# Confidentiality & review

> Choose who sees each field, and have each record checked and approved before it reaches customers.

Source: https://www.speclatch.com/guide/confidentiality-review
Plan: Every plan.
Last verified: 2026-11-10

## What to know first

- **Tiers live on fields.** Each field is Public, Internal or Confidential. Every record's value in that field follows the field's tier.
- **Documents carry their own tier.** Each uploaded file and each generated PDF has its own tier.
- **Members have a ceiling.** Each member has a role and a visibility, and sees fields and documents at or below it.
- **Records go through review.** Records start as Draft, move to In review, and become Published when approved.
- **Customers see one slice.** The portal and Public API keys show only Public fields of Published records.

- [Set a field's confidentiality tier](https://www.speclatch.com/guide/confidentiality-review/set-a-field-tier): Choose who sees a field's values in every record, from the Who sees it setting in the field editor.
- [Send a record for review, approve, publish](https://www.speclatch.com/guide/confidentiality-review/review-and-publish): Submit a finished record, then approve it from the review queue or the record page, which publishes it in the same step.
- [What each role can see and do](https://www.speclatch.com/guide/confidentiality-review/roles): The four roles and the visibility setting: who edits, submits, approves, builds the data model and runs the workspace, and which fields each member sees.

## How a record moves

- Draft to In review: **Submit for review** (Admin, Engineering)
- In review to Published: **Approve & publish** (Admin, Marketing)
- In review to Draft: **Reject** (Admin, Marketing)
- Published to Draft: **Return to draft** (Admin, Engineering, Marketing)

Only Draft records accept edits. Approving publishes the record in the same step; there is no separate publish button.

## Who sees which fields

- Public fields: Portal & Public API keys, Member at Internal, Member at Confidential
- Internal fields: Member at Internal, Member at Confidential
- Confidential fields: Member at Confidential

## Where you see it

- **Fields**: the **Visibility** column, and **Who sees it** in each field's editor.
- **Members**: each member's **Role** and **Visibility**.
- The grid and each record page: a colored dot next to every field name marks its tier.
- **Needs review**: records waiting for approval, oldest first.
- The record page header: the status badge and the workflow buttons.

## An example

Take a 1 in flanged ball valve, CF8M, Class 150. Each value follows its field's tier:

- Pressure rating: 275 psi (19.0 bar) (Public)
- Cv: 80 (Public)
- Breakaway torque: 90 in·lb (10.2 N·m) (Internal)
- List price: $375 (Internal)
- Landed unit cost: $96 (Confidential)

A Marketing member with Internal visibility sees the torque and the price, but not the cost. A portal visitor sees the rating and the Cv.

## FAQ

### Who can approve and publish a record?

Members with the Admin or Marketing role. Approving publishes the record in the same step, so there is no separate publish button. Engineering members submit records and can return a Published record to Draft, but cannot approve. Viewer members can only read.

### Can I edit a record after I submit it?

No. Only Draft records can be edited. To change a record that is In review, a reviewer rejects it, which returns it to Draft. To change a Published record, click **Return to draft**, edit it, and submit it again.

### Why is my review queue empty?

**Needs review** lists the records that are In review across every table. A member whose visibility is Public sees only Published records anywhere in the app, so their queue stays empty. Viewer members do not see the queue at all.

### Who sets a member's visibility?

A member with the Admin role sets it on **Members**, next to the role. Visibility is a ceiling: a member at Internal sees Public and Internal fields, and a member at Confidential sees all three. Each API key has the same kind of ceiling, chosen when the key is created.

### Do generated PDFs follow the tiers?

Yes. A spec sheet generated at Public prints only Public fields. You can also generate a sheet at Internal or Confidential, up to your own visibility, and the PDF keeps that tier. A preview of a record that is not yet Published is watermarked and filed as Internal.