without requiring full resource management permissions. Ideal for dedicated identity and access management teams.
Role Based Access Control Administrator Can assign any Microsoft Discovery role at the scopes where it's granted, without the broader access management permissions of User Access Administrator.
Microsoft Discovery Platform Administrator (Preview) Can't assign the Microsoft Discovery built-in roles. To assign Discovery roles, use one of the roles above.

Understanding assignment scopes

Microsoft Discovery roles can be assigned at two scope levels:

Subscription scope

  • Grants access to all Microsoft Discovery resources within the subscription.
  • Best suited for platform administrators who need broad access.
  • Use sparingly and only for trusted administrators.

Resource group scope

  • Grants access to all Microsoft Discovery resources within a specific resource group.
  • Well suited for team-based access where multiple workspaces exist in the same resource group.
  • Recommended: Assign roles after the resource group containing Discovery resources is created to avoid inheritance gaps.

Assign roles

Azure portal

  1. Navigate to the appropriate scope (subscription, resource group, or resource).
  2. Select Access control (IAM) from the left menu.
  3. Select Add > Add role assignment.
  4. On the Role tab, search for the Microsoft Discovery role you want to assign and select it.
  5. Select Next.
  6. On the Members tab, ensure Assign access to is set to User, group, or service principal.
  7. Select + Select members, choose the principals, and select Next.
  8. Review the assignment and select Review + assign.

Important

Ensure that workspaces and resource groups are fully provisioned before assigning workspace-scoped or resource group-scoped roles to avoid access gaps.

Azure CLI

# Assign Platform Administrator role to a user at subscription scope
az role assignment create \
  --assignee user@contoso.com \
  --role "Microsoft Discovery Platform Administrator (Preview)" \
  --scope "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}"

# Assign Platform Contributor role to a user at resource group scope
az role assignment create \
  --assignee user@contoso.com \
  --role "Microsoft Discovery Platform Contributor (Preview)" \
  --scope "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/{rg-name}"

# Assign Platform Reader role to a group at resource group scope
az role assignment create \
  --assignee-object-id {group-object-id} \
  --role "Microsoft Discovery Platform Reader (Preview)" \
  --scope "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/{rg-name}"

# Assign Bookshelf Index Data Reader role to a managed identity at resource group scope
az role assignment create \
  --assignee {managed-identity-object-id} \
  --role "Microsoft Discovery Bookshelf Index Data Reader (Preview)" \
  --scope "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/{rg-name}"

Azure PowerShell

# Assign Platform Administrator role to a group at resource group scope
New-AzRoleAssignment `
  -ObjectId {group-object-id} `
  -RoleDefinitionName "Microsoft Discovery Platform Administrator (Preview)" `
  -Scope "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/{rg-name}"

# Assign Platform Contributor role to a user at resource group scope
New-AzRoleAssignment `
  -SignInName user@contoso.com `
  -RoleDefinitionName "Microsoft Discovery Platform Contributor (Preview)" `
  -Scope "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/{rg-name}"

# Assign Platform Reader role to a user at subscription scope
New-AzRoleAssignment `
  -SignInName user@contoso.com `
  -RoleDefinitionName "Microsoft Discovery Platform Reader (Preview)" `
  -Scope "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}"

# Assign Bookshelf Index Data Reader role to a managed identity at resource group scope
New-AzRoleAssignment `
  -ObjectId {managed-identity-object-id} `
  -RoleDefinitionName "Microsoft Discovery Bookshelf Index Data Reader (Preview)" `
  -Scope "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/{rg-name}"

Assign all persona roles in one step

If you need to grant the full set of roles required by the Platform Administrator or Scientist persona to one or more users, you can do this in a single, idempotent command using the open-source Set-DiscoveryRoleAssignments.ps1 script published in the microsoft/discovery repository.

The script validates the executor's permissions, supports both subscription and resource group scope, handles guest users, and prints a clear three-section summary (Assigned / Failed / Skipped). For step-by-step instructions, see Assign Microsoft Discovery persona roles with a PowerShell script.

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