> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.chronosphere.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# User accounts

A *user account* represents a user's identity in Chronosphere Observability Platform.
Accounts can belong to [*teams*](/administer/accounts-teams/teams), which group
and distribute permissions to its members.

## Grant System Administrator (`SysAdmin`) privileges to users

You can grant permissions to teams, which then confer those permissions to its users.
A user account that's a member of a team with the `SysAdmin` role has administrative
access to Observability Platform features. This includes the abilities to create teams
and user accounts, assign users to teams, and define team permissions.

For instructions about assigning roles to a team, see
[Add a role to a team](/administer/accounts-teams/teams#add-a-role-to-a-team).

## Authenticating as a user

To [authenticate](/overview/authenticating) with Observability Platform, a user
typically signs in interactively with their user account.

A user account can also use a temporary
[personal access token](/administer/accounts-teams/personal-access-tokens)
for non-interactive authentication, such as with tools like Chronoctl or for clients
that interact with the Chronosphere API.

Observability Platform attributes all actions that a user takes to their user
account.

<Note>
  User accounts are distinct from *service accounts*, which provide identities for
  services and allow administrators to define what each service can access. Service
  accounts authenticate non-interactively using a unique API token permanently associated
  with each account.

  For details, refer to [Service accounts](/administer/accounts-teams/service-accounts).
</Note>

## View accounts

You can view accounts in the navigation menu, or by using Chronoctl.

In the navigation menu, click **<Icon icon="shield-user" /> Go to Admin** and then select
**Platform <span aria-label="and then">></span> Users**.

For details, see
[Accounts and teams](/administer/accounts-teams#view-accounts-and-teams).

## Add a user account

<Note>
  To add user accounts, you must use an account that belongs to a team with the
  `SysAdmin` role.

  This process applies only to accounts *without* single sign-on enabled. For details,
  see [Authenticating with Chronosphere](/overview/authenticating).
</Note>

To add a user account, you must have administrative privileges:

1. In the navigation menu, click **<Icon icon="shield-user" /> Go to Admin** and then select
   **Platform <span aria-label="and then">></span> Users**.
2. Click **<Icon icon="plus" /> Add user**.
3. Enter the user's email address into the field.
4. Click **Invite User**.
5. Optional: Add the user to a [team](/administer/accounts-teams/teams). Users
   without an assigned team receive viewer permissions.

Observability Platform sends an invitation email to the address containing a link to
verify and access the user account.

After the user accepts the invitation, they must verify their account, at which point
the user's email address appears in the list of accounts with a green checkmark.

## Delete a user account

To remove a user account from Observability Platform:

1. If your environment uses a single sign-on (SSO) provider, remove the user account
   from the identity provider (IdP) permission group to prevent the user from signing
   in to Observability Platform.
2. To remove the user account from display in Observability Platform itself, create a
   ticket with Chronosphere Support and request to have the user account deleted.

### Users of Okta with SCIM

If you're using Okta and have SCIM integrated with the Observability Platform
connection, removing the user from access in the IdP deprovisions and removes the
user from Observability Platform.

### Service accounts

<Warning>
  Ensure a service account isn't being used before you delete it. Service account
  tokens are used by critical components of Observability Platform (including the
  Chronosphere Collector), and incorrectly deleting a service account can significantly
  impact your environment.
</Warning>

Deleted user accounts with access to a service account token can continue to access
Observability Platform when using tools like Chronoctl and Terraform. To avoid access
by these accounts, delete any service accounts created by deleted user accounts. To
find these accounts, in the navigation menu, click
**<Icon icon="shield-user" /> Go to Admin** and then select
**Platform <span aria-label="and then">></span> Service Accounts**
and review the **Created By** column.