diff --git a/internal/cmd/auth_createapitokens.go b/internal/cmd/auth_createapitokens.go
index 9189e994..ed7bc0af 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/auth_createapitokens.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/auth_createapitokens.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ func init() {
 	apiTokensCmd.AddCommand(createApiTokensCmd)
 	createApiTokensCmd.Flags().StringVar(&mintOrgFlag, "org", "", "Organization to restrict the token to (defaults to the selected organization).")
 	createApiTokensCmd.Flags().StringVar(&mintGroupFlag, "group", "", "Group inside --org to restrict the token to. Implies --org and requires at least one scope.")
-	createApiTokensCmd.Flags().StringArrayVar(&mintScopeFlags, "scope", nil, "Permission scope to grant to a group-scoped token. May be repeated. Allowed values: "+scopeFlagListing()+".")
+	createApiTokensCmd.Flags().StringArrayVar(&mintScopeFlags, "scope", nil, "Permission scope to grant to the token. May be repeated. Allowed values: "+scopeFlagListing()+".")
 	createApiTokensCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&mintReadOnlyFlag, "read-only", false, "Shorthand for --scope read.")
 	createApiTokensCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&mintFullAccessFlag, "full-access", false, "Shorthand for granting every scope. Use with care; equivalent to a deployer that can create, delete, configure, mint and rotate.")
 }
@@ -33,8 +33,11 @@ var createApiTokensCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		"API tokens are revocable non-expiring tokens that authenticate holders as the user who minted them.\n" +
 		"They can be used to implement automations with the " + internal.Emph("turso") + " CLI or the platform API.\n" +
 		"\n" +
-		"With --group, the token is restricted to a single group inside the organization and to the\n" +
-		"set of scopes you pass via --scope (or the --read-only / --full-access shorthands).",
+		"With --scope (or the --read-only / --full-access shorthands), the token is restricted to that set\n" +
+		"of scopes. Without --group it covers every group in the organization, but never organization\n" +
+		"management (members, billing changes, minting tokens).\n" +
+		"\n" +
+		"With --group, the token is restricted to a single group inside the organization and requires scopes.",
 	Args: cobra.ExactArgs(1),
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		cmd.SilenceUsage = true
@@ -58,8 +61,11 @@ var createApiTokensCmd = &cobra.Command{
 			if len(scopes) == 0 {
 				return fmt.Errorf("--group requires at least one scope (use --scope, --read-only, or --full-access)")
 			}
-		} else if len(scopes) > 0 {
-			return fmt.Errorf("--scope / --read-only / --full-access are only meaningful with --group")
+			for _, s := range scopes {
+				if turso.IsOrgLevelScope(s) {
+					return fmt.Errorf("scope %s is only valid without --group", internal.Emph(s))
+				}
+			}
 		}
 
 		if mintOrgFlag != "" {
@@ -157,9 +163,12 @@ func validateGroupExists(client *turso.Client, orgSlug, groupName string) error
 }
 
 func scopeFlagListing() string {
-	parts := make([]string, 0, len(turso.AllScopes))
+	parts := make([]string, 0, len(turso.AllScopes)+len(turso.OrgLevelScopes))
 	for _, s := range turso.AllScopes {
 		parts = append(parts, string(s))
 	}
+	for _, s := range turso.OrgLevelScopes {
+		parts = append(parts, string(s)+" (without --group only)")
+	}
 	return strings.Join(parts, ", ")
 }
diff --git a/internal/cmd/auth_createapitokens_test.go b/internal/cmd/auth_createapitokens_test.go
index 0ad37041..e31d5866 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/auth_createapitokens_test.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/auth_createapitokens_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package cmd
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"testing"
@@ -31,12 +32,15 @@ func TestMintApiTokenOrganization(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for _, tc := range []struct {
 		name, flag, want string
+		readOnly         bool
 	}{
-		{"selected organization", "", "selected-org"},
-		{"explicit organization", "other-org", "other-org"},
+		{"selected organization", "", "selected-org", false},
+		{"explicit organization", "other-org", "other-org", false},
+		{"read-only organization", "other-org", "other-org", true},
 	} {
 		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			mintOrgFlag = tc.flag
+			mintReadOnlyFlag = tc.readOnly
 			server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 				switch r.URL.Path {
 				case "/v1/auth/validate":
@@ -50,8 +54,12 @@ func TestMintApiTokenOrganization(t *testing.T) {
 					var body map[string]any
 					if err := json.NewDecoder(r.Body).Decode(&body); err != nil {
 						t.Errorf("missing or invalid request body: %v", err)
-					} else if len(body) != 1 || body["organization"] != tc.want {
-						t.Errorf("request body = %v, want only organization %q", body, tc.want)
+					} else if body["organization"] != tc.want {
+						t.Errorf("request body = %v, want organization %q", body, tc.want)
+					} else if tc.readOnly && fmt.Sprint(body["scopes"]) != "[read-only]" {
+						t.Errorf("request body = %v, want scopes [read-only]", body)
+					} else if !tc.readOnly && len(body) != 1 {
+						t.Errorf("request body = %v, want only organization", body)
 					}
 					w.Write([]byte(`{"token":{"value":"minted"}}`))
 				default:
diff --git a/internal/cmd/auth_listapitokens.go b/internal/cmd/auth_listapitokens.go
index 99da4706..b8d8feec 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/auth_listapitokens.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/auth_listapitokens.go
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ func formatTokenOrgScope(t turso.ApiToken) string {
 // formatTokenPermissions summarizes the scope list for the "Permissions"
 // column. The platform expands presets to their underlying scopes server-side,
 // so we recognize the canonical preset shapes here ("read-only" = just
-// `read`, "full-access" = every known scope) for a friendlier label;
+// `read`, "full-access" = every group-level scope) for a friendlier label;
 // anything else is listed verbatim.
 func formatTokenPermissions(t turso.ApiToken) string {
 	if len(t.Scopes) == 0 {
@@ -77,18 +77,18 @@ func formatTokenPermissions(t turso.ApiToken) string {
 	if len(scopes) == 1 && scopes[0] == string(turso.ScopeRead) {
 		return "read-only"
 	}
-	if isFullAccessScopeSet(scopes) {
+	if isScopeSet(scopes, turso.AllScopes) {
 		return "full-access"
 	}
 	return strings.Join(scopes, ", ")
 }
 
