Overview
Keys control how guests, staff, and visitors access doors in your property.
From the Keys section in the Portal Dashboard, staff can create and manage Keys, choose credential types, assign doors, and define access periods.
This article explains how to create a Key step by step.
Before You Start
Before creating a Key, make sure:
Doors are already created in Portal
Locks are installed (if physical access is required)
Key Notifications (Email/SMS) are enabled if credentials should be sent automatically
The person (guest or staff) exists, or you are ready to add a new one
Key Concepts
Key: A set of access permissions for a person.
SmartKey: A mobile key delivered via magic link.
Doorcode: A numeric code used at the lock.
Keycard: A physical card assigned to a Key.
Allocation Policy: Rules for assigning doorcodes or keycards.
How to Create a Key (Mainly used for creating Staff keys)
Step 1: Open the Keys Section
Go to the Keys tab in the Portal Dashboard.
Click Add Key.
Step 2: Add a Person
You must assign the Key to at least one person.
Add a new person or select an existing person.
You can add more than one person to the same Key if needed.
Step 3: Configure Credential Types
For each person, choose which credentials to issue.
SmartKey
Default: Enabled
No allocation policy required
Assigned using the magic link activation flow
Doorcode
Default: Disabled
If enabled, choose an allocation policy:
Random (default): Portal generates the doorcode.
Preferred: Portal uses the doorcode you enter. If it can't be used, Portal falls back to a Random code.
Strict: Portal uses only the doorcode you enter. There is no fallback: if Portal can't accept the code, the key has no doorcode.
If Preferred or Strict is selected, a specific doorcode must be set
Keycard
Default: Disabled
Same behavior as Doorcode:
Random (default)
Preferred
Strict
If Preferred or Strict is selected, a specific keycard must be set
Note: Keycard credentials must be enabled for your property before a keycard can be added/registered in the Portal Staff App or assigned to a Key. Keycard credentials are enabled by the Portal support team. If the Keycard option isn't available here, contact Portal support and ask them to enable keycard credentials for your property.
Step 4: Select Doors and Access Rules
Click Add Door.
Select one or more doors.
Set the Access Period.
Define Arrival Time and Departure Time if needed.
Set permissions as required.
You can also:
Restrict access to specific days of the week
Restrict access to specific hours of the day
Step 5: Create the Key
Click Add Door to confirm the selected doors.
Click Create Key to finish.
After the Key Is Created
SmartKeys are delivered via magic link (if enabled)
Doorcodes and keycards are generated based on the selected allocation policy
Only available keycards are shown in the Keycard section
Used keycards are excluded automatically
If needed, you can:
Replace a keycard
Update access rules
Resend credentials
Add a New Key from an Existing Key
You can start a new key for the person on an existing key straight from that key. This is useful after you revoke a guest's key and need to give them a new one: you don't have to search for them, so there's no risk of picking the wrong person when guests share a name or have several reservations.
Go to the Keys tab and open the key's Key Details page. This works for keys in every tab: Current, Upcoming, Past and Revoked.
In front of the person's name, click the three-dot menu.
Select Add a New Key.
The new key wizard opens with that person already selected, so you can skip Step 2. Continue from Step 3: choose credentials and doors as usual, then click Create Key.
Good to know: The new key is a separate, ordinary dashboard key. Nothing is copied from the original key (no doors, dates, credentials or reference numbers), and the original key isn't changed. Like any key created with Add Key, the new key does not follow reservation updates from your PMS.
Only staff who can create keys see Add a New Key (see Permissions & Access below).
It works the same for guests from any PMS integration and for manually created guests.
If you leave the wizard before creating the key, Portal asks whether you want to discard your unsaved changes.
Both keys belong to the same person, so filtering the Keys list by that person shows the original key and the new one.
Permissions & Access
Role | Can Create Keys |
Owner | Yes |
General Manager | Yes |
Team | Yes |
Installer | No |
Housekeeping | No |
Tips / Best Practices
Use SmartKeys as the default for guests
Enable Doorcodes or Keycards only when required
Set access periods carefully to avoid overexposure
Restrict days and hours for staff Keys when possible
Troubleshooting / FAQs
Portal: I can’t create a Key
Check your role permissions and confirm at least one door is selected.
Portal: I can't add or assign a keycard to a Key, even though I have full permissions (Owner / General Manager)
If the Keycard option isn't available when you create a Key, keycards (including key fobs and tags) are not enabled for your property yet. Only the Portal support team can enable them. Contact Portal support and ask them to enable keycards for your property. Once they are enabled, keycards can be registered in the Portal Staff App and assigned to Keys in the Portal Dashboard.
Portal: Guests from PMS reservations don't get a keycard
Check Settings → Customization → Reservation's Credential Types. If Keycard appears there but isn't selected, select it so guests receive a keycard automatically. If Keycard doesn't appear there at all, keycards are not enabled for your property — contact Portal support. See Reservation's Credential Types.
Portal: Keycard is enabled on the Key, but no keycard is available to assign
Only available keycards can be assigned; keycards already in use are excluded. Register more keycards in the Portal Staff App. See How to Add Keycards/Tags.
Portal: I revoked a guest's key. How do I give the same guest a new one?
Open the revoked key, click the three-dot menu in front of the guest's name and select Add a New Key. The wizard opens with that guest already selected. See Add a New Key from an Existing Key above.
Portal: Doorcodes or keycards are missing
Verify the allocation policy and that available credentials exist.
Portal: Why does my doorcode show a warning that the code already exists?
Portal does not accept a doorcode that matches or sits inside another code anywhere in the property, because knowing one code would reveal the other.
This includes codes on any door, including staff doors.
It also includes the backup doorcodes Portal creates automatically on all doors. Each 5-digit backup code blocks the 4-digit codes inside it.
Example: a doorcode of 5664 is blocked if another door already has a code that starts with 5664.
Fix: change the doorcode to Random or choose another doorcode, save, and send the new code.
Portal: A Strict doorcode isn't working on any door. Why?
The Strict code was not accepted because it conflicts with another code in the property. Strict has no fallback, so the key was left with no doorcode at all.
Fix: open the key, go to Doorcode, set it to Random (or choose another doorcode), save, and send the new code. Random, or Preferred (which falls back to Random), avoids this issue.
Portal: Can the same doorcode be used on different doors?
One person's code works on all of that person's doors. Two different guests or doorcodes can't share a code, and one code can't sit inside another, anywhere in the property.
Portal: Guests didn’t receive access
Check that Key Notifications (Email/SMS) are enabled.
Portal: A staff member has access to all doors except one. What's wrong?
Two possible causes:
1. The door is not assigned to their key The door was never added to their SmartKey, or was accidentally removed.
Fix: Go to Keys → find their key → three dots → Edit Doors → add the missing door → Save. No new key needed.
2. The door is assigned but still not opening If the door is already in their key but the app shows no access or fails to open, the door is likely offline. Check:
The lock connection — is it showing online in the Portal dashboard?
The gateway — is it powered on and connected?
Once the lock comes back online, access should work automatically without any changes to the key.