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Admin sign-in

logdrop has no passwords. Maintainers sign in with a magic link emailed to an address on the instance's allow-list (ADMIN_EMAILS).

Admin sign-in page with an email field and a Send login link button


Signing in​

  1. Open /admin (or the Admin link in the top bar). You can also just open any upload link: without a session you're redirected to the sign-in page, and brought back to that upload afterwards.
  2. Enter your email and click Send login link.
  3. Open the email "Your logdrop admin login link" (with the logdrop logo and an Admin sign-in title) and click Log in to logdrop within 15 minutes. If the button doesn't work, the same link is printed in plain text below it.
  4. A confirmation page opens: click Sign in.
  5. You land on the admin dashboard (or the upload you were trying to open), signed in.
Why the extra click

Many mail systems (Microsoft Defender Safe Links and similar) open links in advance to scan them. Since 1.4.0 a login link works only once, so if opening it were enough, the scanner would use it up before you do. Opening the link only shows the Sign in button; the link is used when you press it.

Same answer for everyone

After you submit, the page always says "If that email is registered, a login link is on its way", whether or not the address is on the allow-list. This is deliberate: the sign-in form can't be used to find out which addresses are admins. If no email arrives, double-check the address and your spam folder, then ask the instance operator whether you're on ADMIN_EMAILS.


  • A login link works once, within 15 minutes of being requested. Using it a second time, from any browser, is rejected.
  • Requesting a new link cancels the previous one, even if you hadn't used it yet.
  • The link doesn't contain your email address, only a random token. The instance stores just a hash of it, never the token itself.

Sessions​

  • A session belongs to one browser. The cookie (HttpOnly, Secure) has no expiry date, so it ends when you close the browser session. Another browser, another device, or a browser reopened after the cookie is gone needs a new login link.
  • Whatever the browser does with the cookie, the server ends every session 8 hours after sign-in. Then sign in again.
  • One session per admin: signing in on another browser or device ends your previous session there. The next page you open in the old browser sends you to the sign-in page.
  • The allow-list is re-checked on every request. Removing an address from ADMIN_EMAILS revokes that admin's access immediately, without waiting for the session to expire.
  • Sessions issued before 1.4.0 lasted 7 days and are no longer accepted: after the upgrade, every admin signs in once more.

Signing out​

Click Sign out at the top right of any admin page. The session ends on the server too, so the cookie stops working even if it was copied somewhere else. Your agent token isn't affected: it doesn't depend on your session.

Error messages​

MessageWhat to do
That link expired or was already used. Request a new one below.The link was already used (by you, or in another browser), is older than 15 minutes, was replaced by a newer request, or your address was removed from the allow-list. Request a new link.
Missing login token.The link was truncated (common when copying it by hand). Click it directly from the email, or request a new one.