Roles & Permissions

Every person in a session has a role. The role decides what they can do — most importantly, whether they can edit the patch. The host assigns roles, and the session lock changes what two of the roles are allowed to do.

The five roles

“Edit” means everything that changes the patch: adding, moving, or removing modules; turning knobs; and patching or unpatching cables.

Only the host can manage other people’s roles, kick, or lock the session.

How the lock flips Driver and Normal

The lock is the key to the role system, and it works as a toggle between two modes:

• Unlocked (the default) — it’s a free-for-all. Normal users can edit freely, so everyone builds together. Drivers cannot edit in this mode.
• Locked — editing is restricted to a chosen few. Normal users drop to read-only, and only Drivers (plus Host and Cohost) keep editing.

So Normal and Driver are mirror images:

• Make everyone Normal and leave the session unlocked for an open jam where anyone can touch anything.
• Lock the session and promote one or two people to Driver for a “one person drives, everyone else watches” workflow — like pair-patching or a demo.

Host and Cohost always edit, lock or not. Spectator never edits, lock or not.

What each role is for

• Host — you, when you create the session. Full control: edits, assigns roles, kicks, and holds the lock. There is exactly one host (the creator).
• Cohost — a trusted co-driver. Edits in any mode, but can’t manage the session. Good for a co-presenter who needs to always be able to jump in.
• Driver — the “person at the wheel” when the session is locked. Promote someone to Driver, lock the session, and they can edit while everyone else watches. Demote or unlock to hand control around.
• Normal — the default for everyone who joins. Edits freely in an unlocked session; read-only once you lock it. This is the role for an open collaborative jam.
• Spectator — pure audience. Never edits, in any mode. Use it for onlookers who should only watch.

Changing roles

As the host, right-click any user in the session’s user list to open their menu, then pick a role (Cohost, Driver, Normal, Spectator) or kick them.

You can also bulk-clear a role from the session’s right-click menu — Clear All Cohosts, Clear All Drivers, or Clear All Spectators — which resets everyone of that role back to Normal in one click.

Cursors and roles

Everyone sees everyone else’s cursor — the labeled arrow gliding around the rack — regardless of role. A Spectator still sees where the Host is working, and the Host sees the Spectator’s cursor. Cursors are presence, not editing, so the permission gate doesn’t hide them.

(One subtlety: a cursor is only relayed for someone who is allowed to edit in the current mode. In a locked session, a Normal user’s cursor won’t broadcast until they’re given an editing role or the session is unlocked.)

Next: if something isn’t working, see Troubleshooting.