---
title: Collaborating with Swimlane Users
slug: collaborating-with-swimlane-users
docTags: 
createdAt: 2025-08-11T11:13:48.000Z
---

Swimlane Turbine enables you to securely collaborate with Swimlane support staff without requiring them to be onboarded as internal users. This gives you the flexibility to grant or revoke access as needed, without worrying about licensing limits, authentication management, or persistent user accounts.

## Accessing External User Settings

1. Go to the **Admin Panel**.
2. Select **Settings** from the sidebar.
3. Click the **Account** tab.
4. Open the **External Users** sub-tab.

## Allow External Users

You can allow external Swimlane users to access your account by enabling the **Allow existing external users** toggle. These users must already exist in the Swimlane account to be eligible for access. **Click Save after you enable it.**

- **When the toggle is ON:**
  - External users can be invited and added to your account.
  - Previously disabled external users will be reactivated, provided they are still active in their original Swimlane environment.
- **When the toggle is OFF:**
  - All external users associated with your account are immediately disabled and cannot log in.
  - New external users cannot be invited until you turn the toggle back ON.

After enabling the toggle, click **Save** to display the **Invite external users** and **View all users** buttons.

## Inviting External Users

You can invite external Swimlane users to your account in two ways:

### Option 1: From Account Settings

1. Navigate to **Settings > Account > External Users**.
2. Click **Invite external users**.

### Option 2: From the Users Panel

1. Go to **Users** in the sidebar.
2. Click the **Add user** drop-down and select **Invite External user**.

## Information Needed for Inviting an External User

When inviting an external user, only minimal information is required:

### Profile Details

- **Email:** Enter the Swimlane user’s email address.
- **Account Admin:** (Optional) Enable if the user should have administrative privileges.
- **Notify via email:** Enabled by default to send an invitation to the user.

### Groups & Roles

- **Groups:** Select one or more groups the user should belong to.
- **Roles:** Assign the specific permissions the user needs.

:::hint{type="info"}
By default, no groups or roles are assigned. You must manually select the desired group(s) and role(s) for each external user.
:::

## Managing External Users

You have full control over the lifecycle and permissions of external users. You can view, manually disable, bulk re-enable, and permanently delete external users, while maintaining complete visibility and auditability.

### Viewing External Users

- **Settings > Account > External Users > View all users:** See a complete list of both internal and external accounts. When external users are disabled, they appear in a **disabled state** for transparency.
- **Users panel in the sidebar:** External users are labeled with an **External user** indicator. You can view or update a user’s groups, roles, and tenant assignments as needed.

### Manually Disabling and Enabling Users

- Disable or re-enable individual external users at any time from the **Users** panel.
- Manually disabled users will remain disabled even if you bulk re-enable external users using the toggle.

### Bulk Re-Enabling External Users

When you turn the external user access toggle back ON, all users disabled by the toggle will be bulk re-enabled—**except**:

- Users disabled in their parent Swimlane account (they will remain disabled).
- Users manually disabled in your account (they will also remain disabled).

### Deleting External Users

- Disabling a user does not remove them from your account.
- To permanently remove an external user:
  1. Go to the **Users** panel.
  2. Locate and select the user.
  3. Choose **Delete**.
  4. Once deleted, the user cannot be restored without a new invitation.

### Automatic Deactivation

If a Swimlane user leaves the company, they are automatically disabled across all customer accounts.

Disabled users are not able to log in to your account until you enable access again (either by turning the toggle back ON or manually re-enabling them). This lets you keep the same external users in your system and control exactly when they have access, without needing to re-invite or recreate their accounts each time.

## Authentication and Validation

Authentication and access management for external users is fully handled by Swimlane. External users log in using their existing Swimlane credentials (including SSO and 2FA, if enabled on their account).

You do not need to configure or validate authentication for external users—Swimlane manages secure login handling.

## Audit Logging

- Adding users to an account
- Changes in user permissions and role assignments
- Actions performed by users within the account
- When a user is disabled or deleted
- When a user logs in

## Example: On-Demand Access for Swimlane Support

### Scenario

A customer organization, **ExampleOrg Inc.**, is launching a new automation playbook in their Swimlane Turbine environment. During configuration, they encounter an unexpected error and request assistance from a Swimlane support engineer.

Instead of granting full user access or creating a new internal account, **ExampleOrg Inc.** uses the Swimlane External User Access feature to securely and temporarily grant access to the Swimlane employee.

### Step-by-Step Walkthrough

**Enable External User Access**

1. Navigate to **Admin Panel > Settings > Account > External Users**.
2. Toggle **Allow existing external users** to **ON**.
3. Click **Save**.

:::hint{type="info"}
- The external user you invite must already exist in a Swimlane account.
- You must click Save after enabling the toggle. Only then will the Invite external users and View all users buttons become available.
:::

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/511c8QBH-VHiwWnyzIwUb/Q5n7XA0pff5tF4IZJY4kV_external-users.png)

**Invite the Swimlane Support Engineer**

1. Click **Invite external users**.
2. In the dialog:
   - Enter the support engineer’s email (for example, [abc.support@swimlane.com](mailto\:abc.support@swimlane.com)).
   - Assign the needed roles and groups (for example, **Read-Only - Automations**, **Professional Services**).
   - Ensure **Notify via email** is checked.
3. Click **Invite**.

The engineer receives an invitation and logs in using Swimlane SSO credentials. No additional setup is required.

::Image[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/511c8QBH-VHiwWnyzIwUb/4dEFYqsExOH2mty9TbzSy_invite-external-users.png" size="80" width="865" height="662" position="center" showCaption="false"}

**Engineer Provides Support**

- The engineer’s access is limited to assigned roles and groups.
- All actions and account access are automatically logged.

**Revoke Access After Support Is Complete**

1. Go to **Users > **[abc.support@swimlane.com](mailto\:abc.support@swimlane.com).
2. Disable the user, or, if needed, go to **Settings > Account > External Users** and toggle **Allow existing external users** to **OFF** to disable all at once.
3. If the user is no longer needed, permanently delete them from the **Users** panel.