---
title: Impersonation
url: https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/admin/impersonation/
updated: 2026-08-26T21:14:16+00:00
---

*[tines.com](https://www.tines.com/llms.txt) › [Docs](https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/llms.txt) › [Admin](https://www.tines.com/llm/stories/docs/admin.md)*

# Impersonation

*[View on tines.com](https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/admin/impersonation/)*

Impersonation lets you grant Tines support temporary permission to log in to your tenant as a specific user, so they can reproduce and troubleshoot an issue directly.

## When to use impersonation

Use impersonation when you're working with Tines support on an issue that's hard to reproduce or describe. Rather than exchanging screenshots and steps, you can grant a Tines support engineer scoped, time-limited access to see exactly what you see. You stay in control: access is opt-in, auto-expiring, and fully audited.


## Enabling impersonation

If you're working through an issue with Tines support, they might suggest impersonation to reproduce, troubleshoot, or fix the problem directly.

> **WARNING:**
> **Be aware of social engineering!**
> 
> Enabling impersonation is a common target for social engineering attacks. Only enable it when working with Tines support through a verified, official channel. Don't respond to an unsolicited request, and if in doubt, confirm with Tines support first.

### **Impersonating yourself**

Allow Tines support to impersonate your user profile by clicking your profile icon in the top right and selecting **Enable impersonation**.

A tenant owner may have disabled this option. If so, ask your tenant owner to enable impersonation as described in the next step.

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/55802/1787776914-screenshot-2026-08-26-at-11-05-35-edited-edited.png)

### **Impersonating a specific user**

As a tenant owner, open the relevant user in the [user settings](https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/user-administration/) page, find the target user, and enable impersonation via the options menu within the user's profile.

[Video](https://stream.mux.com/hHtVXDHCCe02LO65I00F8TnXIjhPkkrQvY/high.mp4)

### Session duration

Once you enable impersonation of a user, it automatically disables after 24 hours. You can also disable it manually at any time.

### Session authentication and auditing

To impersonate a user, Tines support authenticates through a dedicated, Tines-managed identity provider rather than your configured SSO provider.

When a Tines support member initiates an impersonation session, any action they take is recorded in the [audit log](https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/audit-logs/).

## How we secure impersonation access

We've taken several steps to keep impersonation secure and keep you in control.

### Control whether users can enable impersonation

Tenant owners can disable self-serve impersonation at any time. Doing so immediately revokes all active impersonation grants — including those enabled by tenant owners — and restricts enabling impersonation to tenant owners only.

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/55802/1787778186-screenshot-2026-08-26-at-4-02-42-pm.png)

### Additional impersonation safety controls

- **Two independent timers.** An impersonation *grant* auto-disables after 24 hours. A Tines team member's *access approval* is separate and expires after two hours.
- **Manual disable.** You can disable impersonation of a user at any time, which immediately terminates any active impersonation sessions for that user.
- **Reviewed access.** Each access request from a Tines team member is manually reviewed by Tines before approval.
- **Restricted personnel and devices.** Authentication for impersonation is limited to select members of our support and engineering teams and requires a managed Tines device.
- **Full audit trail.** The audit log records every action a Tines team member takes during impersonation.

## Related pages

- [Authentication settings](https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/authentication-settings/) — SSO and controls for allowing impersonation by users
- [User administration](https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/user-administration/) — Enable impersonation for a specific feature
- [Audit log](https://www.tines.com/stories/docs/audit-logs/) — review actions taken during impersonation