SnapOtter/apps/docs/guide/users-roles.md

description

description
Manage users, built-in and custom roles, permissions, API keys, teams, sessions, and the audit log in SnapOtter.

Users, Roles & Permissions

SnapOtter ships three built-in roles, 17 granular permissions, and support for custom roles with optional per-tool access control. This page covers the full authorization model, API key scoping, team management, and audit logging.

::: tip Related pages OIDC / SSO | SAML SSO | SCIM Provisioning | Security & Hardening :::

Users

Creating users

Admins can create users through the admin panel or the POST /api/auth/users endpoint. Each user has a username, role, team assignment, and an optional email address.

Default admin

On first startup SnapOtter creates a default admin account. The credentials come from environment variables:

Variable	Default	Description
DEFAULT_USERNAME	admin	Username for the initial admin account
DEFAULT_PASSWORD	admin	Password for the initial admin account

The default admin is required to change their password on first login.

Authentication providers

Users can authenticate through several methods:

• Local -- username and password stored in the SnapOtter database
• OIDC -- any OpenID Connect provider (see OIDC / SSO)
• SAML -- SAML 2.0 identity providers (see SAML SSO)
• SCIM -- automated provisioning from an identity provider (see SCIM Provisioning)

Disabling authentication

Set AUTH_ENABLED=false to disable authentication entirely. In this mode a synthetic anonymous user with the admin role is used for all requests. No login is required.

::: warning Disabling authentication grants full admin access to anyone who can reach the instance. Only use this in trusted environments. :::

Built-in roles

SnapOtter includes three built-in roles. They cannot be modified or deleted.

Admin

All 17 permissions. Full control over the instance.

tools:use files:own files:all apikeys:own apikeys:all pipelines:own pipelines:all settings:read settings:write users:manage teams:manage features:manage system:health audit:read compliance:manage webhooks:manage security:manage

Editor

7 permissions. Can use all tools and manage all files and pipelines, but cannot access admin functions.

tools:use files:own files:all apikeys:own pipelines:own pipelines:all settings:read

User

5 permissions. Can use tools and manage their own resources.

tools:use files:own apikeys:own pipelines:own settings:read

Permissions reference

Permission	Description
tools:use	Use any processing tool
files:own	View and manage own files
files:all	View and manage all users' files
apikeys:own	Create and manage own API keys
apikeys:all	View all users' API keys
pipelines:own	Create and manage own pipelines
pipelines:all	View and manage all users' pipelines
settings:read	View instance settings
settings:write	Modify instance settings
users:manage	Create, update, and delete user accounts
teams:manage	Create, update, and delete teams
features:manage	Install and manage AI feature bundles
system:health	Access health and readiness endpoints
audit:read	View the audit log and list roles
compliance:manage	Manage GDPR lifecycle and compliance features
webhooks:manage	Configure outbound webhooks
security:manage	Manage security settings (IP allowlist, SSO enforcement)

Custom roles

Admins with the users:manage permission can create custom roles through the admin panel or the roles API.

Creating a custom role

curl -X POST http://localhost:13490/api/v1/roles \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer si_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "reviewer",
    "description": "Can use tools and view all files",
    "permissions": ["tools:use", "files:own", "files:all", "settings:read"]
  }'

Role names must be 2-30 characters, lowercase alphanumeric with hyphens and underscores.

Admin-reserved permissions

Three permissions are reserved for built-in roles and cannot be assigned to custom roles:

• compliance:manage
• webhooks:manage
• security:manage

The roles API rejects any request that includes these permissions. Only the built-in admin role has access to them.

Tool-level permissions

Custom roles can optionally restrict which tools users may access. Two modes are available:

Mode	Behavior	License requirement
category	Restrict by modality (image, video, audio, document, file)	None (free)
tool	Restrict by individual tool ID	Requires the per_tool_permissions enterprise feature

When tool mode is set but the enterprise feature is not available, SnapOtter degrades gracefully and allows access to all tools.

{
  "name": "image-only",
  "permissions": ["tools:use", "files:own"],
  "toolPermissions": {
    "mode": "category",
    "allowed": ["image"]
  }
}

Deleting a custom role

When a custom role is deleted, all users assigned to it are automatically reassigned to the user role.

Teams

Teams group users for storage and retention management. A Default team is created on first startup.

