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User Impersonation

Learn how to use the impersonation feature to troubleshoot user issues while respecting privacy and consent.

What is User Impersonation?​

User impersonation allows authorized administrators to temporarily access My platform as another user. This feature is useful for:

  • Troubleshooting: Reproduce issues users are experiencing
  • Support: Help users with complex operations
  • Training: Demonstrate features to users
  • Testing: Verify permissions and access controls

Key Features​

Privacy-Focused Design​

  • User Consent Required: Users must explicitly enable impersonation
  • Time-Limited: Users control how long impersonation is allowed (1-168 hours)
  • Complete Transparency: All actions logged and visible to the user
  • Easy Revocation: Users can disable consent at any time

Security Controls​

  • Permission-Based: Only Super Admin or Owner organization users can impersonate
  • No Self-Impersonation: Cannot impersonate your own account
  • No Chaining: Cannot impersonate while already impersonating another user
  • Automatic Expiration: Consent automatically expires after user-defined duration
  • Session Tracking: Each impersonation session has unique ID for audit

Complete Audit Trail​

  • Every API call during impersonation is logged
  • Users can view all actions performed during impersonation
  • Sensitive data automatically redacted from logs
  • Session-based organization for easy review

Who Can Impersonate?​

Required Permissions​

Super Admin Role:

  • Users with Super Admin role have impersonate:users permission
  • Can impersonate any user (with their consent)
  • Assigned by Owner organization users only

Owner Organization Users:

  • Automatically have impersonation capability
  • Can impersonate users in their organization hierarchy
  • No additional role assignment needed

Everyone Else:

  • Cannot see impersonation features
  • Cannot impersonate any user

Impersonation Workflow​

Before impersonation can occur, the target user must enable consent.

For Users:

  1. Log in to your account
  2. Navigate to Account Settings > Impersonation
  3. Find Consent to Impersonation section
  4. Click Enable Impersonation
  5. Set duration (1-168 hours)
  6. Click Save

What happens:

  • Consent is recorded with timestamp
  • Administrator is notified consent is available
  • Expires automatically after duration
  • Can be revoked at any time

Duration Options:

  • 1-24 hours: Short-term troubleshooting
  • 24-72 hours: Multi-day support
  • 72-168 hours: Extended access (max 1 week)

Step 2: Administrator Impersonates User​

For Administrators (Super Admin or Owner):

  1. Navigate to Users
  2. Find the target user
  3. Check if Impersonate user is available (using kebab menu)
  4. Click Impersonate User
  5. Confirm the action
  6. You are now acting as that user

During Impersonation:

You will see:

  • Banner at top: "You are impersonating [User Name]"
  • Exit button: Click to return to your account
  • All features: Exactly as the user sees them
  • User's permissions: Filtered by their actual permissions

Step 3: Perform Support Actions​

While impersonating:

  • Navigate the platform as the user would
  • Reproduce reported issues
  • Perform actions on behalf of the user
  • Test features and permissions
  • Document findings
warning

All actions are logged and visible to the impersonated user. Treat user data with respect and exit impersonation when done.

Step 4: Exit Impersonation​

To exit impersonation:

  1. Click Exit Impersonation button in banner
  2. You return to your original account
  3. Impersonation session is closed

Automatic Exit:

  • Session expires after user's consent duration
  • If user revokes consent during impersonation
  • If token expires (follows consent duration)

When to enable:

  • When you have an issue and need support
  • When requesting help from administrator
  • Before training session
  • When administrator asks for consent

How to enable:

  1. Go to Account Settings > Impersonation
  2. Click Consent to Impersonation
  3. Choose duration: 
    1 hour   - Quick support
    24 hours - Same day support
    72 hours - Multi-day issue
    Custom   - Specify hours (max 168)
  4. Click Enable

Confirmation:

Impersonation consent enabled
  Expires: [Date and time]
  Duration: [X] hours

To check if consent is active:

  1. Go to Account Settings > Impersonation
  2. View Impersonation Consent section: 
    Status: Active
    Expires: 2025-11-07 10:30:00 UTC

To disable consent:

  1. Go to Account Settings > Impersonation
  2. Click Revoke Consent
  3. Confirm the action

Effects:

  • Consent immediately disabled
  • Active impersonation sessions terminated
  • Administrator can no longer impersonate
  • Can be re-enabled anytime

Viewing Impersonation Audit​

To see who impersonated you:

  1. Go to Account Settings > Impersonation

  2. Under Sessions

  3. See complete history:

    Started: 2025-11-06 10:00:00 UTC
    Ended: 2025-11-06 11:30:00 UTC
    Duration: 1.5 hours
    Impersonator: John Admin (john@example.com)
    Status: Ongoing

  4. Click Show audit log to see all actions

Audit Information:

  • Date and time of each action
  • API endpoint called
  • Sensitive data automatically redacted
  • Result (success/failure)

For Administrators: Using Impersonation​

Checking Impersonation Availability​

In user list:

Users with active consent show:

  • Impersonate user status enabled
  • Consent expiration time
  • Click to impersonate

Users without consent:

  • Impersonate user status disabled

Starting Impersonation​

Requirements:

  • User has active consent
  • You have Super Admin role or Owner organization role
  • User is not deleted or suspended
  • You are not already impersonating someone

Steps:

  1. Find User:

    • Navigate to Users
    • Search for target user

  2. Verify Consent:

    • Check Impersonate user status enabled
    • Check consent expiration time
    • Ensure sufficient time for your needs

  3. Initiate Impersonation:

    • Click Impersonate User (using kebab menu)
    • Confirm dialog: 
      You will temporarily act as user [Name] and have their permissions.

