Accounts and invitations

Add people, choose their sign-in methods, and give them the library access they actually need.

Open Settings > Users as an administrator. Start with an ordinary user for someone who should browse and request. Administrator access includes server configuration and connected-service management.

Add a person

Create the user with a recognizable username and the intended role.
Review their permissions, request policy, and library access.
Decide whether to enable a password, passkeys, or a configured sign-in provider.
Generate a connect link and send it privately through your usual household channel.

New users normally start with password and passkey sign-in disabled. A connect link provides the initial device sign-in. Enable the ongoing methods you want the person to use instead of assuming a username alone gives them a reusable login.

Connect links

A connect link signs in one device, once. It expires after seven days. Generating a replacement invalidates the previous link.

Set Settings > External Address before sending links to people outside your local network. Otherwise the link uses the address your own app is connected to, which may be a private IP or internal hostname the recipient cannot open.

A connect link is a credential. Do not paste one into a public issue, screenshot, or documentation page.

Give library access

Assign one or more Radarr, Sonarr, Chaptarr, or Lidarr libraries in the person’s request settings. Their optional preferred instance must be one they can access. Without a preference, requests use an assigned global default or their first assigned instance. A default never grants access.

For many people, open the instance’s Manage users screen. Filter users, select all matching or individual rows, then add or remove the selected assignments. Removing an assignment clears a preference pointing there and leaves other libraries unchanged.

New accounts receive every automation instance with Automatically add new users enabled at account creation. The switch starts on for new instances and off for upgraded existing instances. Turning it on later does not change existing users; repeat sign-ins and replacement invitations do not restore revoked access.

See instances and library selection for multiple-library setups.

Give playback access separately

Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, and Audiobookshelf grants are separate from request-library access. A user who can request a movie is not automatically entitled to every Plex library.

For a media-server instance, review both User Access and the shared or default libraries. Check the resulting account in the actual service. Plex invitations are not active shares until accepted.

Included AI is also separate

An administrator can grant or revoke included AI for each user. A personal provider remains that person’s own choice. New invited users do not automatically receive shared AI access; the initial administrator does.

Before granting a shared OAuth provider, read the app’s allowance and cost explanation. Several users can consume the same connected account’s limits.

Disabling password sign-in clears the stored password. Disabling passkeys removes registered passkeys. Those actions are more than hiding a button, so review the confirmation.

Use Connected Devices to revoke a lost device. Changing an upstream OIDC group or disabling a provider account does not immediately revoke already established Cantinarr sessions. For immediate removal, act on the Cantinarr devices or identity link as described in SSO setup.

Device activity timestamps update at most once per minute during normal use. Revocations and permission changes are checked on every authenticated request.

Before deleting a user or removing external access, review the app’s confirmation and the effect on the associated media-server account. Revoking a media-server grant can disable an account or remove a Plex share without deleting the external account itself.

Check as the intended user

Use the recipient’s actual account to verify the visible tabs, selected libraries, and ability to open media. An administrator’s view is broader and does not prove a regular user has the right access.