Field	Type	Description
name	string	Unique team name (1-50 characters)
storageQuota	number	Per-team storage limit in bytes (works without enterprise)
retentionHours	number	Auto-delete outputs after this many hours (requires team_retention_overrides, enterprise)
legalHold	boolean	Prevent automatic deletion of team members' files (requires legal_hold, enterprise)

::: info The Default team cannot be deleted. Teams that still have members cannot be deleted. Reassign members first. :::

API keys

Users can generate API keys for programmatic access. Each key uses the si_ prefix and is shown only once at creation time.

Scoped permissions

API keys can optionally carry a permissions array. When set, the effective permissions for a request are the intersection of the user's role permissions and the key's scoped permissions. This means an API key can never escalate beyond the user's own permissions.

curl -X POST http://localhost:13490/api/v1/api-keys \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer si_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "CI pipeline key",
    "permissions": ["tools:use", "files:own"],
    "expiresAt": "2027-01-01T00:00:00Z"
  }'

Expiration

Keys accept an optional expiresAt timestamp. Expired keys are rejected at authentication time.

Audit log

SnapOtter records security-relevant events in a structured audit log stored in the audit_log database table.

Viewing the audit log

GET /api/v1/audit-log?page=1&limit=50&action=LOGIN_FAILED&from=2026-01-01T00:00:00Z&to=2026-12-31T23:59:59Z

Requires the audit:read permission. Supports pagination (page, limit) and filters (action, ip, from, to).

Tool operation auditing

::: warning TOOL_EXECUTED events are not logged by default. They are opt-in through either of two paths:

1. Set the auditToolOperations admin setting to true.
2. Hold an active license with the audit_export feature (available on both team and enterprise plans).

Without one of these, individual tool executions are not recorded in the audit log. :::

Exporting

GET /api/v1/enterprise/audit/export?format=csv&from=2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Requires the audit:read permission and the audit_export enterprise feature (available on both team and enterprise plans). Supports CSV and JSON formats, filtered by action, actorId, targetType, targetId, from, and to.

Tamper-resistant signing

When enabled, each audit log entry is signed with an HMAC derived from DATA_ENCRYPTION_KEY. This requires:

1. Setting DATA_ENCRYPTION_KEY in your environment.
2. Enabling the tamperResistantAudit admin setting.
3. An enterprise license with the tamper_resistant_audit feature.

Retention

Set AUDIT_RETENTION_DAYS to automatically purge old entries. The default is 0, which means entries are kept indefinitely.

Event reference

Event	Category
LOGIN_SUCCESS, LOGIN_FAILED	Authentication
OIDC_LOGIN_SUCCESS, OIDC_LOGIN_FAILED	Authentication
SAML_LOGIN_SUCCESS, SAML_LOGIN_FAILED	Authentication
LOGOUT	Authentication
USER_CREATED, USER_UPDATED, USER_DELETED	User management
PASSWORD_CHANGED, PASSWORD_RESET	User management
MFA_ENROLLED, MFA_DISABLED, MFA_VERIFIED, MFA_VERIFY_FAILED	MFA
MFA_CHALLENGE_ISSUED, MFA_RECOVERY_USED, MFA_RESET	MFA
ROLE_CREATED, ROLE_UPDATED, ROLE_DELETED	Roles
API_KEY_CREATED, API_KEY_DELETED	API keys
SETTINGS_UPDATED, IP_ALLOWLIST_UPDATED	Settings
FILE_UPLOADED, FILE_DELETED	Files
TOOL_EXECUTED	Tools (opt-in)
SCIM_USER_PROVISIONED, SCIM_USER_UPDATED, SCIM_USER_DEPROVISIONED	SCIM
SCIM_GROUP_SYNCED	SCIM
LEGAL_HOLD_APPLIED, LEGAL_HOLD_RELEASED	Compliance
GDPR_EXPORT_INITIATED, GDPR_USER_PURGED, GDPR_TEAM_PURGED	Compliance
CONFIG_EXPORTED, CONFIG_IMPORTED	Configuration

Session management

Sessions are cookie-based, controlled by SESSION_DURATION_HOURS (default: 168 hours / 7 days).

Role changes invalidate sessions

When an admin changes a user's role, all of that user's active sessions are deleted. The user must log in again to pick up their new permissions.

Safety guards

• Last-admin protection: the last remaining admin cannot be demoted to a lower role. The API returns an error if you try.
• Self-delete prevention: admins cannot delete their own account through the API.