Create a Credential

Create a Credential

This guide walks community staff through issuing a single new credential — a card, PIN, or vehicle credential — with the New credential wizard. For the full picture of the Credentials tab, see "Managing Access Credentials"; for what the formats are and who can hold them, see "What Types of Credentials Does MyWatchtower Support?".

Before you start

• You need a role that can create credentials. If the actions here are missing for you, ask your community Admin.
• Your community needs at least one group (Brivo) or access level (HID). Until one exists, the Create Credential button is disabled, and its tooltip tells you which of the two to create first — see "Create a Brivo Group" or "Create an HID Access Level".
• If the credential will belong to a vehicle, register the vehicle first — see "Vehicle Credentials".

Step 1 — Enter Details

Open Access > Credentials and click Create Credential.

1. Search for and select the Property the credential belongs to. 2. Under Assign to, choose the holder type — Guest ("Personal visitor"), Vendor ("Service provider"), or Resident ("Property occupant") — then pick the person. 3. Optionally, select a Vehicle to tie the credential to.

Changing the property clears every choice below it, so settle the property first.

Step 2 — Select Format & Groups (or Access Levels)

On HID communities this step is titled Select Format & Access Levels.

1. Pick a format card and fill in its Credential Values fields.

• On Brivo communities, the facility code pre-fills from your community settings.
• On HID communities, card and PIN values are digits-only, and PINs must be an exact length.

2. Choose the credential's groups (Brivo) or access levels (HID).

• HID requires at least one access level.
• On Brivo, the list pre-fills with the holder's existing group memberships. Clearing one removes that membership from all of the person's credentials, so untick with care.

3. Under Credential Validity, either check Permanent credential for no expiry, or set Effective From and Effective To dates. Every holder type — residents, guests, and vendors alike — can hold either a permanent or a dated credential.

A credential that duplicates one already in the community is rejected.

Step 3 — Review

Confirm every section — each has an Edit link back to the step it came from — then click Create Credential. The new credential appears in the Credentials list, labeled TEMP (dated) or PERM (permanent).

After creating

• Click the new row to open its details page and confirm the holder, field values, validity window, and the groups or access levels it opens.
• To move it to a different person later, see "Assign or Reassign a Credential".

Need Help?

If something here doesn't match what you see, your community may use the other hardware provider, or your role may not include the needed credentials permission — check with your community Admin, or submit a help desk ticket.