# Coolify 4.6 makes API and MCP access resource-scoped — and breaks write-only deletion Coolify 4.6.0 introduces project- and resource-level access grants for people and automation tokens, separates destructive API/MCP actions from ordinary writes, and adds new DNS and secret-management tools. The self-hosted deployment platform's November 2 release changes how teams delegate infrastructure control. Existing integrations using write-only tokens for deletions may fail until explicitly reauthorised. - Status: Active - Published: 2026-11-03T06:36:27+13:00 - Updated: 2026-11-03T06:36:27+13:00 - Categories: Web Development, Cloud & Infrastructure, Deployment & DevOps, Developer Tools - Tags: access control, API security, Coolify, Model Context Protocol, self-hosting - Canonical HTML: https://beyondthe.news/dossiers/coolify-4-6-resource-scoped-api-mcp-delete-permission ## What changed Coolify released stable v4.6.0 on November 2, 2026 (UTC). It adds resource-scoped permissions for team members and API tokens, with read, read sensitive, deploy, write, delete and root levels. Grants can be restricted to selected projects, environments or individual resources; token permissions cannot exceed the owner's. Breaking change: delete operations through REST API and MCP now require the new delete ability or root, not write alone. The release also adds MCP/API management of Cloudflare DNS records, integration tokens and secret managers, changes instance update channels and hardens GitHub Actions, secret responses and Reverb routing. ## Why it matters Coolify is a privileged control plane for servers and deployed workloads. Previously, broad write access exposed a large destructive surface to CI jobs and AI agents. Scoped grants can reduce the blast radius of a leaked or misused token, while the new delete requirement may intentionally break existing automations. Operators must audit tokens and workflows rather than assuming that a successful upgrade preserves every API permission. ## Access can now follow the resource rather than the whole team Administrators can grant viewer, developer, operator or full presets, or configure granular access to projects, environments and resources. Limited users and tokens should see only their permitted inventories, deployments and search results. Revoking a user's access also invalidates dependent tokens. The hierarchy adds explicit delete and root privileges beyond read, read sensitive, deploy and write. ## Existing deletion workflows need a permission audit A write-only token can no longer delete resources, environment variables, storage, backups, scheduled tasks or tags through the API or MCP. Operators should identify integrations that intentionally delete and grant delete only where necessary. Do not solve the upgrade by distributing root tokens indiscriminately. Documentation pages may lag the release: several current API references still describe write-based deletion, so use the tagged v4.6.0 release notes as the version-specific authority. ## AI agents get more infrastructure actions, with higher stakes New MCP tools can manage DNS, integration tokens, Cloudflare tunnels and secret-manager associations. Secret-manager APIs list key names but do not return secret values, according to the release notes. These capabilities make agent workflows more useful but expand the set of actions that warrant explicit approvals, scoped tokens and audit review. ## Release and supply-chain operations change Stable, preview and nightly channels are selectable. CI workflows pin actions to full commit SHAs and a lockfile including repository identity; release credentials are separated by environment. The build process now uses zstd-compressed image layers and requires a compatible Docker Engine. The release removes Windows Docker Desktop support and some moving image tags, so operators relying on old deployment assumptions should review the full changelog. ## Key details - Coolify v4.6.0 published November 2, 2026 UTC as a stable, non-prerelease tag. - Member and token grants can be scoped to individual projects, environments and resources. - New delete ability or root is required for destructive REST API and MCP calls; write alone no longer suffices. - Token permissions never exceed the owner's scope and expire with revoked membership. - New MCP tools manage DNS, integration tokens, Cloudflare tunnels and secret-manager associations. - Release includes GitHub Actions lockfile/pinning, secret-response redaction and tighter Reverb routing. - Update channels now include stable, preview and nightly; Windows Docker Desktop support was removed. - Published documentation may not yet reflect the v4.6.0 delete-permission change. ## Builder takeaways - Inventory API/MCP tokens and compare their permissions against actual deployment, configuration and deletion operations before upgrading. - Create separate least-privilege tokens per environment and resource; avoid root tokens for ordinary agent workflows. - Re-test delete endpoints and MCP tools after upgrading, especially CI cleanup jobs and automated backups. - Check DNS and secret-manager MCP tools against your approval policy and audit logs before allowing autonomous changes. - Review Docker Engine, image-tag and release-channel compatibility for self-hosted installations. ## What to watch - Corrections to API/MCP documentation and generated endpoint schemas for the new delete ability. - Post-upgrade permission regressions and reports of over-broad access or hidden resources. - Security advisories related to the new DNS and secret-management endpoints. - Production stability of preview/nightly release channels and update migrations. ## Uncertainties - The detailed security fixes are release-author claims; no independent penetration test of the new access-control model was found. - The scope and behaviour of every third-party integration after upgrade cannot be established from release notes alone. - Current documentation pages describe older token permissions in places; version-specific 4.6 behaviour needs live testing. ## Sources - [Coolify v4.6.0 release notes](https://github.com/coollabsio/coolify/releases/tag/v4.6.0) — Coolify · primary · 2026-11-02T00:00:00+13:00. Authoritative tagged release; scoped access, delete breaking change, MCP additions, security hardening and migration notes. - [Coolify API permissions documentation](https://coolify.io/docs/api/permissions) — Coolify · primary documentation · 2026-11-03T00:00:00+13:00. Live API role and token model; some deletion language appears older than 4.6 release notes. - [Coolify MCP security](https://coolify.io/docs/mcp/security) — Coolify · primary documentation · 2026-11-03T00:00:00+13:00. Agent access risks, least-privilege recommendations and token handling; current docs may lag release. - [Coolify 4.5.3 release notes](https://github.com/coollabsio/coolify/releases/tag/v4.5.3) — Coolify · primary · 2026-10-28T00:00:00+13:00. Previous release baseline distinguishes 4.6's new scoped-access and deletion model from 4.5 fixes.