Note: This article applies to both the Scopes and Hierarchical scopes features.
To access all other Scopes and Hierarchical scopes articles, you must be logged in to Hyperproof and open the help from the link in the menu bar or from the question mark in the bottom left corner.
Scopes provide a way to subdivide control responsibilities by team, region, division, or another dimension that reflects how your organization manages compliance work. When a control is assigned to a scope, a scoped instance of that control is created for each assigned scope. Each scoped instance can have its own owner, tasks, proof, labels, and automation, independent of other scopes.
Hyperproof supports two Scopes versions: Scopes and Hierarchical Scopes. The version your organization has depends on when you purchased the Scopes option. If you’re not sure which version you have, see Identifying your version below.
Note: Scopes availability is based on your account plan. Contact your account team for details.
Identifying your version
To find out which version of Scopes your organization has, go to Settings > Scopes.
If your Scopes window has Hierarchy and Custom fields tabs, your organization has Hierarchical Scopes.
If your Scopes window has an Import option, your organization has Scopes.
Comparing Scopes and Hierarchical Scopes
Both versions let you distribute control responsibility across your organization and configure each scoped instance with its own owner, tasks, proof, and automation. The table below summarizes the key differences.
| Scopes | Hierarchical Scopes |
Structure | Flat list. Each scope is independent. | Multi-level tree. Scopes can have parent and child relationships. |
Nesting depth | Not applicable. | Up to 10 levels. |
Health rollup | Each scoped control's health is calculated independently. | Health rolls up from child scopes to parent, using worst-case aggregation. |
Freshness rollup | Each scoped control's freshness is set independently. | Freshness rolls up from child scopes to parent using the earliest expiration date. Parent freshness settings are pushed down to children when changed. |
CSV import | Scope lists can be imported via CSV.
Controls with linked scopes can be imported via CSV. | CSV import is not supported in either scenario. |
Removing a scope | Scopes can be archived and unarchived. | Scopes can be deleted. Deletion cascades to all child scopes and their associated scoped controls. Deletion cannot be undone. |
Availability | Legacy. Available to existing customers. Not available for new accounts. | Current. Available based on account plan. |
Scoped controls
In both versions, linking a scope to a control creates a scoped control for each scope assigned to it. Scoped controls are where teams do the actual compliance work: they define the implementation, attach proof, run tasks, and track status at their level. Each scoped control has a clear owner responsible for that scope’s execution.
Proof and objects on scoped controls roll up to the parent control but are not shared laterally — work completed in one scope does not overwrite or interfere with work in another.
Select the documentation set that matches your organization’s version of Scopes:
Scopes — For organizations using the flat, list-based version of Scopes.
Hierarchical scopes — For organizations using the tree-based version of Scopes with parent-child relationships.