---
title: "User Management"
space: "Frappe Framework"
url: "https://www.prilk.com/docs/frappe-framework/user-management"
updated: "2026-05-14"
---

## User Management

Adding users is one of the first things you'll do on a new site.

### Creating a user
**User → New**:

| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Email | Used as login AND as the user's primary key — choose carefully |
| First / Last Name | Display name |
| User Type | System User (desk access) or Website User (portal only) — see [System vs Website Users](/docs/frappe-ecosystem/system-website-users) |
| Roles | What they can do — see [Permissions](/docs/frappe-ecosystem/permissions) |
| Send Welcome Email | Frappe emails a password-reset link so the user sets their own password |

### Login methods

| Method | When |
|---|---|
| Email + password | Default |
| OAuth (Google, Microsoft, GitHub) | Configure under **Integrations → Social Login Key** |
| LDAP / Active Directory | For enterprises with on-prem identity |
| 2FA | See [Two-Factor Authentication](/docs/frappe-ecosystem/two-factor-auth) |

### The Administrator user
Frappe ships with a built-in **Administrator** user — the equivalent of `root`. It has all roles by default and bypasses User Permissions. Treat it like a root account:

- Set a strong password at install
- Don't log in as Administrator for routine work — create a named System Manager account for yourself
- Avoid sharing the Administrator credentials; rotate them when staff leave
- The Administrator can't be deleted or disabled in the desk

On managed sites (Prilk-managed, Frappe Cloud), the Administrator password is managed by the operator and not normally exposed.

### Role Profile
Assigning roles one at a time gets tedious when you have many similar users. **Role Profile** bundles a set of roles into a named profile:

1. **Role Profile → New** — name it ("Salesperson", "Junior Accountant")
2. Add the roles the profile should contain
3. On the User form, set **Role Profile** — all its roles are applied

Useful for:
- Onboarding waves of similar users (whole-team setup)
- Standardising "what does a Salesperson see" across the company
- Audits — checking that everyone in a function has identical access

A user can have one Role Profile plus additional individual roles on top.

### Password policy
**System Settings → Password Settings**:
- Minimum length, complexity, history
- Force change every N days
- Lock-out after N failed attempts

### Disabling vs deleting
Prefer **Enabled = No** over delete. Deleting a user breaks references — Comments, Assignments, Activity Log all point at the now-gone record. Disabling preserves the audit trail while preventing login.

### Roles vs User Permissions
Roles answer "what actions can they do" (Read, Write, Submit). User Permissions answer "on which records" — e.g., Alice can edit Sales Invoices, but only for Customer A. The two combine; see [Permissions](/docs/frappe-ecosystem/permissions).

### Portal users
Customers, Suppliers and Employees who log into the public portal (not the desk) use the **Website User** type plus an entry in their party-type's `portal_users` child table. See [System vs Website Users](/docs/frappe-ecosystem/system-website-users).