The need
Today, a house has one code, and only one. Everyone shares the same: the residents, the person who comes to water the plants, the friend to whom we lent the keys for a weekend. Three consequences:
- you never know who disarmed the alarm;
- revoking access for one person requires changing the code for everyone;
- there is no way to grant time-limited access.
The code should belong to the person, not the house — and remain valid regardless of where it is entered: the Gladys app, a wall-mounted tablet, or later a physical keypad.
What is expected
- One code per user, revocable individually.
- Knowing who armed or disarmed, and being able to use this in a scene or notification.
- Distinct rights: some can arm and disarm, others only disarm.
- Time-limited codes for occasional access.
What it would look like
ACCESS CODES + Add a code
Quentin •••• Arm · Disarm active
Camille •••• Arm · Disarm active
Home help •••• Disarm 08/09 → 15/09
Former tenant –––– — revoked
Questions to decide
- Is a Gladys account required to have a code? Creating a full account for the person who comes to feed the cat for a week is cumbersome. Should there be « guest » codes without an associated account?
- What rights in the first version: arm/disarm are sufficient, or should there already be « can force arming », « can modify configuration »?
- Are time-limited codes in the first version, or a follow-up?
- Enforced length? Can two people have the same code (in which case we no longer know who it is)?
- What happens to the current house code during the update? It must continue to work, otherwise installations are put at risk.
- What happens after several incorrect codes? Gladys already limits attempts — should there also be a notification, or even a trigger?
- Is a duress code needed? A code that appears to disarm normally but discreetly alerts — useful if forced to open. It’s a classic of control panels, to be decided if it’s within the scope.
Complexity and dependencies
Medium. This request does not depend on any other and can be done in parallel with the rest. However, it does condition the arrival of physical keypads, which need Gladys to know how to validate a code.
Related requests: user codes are a prerequisite for physical keypads, and the identity of the person who disarms feeds the context of scenes.
This request is part of a set from the discussion Gladys Alarm System (need F08).