What permissions/user group is required in order to create tags?

Short version: tag access is gated by trust level (or staff) — not by any custom group/category permission (tags aren't per-group configurable yet in this version, v1.2026.003). Two separate thresholds:

1. Assigning / adding tags to posts — minimum Full Member (trust level 3).
POST /-/update-tags checks isStaff || effectiveTrustLevel ≥ FullMember — TagsController.scala:169, error TyETAGPERMS83 "Only full members can add and edit tags."

2. Creating new tag types (defining a new tag / badge) — minimum Core Member (trust level 6), or staff (moderator / admin).
POST /-/upsert-type checks isStaff || effectiveTrustLevel ≥ CoreMember — TagsController.scala:64, error TyETYPEPERMS39 "Only moderators and core members can edit tag and badge types."

Both also require being a signed-in member (guests can't tag).

For what you want — one user who can both create tags and assign them — make them a Core Member: trust level 6 is the binding requirement (it covers tag-type creation, and since 6 ≥ 3 it covers assigning too). Making them a moderator/admin also works, as a superset.

How to grant it without waiting for them to earn it: an admin can lock their trust level. Admin Area → the user → set Trust level → Core Member. Talkyard uses effectiveTrustLevel = lockedTrustLevel ?? earnedTrustLevel, so a locked Core Member level applies immediately. (The built-in "Full Members" / "Core Members" groups are derived from trust level — you don't add people to them directly; the trust level is the lever.)

Heads-up: these thresholds are hardcoded in this version — the source carries [tag_perms] "make configurable later / more granular access control" TODOs, so there's no per-category or per-tag permission knob yet. Trust level (or staff) is the only control today.

(v1.2026.003, commit f220a7d9f; trust-level ints: Full Member = 3, Core Member = 6.)