Read-only Copilot mode lets downstream consumers (analysts, business users, anyone who shouldn’t modify the schema) use Copilot to ask questions without the ability to propose structural changes. This article explains what read-only mode allows and blocks, how to enable it per user, and recommended patterns for self-service business access.
Feature availability: Read-only Copilot mode is planned for a future release. Until then, the recommended approach is to enable Copilot only for users whose existing SqlDBM role already allows modification. This article describes read-only mode as it will be available at launch.
What read-only Copilot mode allows
A user in read-only Copilot mode can:
- Open the Copilot panel and run prompts.
- Ask any question about the model: explain this table, where is this field used, summarize the project, trace data lineage.
- Generate documentation, descriptions, and summaries that stay inside the Copilot panel (not applied to the schema).
- Export a Copilot response as a document for their own use.
A user in read-only Copilot mode cannot:
- Trigger any action that would propose a schema change.
- Run reverse engineering to create new tables.
- Run bulk governance prompts that would modify objects.
- Accept any proposal that would land a change in the model.
Attempts to run change-triggering prompts return a polite message: “This prompt would modify the schema, which requires edit permissions. Try asking about the existing model instead.”
Why this mode exists
During the beta, Copilot was typically enabled for users who already had edit rights. That works for modeling teams, but it leaves a gap: analysts, product managers, and business users (the people most likely to benefit from asking questions of the model in plain English) are usually read-only in the platform. Turning Copilot on for them risked them running change-triggering prompts that they couldn’t commit, which was confusing and unhelpful.
Read-only Copilot mode closes that gap. It’s designed specifically for users whose primary value from Copilot is asking questions, not building models.
Enabling read-only mode
Account administrators and alternative administrators can enable read-only mode per user:
- Open Account Settings from the top-right user menu.
- Navigate to Users and Permissions.
- Locate the AI Copilot column in the user list.
- For each user who should have read-only Copilot access, select Read-Only from the dropdown next to their name (alternatives are Off and Full).
- Save.
Recommended patterns
Pattern 1: open Copilot broadly in read-only mode. If your team is trying to increase engagement with the data model across the organization, turn on read-only Copilot for every consumer user. The marginal cost is low, and the self-service benefit is real.
Pattern 2: gradual rollout. Enable for a pilot group of consumers first. See what questions they ask. If the questions reveal a data governance documentation gap, fill that gap in SqlDBM pages (which Copilot reads) before expanding.
Pattern 3: consumer-focused pre-prompts. Consider adding a consumer-oriented pre-prompt: “Responses should be written in plain English for non-technical users. Avoid SQL jargon unless the user explicitly asks for it.” Combine with the Copilot role setting “Consumer” for the strongest non-technical response tone.
What consumers typically ask
Based on teams that have tested consumer access:
- “How is customer lifetime value calculated in this model?”
- “What does the column ‘active_status’ actually mean?”
- “Are there any tables that track revenue by region?”
- “Who should I ask about changes to this schema?”
Monitoring read-only consumer usage
Read-only consumers typically consume much less than full-access users, but they can add up. Review usage periodically in the AI Copilot usage dashboard. If consumer usage is significant, per-user daily credit limits (see the separate article) let you cap individual consumers without disabling access.
Related articles
- Getting started with Copilot
- Talk to your model
- Enabling Copilot for your account and users
- Per-user daily credit limits