-func isFullAccessScopeSet(sortedScopes []string) bool {
-	if len(sortedScopes) != len(turso.AllScopes) {
+func isScopeSet(sortedScopes []string, set []turso.Scope) bool {
+	if len(sortedScopes) != len(set) {
 		return false
 	}
-	reference := make([]string, 0, len(turso.AllScopes))
-	for _, s := range turso.AllScopes {
+	reference := make([]string, 0, len(set))
+	for _, s := range set {
 		reference = append(reference, string(s))
 	}
 	sort.Strings(reference)
diff --git a/internal/turso/apiTokens.go b/internal/turso/apiTokens.go
index 9bb6dfd3..18d356b5 100644
--- a/internal/turso/apiTokens.go
+++ b/internal/turso/apiTokens.go
@@ -54,9 +54,9 @@ func (a *ApiTokensClient) CreateWithOrg(name string, organization string) (Creat
 
 // CreateScoped mints an API token with optional restrictions. Empty
 // organization minted an unrestricted token. organization + empty group
-// produces an organization-scoped token. organization + group + non-empty
-// scopes produces a group-scoped token; the platform requires the scopes
-// list to be non-empty in that case.
+// produces an organization-scoped token, limited to scopes when non-empty.
+// organization + group + non-empty scopes produces a group-scoped token; the
+// platform requires the scopes list to be non-empty in that case.
 //
 // scopes may contain individual scope labels (see AllScopes) or the
 // preset names "read-only" / "full-access" — the platform expands the
diff --git a/internal/turso/apitoken_scope.go b/internal/turso/apitoken_scope.go
index 99794997..71d45f2e 100644
--- a/internal/turso/apitoken_scope.go
+++ b/internal/turso/apitoken_scope.go
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package turso
 
-// Scope is a permission label carried by a group-scoped platform API token.
+import "slices"
+
+// Scope is a permission label carried by a scoped platform API token.
 // The vocabulary mirrors api/service/scope/scope.go on the platform side; if
 // the platform adds or renames scopes, this file must follow.
 type Scope string
@@ -15,6 +17,9 @@ const (
 	ScopeGroupConfigure   Scope = "group:configure"
 	ScopeGroupMintToken   Scope = "group:mint-token"
 	ScopeGroupRotateCreds Scope = "group:rotate-creds"
+	ScopeGroupCreate      Scope = "group:create"
+	ScopeGroupDelete      Scope = "group:delete"
+	ScopeOrgRead          Scope = "org:read"
 )
 
 // AllScopes is the canonical ordering used by --help output and the
@@ -33,13 +38,20 @@ var AllScopes = []Scope{
 	ScopeGroupRotateCreds,
 }
 
+// OrgLevelScopes may only be granted to organization-scoped tokens.
+var OrgLevelScopes = []Scope{
+	ScopeGroupCreate,
+	ScopeGroupDelete,
+	ScopeOrgRead,
+}
+
 // IsValidScope reports whether s is a known scope label. Used to surface
 // typos client-side instead of waiting for the platform 400.
 func IsValidScope(s string) bool {
-	for _, sc := range AllScopes {
-		if string(sc) == s {
-			return true
-		}
-	}
-	return false
+	return slices.Contains(AllScopes, Scope(s)) || IsOrgLevelScope(s)
+}
+
+// IsOrgLevelScope reports whether s may only be granted to org-scoped tokens.
+func IsOrgLevelScope(s string) bool {
+	return slices.Contains(OrgLevelScopes, Scope(s))
 }