Guest access codes: issuance, tracking and troubleshooting

This guide assumes a lock is already attached to a unit — if not, start with Connect a lock to a unit. Once that setting is in place, YStay runs the whole code cycle on its own, reservation after reservation: issuance at confirmation, the validity window, the channel that reaches the guest, and the troubleshooting steps for when something does not go as expected.

Following the code, reservation by reservation

1. Let confirmation do the work

   Nothing to trigger: when a reservation is confirmed, YStay issues the code in the background and writes it to the lock. The Property access card on the stay page — or on the reservation page — shows the result. Before anything is issued, it reads No active access code.

   A reservation that is not confirmed yet has no stay, and the screen says so: “Confirm the reservation to create the stay and unlock operations (access, check-in/out, proof).”

   

2. View, reissue or revoke the code

   Once a code is issued, the card shows the Code generated: banner followed by the code and the words (shown only once). The code's row stays behind: a status badge — Active, Issued · sending at D-2, Issued · guest notified, Revoked, Expired, Revocation failed — and its window, Valid from … to ….

   On an active code, View code shows it again in clear, with the warning (view is logged): every viewing is recorded. Revoke asks for a reason, then has the provider remove the code — it is the provider that deletes it from the lock, not YStay. Once it answers, the row reads Revoked and the guest can no longer open the door with that code. Generate an access code issues one on demand, for instance after a revocation.

   Below the code list, just above the card's buttons, the Access log section lists the stay's 20 most recent events, newest first — the same log that “(view is logged)” points to above. Each row names its source, System, Host dashboard or Guest app, and a Code viewed row from the Guest app carries the extra line Code viewed by the guest. — that is the only place you see it. Provider errors surface there too. With no history yet, the section reads “No access events recorded yet.”

   If the provider refuses or does not answer, the revocation is not settled: the row reads Revocation failed and shows “Revocation with the provider failed: automatic retry in progress, the code may still work on the door.” A retry leaves on its own and you are warned by notification, but as long as the row does not read Revoked, assume the code still opens.

   One last badge, at the top of the card, sums up the state of the access session. It is not translated: it shows in raw English, “active”. That is a known interface defect, with no consequence for the codes.

   

The validity window

A code is never permanently valid. Its window opens 3 hours before the arrival time and closes on departure, at the end of the check-out window. Without house rules on the listing, YStay falls back to 16:00 for arrival and 11:00 for departure, in the property's time zone. That window is what the code's row summarises with Valid from … to ….

What the guest receives

Email is the reference channel: it goes out automatically, with no action needed from the guest. The message is titled “Your access code for your stay”; the code is highlighted in an “Access code” panel, followed by its expiry, “Valid until ….” It is sent in the guest's own language.

Alongside it, if the guest uses the app, a Your access is ready notification lets them know — but it does not contain the code: it only says where to find it, no longer limited to pointing at the email. It opens this reservation's page, where the code can be viewed. YStay sends no SMS.

The code is also viewable in the app, in two places — the My stay tab, and this reservation's own page — a second channel, not a replacement for email. It appears there from 48 hours before arrival and stays visible until the end of its validity window, or until it is revoked. Hidden by default, it only reveals itself after an explicit tap on the Show the code button — a second button, Hide the code, hides it again afterwards; a viewing is then logged, at most once per day and per code — visible to you in the stay's Access log, the row proves a viewing happened that day, not how many times.

While there is nothing to show, the screen says so plainly:

• Not available yet. The 48-hour window before arrival has not opened yet — the screen gives the date to come back.
• Not issued yet. No code has been generated for this stay yet.
• Unit with no connected lock. No automatic issuance is possible.
• This code is no longer available here. Three causes produce this same message: its validity window has passed, the code has been revoked, or its revocation — which you requested — has not yet succeeded at the provider (the row's badge, above): until it reads Revoked, the code may still work on the door.
• Insurance certificate required. The listing requires one and none has been accepted for this stay yet: the screen tells the guest, who is waiting for your instructions — see Insurance certificates.

When arrival is still far off, the code is issued but delivery waits: the row announces “Sent automatically to the guest 48 h before arrival.” and the badge reads Issued · sending at D-2. On the day, the email goes out and a Your arrival is coming up notification reminds the guest where to find it.

If no code shows up

• No active lock on the unit. The screen answers “No active lock: attach a lock first.” — that same message is shown whatever the real cause, so always check this point first.
• The reservation is not confirmed. No stay, no access: confirm it first.
• The stay is cancelled. No code can be issued on a cancelled stay any more. Revoking the existing codes, though, is only requested at cancellation — it may still be in progress at the provider (the row's badge, above): Revoked or Revocation failed.
• An active code already exists. Automatic issuance never duplicates a live code.
• The listing requires an insurance certificate and none has been accepted for the arrival period: issuance stays on hold until one is.
• The provider did not answer. YStay warns you with a notification, and manual issuance stays available from the stay page.

Next

• Connect a lock to a unit — attach the provider and the lock before following this guide.
• Insurance certificates: accept, reject, unblock access — the decision that holds back, or releases, the door code.
• Inspections: policy, guest link, templates — record the state of the unit on either side of that access.