Magic-link visitor management

Magic-link wins on three dimensions: friction (zero install), security (single-use token tied to a booking), and member trust (the invite carries the member's name, not yours). It loses on one dimension: if the guest's phone is dead, they need a fallback — usually a 6-digit code at reception.

The three flows magic-link replaces

• The clipboard. Paper sign-in sheets. Lose data on day 1; lose compliance on day 8; lose member trust on day 30.
• The visitor app.10MB download, account creation, push permission. Members' guests skip 60% of the time, so reception ends up adding them by hand.
• The pre-printed badge.Works in a tower; doesn't scale to a coworking space with 30+ visitors a day across multiple members.

We replaced the clipboard on a Tuesday. By Friday, the front desk was asking why we hadn't done it eighteen months ago. The compliance report wrote itself.

The member sends the invite from the booking confirmation screen — “Add a guest” surfaces an email + phone form. The link is delivered via SMS by default (90%+ open rate inside 5 minutes; email fallback if no mobile country code is set).

What goes in the invite

1. Member's name.The invite reads “Sara from Mercer & Co. has invited you to…” — not “LiteHQ has invited you….” The relationship is member-to-guest, not platform-to-guest.
2. The room and time.Concrete: “Atrium · 10 Sale St · Tue 21 May · 14:00.” Add a map link, even if the guest has been before.
3. The magic link.Big, tappable, “Open door” or “Check in” depending on whether you have access control wired.
4. The fallback.A 6-digit code below the link. Reception can verify it manually if the guest's phone is dead.

90 seconds before the booking, the magic link activates. The guest taps it on their lock screen, the link opens to a check-in confirmation, and (if Salto-style access control is wired) the door clicks for them. The host gets a push notification: “Jamie has arrived.”

The three modes

• Auto-door (Salto, Brivo, Kisi).Guest taps, door unlocks. The host is pinged but doesn't need to do anything. Works only if access control is on your authorised integrations list (see Section 5).
• Reception-assisted.Guest shows the open link to the front desk. Receptionist taps “Verify” on the kiosk, door opens. The default for smaller spaces or shared lobbies.
• Self-check (kiosk). Guest scans a QR code on a kiosk, enters the 6-digit code, kiosk prints a name badge. Works without staff for after-hours access.

Every magic-link visit creates an audit row. The host, the guest, the room, the time in, the time out, the verification method (auto-door, reception, kiosk). Exportable as CSV for the cases where you need to hand it to someone — fire marshal, insurer, building manager. Three properties worth knowing about.

The three audit guarantees

1. Tamper-evident. Every row is hash-chained. A row deleted out of band breaks the chain and shows up in the next audit export.
2. Time-bounded link. The magic-link token is valid only from 90s before booking start until 90 minutes after end. Outside that window the link is a 410 Gone — no half-stale tokens floating around.
3. Privacy-by-default. Visitor emails and phone numbers are stored with a 90-day retention by default. Configurable per-tenant; many operators shorten to 30. After expiry, only the audit-row metadata (room/time/host) remains.

Salto KS, Brivo Onair, and Kisi are the three access-control systems LiteHQ supports for direct magic-link → door unlock. Setup is similar across all three: enable the integration in the operator dashboard, paste the API key, map your doors to rooms. Once mapped, magic-link visits trigger an unlock event automatically; no further config needed.

Salto KS, the short version

• Enable. Settings → Integrations → Salto. Click connect.
• Authenticate. Paste your Salto KS Client ID and Secret. (Generate them from the Salto admin panel.)
• Map doors → rooms. The dashboard shows a drag-and-drop map interface. Each LiteHQ room gets one or more doors. Front-door access is its own row at the top.
• Test. Send yourself a magic-link invite for an empty 10-min booking. Tap. The door should click within 1-2 seconds. If not, double-check the door-to-room mapping.

{
  "event": "visit.checkin",
  "visit_id": "v_8a3f",
  "tenant_id": "stretch",
  "room_id": "atrium",
  "host_member_id": "m_42",
  "guest_email": "jamie@external.example",
  "method": "auto-door",
  "timestamp": "2026-05-21T14:01:23Z"
}

The eight questions members and guests ask in month one. Memorise the answers; put them under reception.