      To return to your account, click the close icon on the impersonation
      badge in the top bar.

      [Cancel] [Impersonate user]

  4. Confirmation:

    • You are now impersonating the user
    • Banner appears at top
    • Session starts

During Impersonation Session​

What You See:

  • Exact same interface as user
  • User's permissions (may be more restrictive than yours)
  • User's organization and data
  • User's customizations and preferences

What You Can Do:

  • Navigate all pages user can access
  • Perform any action user can perform
  • Create/edit/delete based on user permissions
  • Test features and reproduce issues

What You Cannot Do:

  • Access features user cannot access
  • Bypass user's permission restrictions
  • Impersonate another user while impersonating
  • Modify your own account

Best Practices:

  • Document your actions
  • Minimize time in impersonation
  • Only perform necessary actions
  • Inform user what you did
  • Exit when finished

Exiting Impersonation​

Normal Exit:

  • Click X button in banner
  • Return to your account

Automatic Exit:

Impersonation automatically ends when:

  • Consent duration expires
  • User revokes consent
  • Session token expires
  • You log out
  • User is suspended/deleted

Security and Privacy​

What is Logged​

Logged Information:

  • Timestamp of each action
  • API endpoint and method (GET, POST, etc.)
  • HTTP status code (200, 404, etc.)
  • Request parameters (sensitive data redacted)
  • Response status (sensitive data redacted)

Automatically Redacted:

  • Passwords
  • Authentication tokens
  • System secrets
  • Any field containing "password", "secret", "token"

Example Log Entry:

{
  "timestamp": "2025-11-06T10:15:23Z",
  "session_id": "imp_abc123",
  "impersonator": "admin@example.com",
  "impersonated_user": "user@example.com",
  "method": "POST",
  "endpoint": "/api/users",
  "status": 201,
  "request_body": {
    "name": "John Doe",
    "email": "john@example.com",
    "password": "[REDACTED]"
  }
}

Data Protection​

User Control:

  • Users choose when to enable consent
  • Users control duration
  • Users can revoke at any time
  • Users see complete audit trail

Platform Protection:

  • No access without consent
  • Automatic expiration
  • Complete logging
  • Sensitive data redaction

Compliance:

  • Audit trail for regulatory requirements
  • Consent-based access model
  • User visibility and control
  • Data privacy respected

Common Use Cases​

Troubleshooting User Issues​

Scenario: User reports they cannot see a feature

Workflow:

  1. User enables impersonation consent (1 hour)
  2. Administrator impersonates user
  3. Administrator navigates to reported area
  4. Reproduces issue
  5. Identifies permission/configuration problem
  6. Exits impersonation
  7. Fixes issue in user's settings
  8. User confirms fix

Training New Users​

Scenario: Training user on complex workflow

Workflow:

  1. User enables impersonation (24 hours)
  2. Administrator impersonates
  3. Performs workflow steps
  4. Documents each action
  5. Exits impersonation
  6. Shares audit with user
  7. User reviews actions performed
  8. User practices independently

Permission Verification​

Scenario: Verify user has correct permissions

Workflow:

  1. User enables impersonation (1 hour)
  2. Administrator impersonates
  3. Tests access to various features
  4. Documents what is visible/accessible
  5. Exits impersonation
  6. Adjusts permissions if needed

Troubleshooting​

Cannot Impersonate User​

Problem: Impersonate button is disabled

Solutions:

  1. Check user has enabled consent:
    • Ask user to enable in Profile > Security
    • Verify consent hasn't expired
  2. Verify you have permissions:
    • Super Admin role OR
    • Owner organization role
  3. Check user status:
    • User is not suspended
    • User is not deleted
  4. Verify not already impersonating:
    • Exit current impersonation first

Problem: User enabled consent but administrator doesn't see it

Solutions:

  1. Refresh the page (Ctrl+F5)
  2. Wait 30 seconds (cache propagation)
  3. Check consent expiration time
  4. Verify user saved the consent
  5. Check user didn't accidentally revoke

Impersonation Session Ends Unexpectedly​

Problem: Kicked out of impersonation session

Possible Causes:

  • User revoked consent
  • Consent duration expired
  • Token expired
  • User was suspended
  • Network interruption

Solutions:

  1. Check if consent is still active
  2. Ask user to re-enable consent
  3. Check consent expiration time
  4. Verify your network connection

Cannot See User's Data​

Problem: During impersonation, cannot see expected data

Explanation:

  • You see exactly what user sees
  • User may have restricted permissions
  • Organization access may be limited
  • This is expected behavior

Solutions:

  1. Verify user's assigned roles
  2. Check user's organization membership
  3. Review hierarchical permissions
  4. Adjust user permissions if needed

Best Practices​

For Users​

Enabling Consent:

  • Only enable when requested or needed
  • Set minimum necessary duration
  • Revoke when support is complete
  • Review audit trail after impersonation

Privacy:

  • Trust your administrators
  • Consent is entirely voluntary
  • You control when and how long
  • You can see everything they did

For Administrators​

Before Impersonating:

  • Have clear purpose for impersonation
  • Request user enable consent
  • Plan what you need to do
  • Estimate time needed

During Impersonation:

  • Work efficiently
  • Document your actions
  • Only perform necessary operations
  • Respect user's privacy
  • Exit promptly when done

After Impersonation:

  • Inform user what was done
  • Document findings
  • Share audit if requested
  • Follow up on issues found

For Organizations​

Policy:

  • Define when impersonation is appropriate
  • Document approval process
  • Train administrators
  • Review audit trails regularly

Security:

  • Limit Super Admin role assignment
  • Monitor impersonation usage
  • Review audit logs
  • Investigate unusual patterns