First Login
Castmill uses passkey-based authentication instead of traditional passwords. Passkeys are a modern, phishing-resistant authentication method built into your browser and operating system.
Creating Your Account
Step 1: Navigate to the Dashboard
Open the Castmill dashboard in your browser. The URL depends on your deployment — for a local setup it's http://localhost:3000.
Step 2: Enter Your Email
Type your email address in the signup field and click Continue. Castmill will send a verification email to that address.
If the network is configured as invitation-only, you won't see the signup form. Instead, you'll see a notice that registration requires an invitation from a network administrator.
Step 3: Check Your Email
Open the verification email and click the link. This takes you back to Castmill to complete your registration.
Step 4: Create Your Passkey
Your browser will prompt you to create a passkey. Depending on your device, this may use:
- Touch ID / Face ID on macOS and iOS
- Windows Hello on Windows
- PIN or biometric on Android
- Security key (USB/NFC) on any platform
Follow the browser prompt to register your passkey. Once complete, your account is created and you can log in.
Logging In
After your account is created:
- Navigate to the dashboard
- Click Login with Passkey
- Your browser prompts you to authenticate with your passkey
- You're logged in — no password to remember
Managing Your Passkeys
You can manage your passkeys from the Settings page:
- Click the Settings gear icon in the sidebar
- Under Security & Authentication, you'll see your registered passkeys
- You can:
- Rename a passkey for easier identification
- Add a new passkey (e.g., register on a second device)
- Delete a passkey (disabled if it's your only one)
Register passkeys on multiple devices so you can always log in, even if one device is unavailable.
Recovering Access
If you lose access to all your passkeys:
- On the login page, click Recover access
- Enter your email address
- Check your email for a recovery link
- Click the link and create a new passkey
The recovery passkey replaces your previous credentials and logs you in immediately.
Invitation-Only Networks
Network administrators can restrict registration to invitation-only. In this mode:
- An admin sends you an invitation email with a registration link
- Click the link to create your account and passkey
- You'll be added to the specified organization automatically
Custom Domain Passkey Setup
When a network administrator sets up a custom domain (e.g., signage.company.com), existing users may receive an email to register a passkey for the new domain. This is because passkeys are domain-bound — a passkey created for app.castmill.com won't work on signage.company.com.
Click the link in the email to create a domain-specific passkey. After setup, you can log in from either domain.