Key codes and PINs: stored locked, revealed on purpose

How do I store a customer's key code or gate PIN?

Open the customer, or one of their jobs, and tap Add a code under Key codes & PINs. Pick what it is (key code, PIN, gate code or other), type the code, optionally note where or what it opens, and save.

What kind of code it is and the “where or what it opens” line are visible to everyone who can see that customer, so keep the code itself out of that line. Saving needs a connection; nothing is kept on the phone. Anyone on your team can add a code, including a technician on site, for the customers on their current jobs.

Who can see a stored code?

The owner, and any team member the owner has marked Can reveal key codes on the Team page. Everyone else can add codes but sees only what kind of code it is and a masked value.

The switch is per person, on the web Team page, next to their role. Turning it off takes effect at once, even if that person had just unlocked codes. Technicians only ever see the customers on jobs assigned to them.

What happens when I tap Reveal?

Smithworks emails a six-digit code to your sign-in address. Enter it, and codes stay unlocked for 30 minutes on that sign-in. On the phone, later reveals in those 30 minutes ask for your fingerprint, face or passcode instead of another email. The code stays on screen until you close it or leave the app, for up to 30 minutes.

The unlock belongs to the sign-in that asked for it. Signing in on another device means another email code. After five wrong tries the emailed code stops working and you ask for a new one. You can ask for ten a day.

How are stored key codes protected?

Each code is encrypted on its own with a dedicated key, kept apart from the job record, shown only after the email check, and logged every time it is revealed. Codes never go into job notes, emails, Zapier or QuickBooks.

In plain terms: the code is scrambled before it is stored, with a key that is used for nothing else, and the scrambled value is tied to that one customer and code so it can’t be copied somewhere else and read. Your phone keeps no copy; the list you see carries only what kind of code each one is.

What this is not: your data is not end-to-end encrypted, and our privacy promise says so. People who run Smithworks can reach the server when they must, to keep the service running or to help you. What’s new is where codes live, who can see them, and the record of every look.

Can I see who looked at a code?

Yes. Owners get an access log: every add, reveal, change and delete, with the person and the time, per customer and for the whole business on the Team page.

The log can only be added to, never edited, and it never contains a code. Wrong email codes land in it too, so you’d notice someone guessing.

What if the email doesn’t arrive?

Check spam for a message from Smithworks, then tap Send a new code. The code goes to the address you sign in with, so make sure that address is confirmed.

If you’re changing your sign-in email, finish that first; Smithworks won’t send unlock codes while a change is pending.

Should I still put codes in the customer notes?

No. Notes travel with the job: into emails, into Zapier and onto every phone on the team. Move anything that opens a door or cuts a key into Key codes & PINs.