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

# Inviting Members

> Add and invite people to Windmill, manage pending invitations, and control how new members get access through Slack, HRIS sync, or email invites.

Invite employees when they need access to the Windmill Dashboard or Windy in Slack. There is no separate Slack-only access to Windy.

An **employee** is a person in your org chart. A **member** is an employee or another person who has workspace access. A **user** is the sign-in identity linked to a member. These records have different purposes.

## Who can invite members

Admins, HR Admins, and Integration Managers can invite employees across the company and assign any available role.

Managers can also invite direct and indirect reports when **Allow managers to invite reports** is enabled in **Settings > Security**. Managers can only:

* Invite employees in their reporting subtree
* Assign the Team Member role

Managers cannot invite a person who is not already in their reporting subtree. An Admin, HR Admin, or Integration Manager must handle that invitation.

## Inviting members across the company

Admins, HR Admins, and Integration Managers can use the Members page.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Go to Settings > Members">
    Open [Members](https://app.gowindmill.com/COMPANY/config/members), then select **Invite members**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter email addresses and a default role">
    Add one or more work email addresses. Select the role that most invitees need. You can change an individual role in the next step.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Match and edit employee details">
    Review the employee records that Windmill matches. Add missing names, managers, job titles, or other required details.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose invitation notifications">
    Select email, Slack, both channels, or no notification. Slack notification is available only when Slack is connected and Windmill finds the employee's Slack account.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review and add the members">
    Review each role and manager assignment. Select **Send Invites** when you chose a notification channel. Select **Add Members** when you chose no notification channel.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Use a work email that is associated with the employee. For SAML single sign-on (SSO), the primary invitation email must match the SAML sign-in email.

## Inviting your reports

When manager invitations are enabled, a manager can select **Invite members** and choose uninvited employees from their reporting subtree.

This action is available from the **Invite members** quick link. Managers do not get access to **Settings > Members**.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Select reports">
    Choose one or more direct or indirect reports who do not have member access.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review employee details">
    Confirm each employee's name, email address, manager, and job title.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review and invite">
    Windmill assigns the Team Member role. Review the notification channels, then send the invitations or add the members without a notification.
  </Step>
</Steps>

If **Invite members** is not available, ask an Admin to check **Allow managers to invite reports** in **Settings > Security**.

<Note>
  Windmill notifies active Admins when a manager adds members. The notice lists the new members and explains that the change can affect billing.
</Note>

## Invitation notifications

Adding a member and notifying the member are separate actions. You can use:

* **Email:** Sends an invitation to the member's work email.
* **Slack:** Sends a welcome message from Windy in a Slack direct message.
* **Email and Slack:** Sends both notifications.
* **No notification:** Creates member access without sending a message.

Adding a member does not provide access to private source content. Google documents, meetings, Slack channels, and other connected content keep their applicable source and feature permissions.

## Managing pending invitations

The Members page shows an invitation status beside the member's email address.

### Pending invitation

A pending-invitation indicator means that Windmill sent an invitation, but the member has not signed in.

Select the indicator to view the status. Use **Change Invite Email** if you must cancel the old invitation and send a new invitation to a different address.

### Missing invitation

A missing-invitation indicator means that the member exists but no active invitation is available.

Select the indicator, then select **Resend Member Invite**. Windmill sends the invitation by email and Slack when those channels are available.

## Automatic member provisioning

The method that creates the employee record does not always create member access.

| Method                | Employee record                          | Member access                                      | Automatic notification      |
| --------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------- |
| Manual invitation     | Created or matched during the invitation | Created when you finish the invitation             | Email, Slack, both, or none |
| SAML SSO without SCIM | Can be matched by email                  | Can be created on the first successful SSO sign-in | None                        |
| SCIM                  | Provisioned from the identity provider   | Provisioned from the identity provider             | None                        |

<Note>
  **Provisioning via SCIM or Rippling does not send invite emails or Slack messages.** When users are provisioned through [SCIM](/security/sso-and-scim) or [Rippling](/integrations/rippling), they're created as members in Windmill automatically, but no invitation email or Slack message is sent. You'll need to share access details with them through your own communication channels.
</Note>

## Roles after invitation

The member receives the role that was selected during invitation or provisioning. Managers are defined by the org chart, not by a separate role.

See [Permissions and Access](/permissions-and-access) for the current role matrix and instructions to change a role.

## First access

After a manual invitation:

1. The member opens the email or Slack message, if you sent one.
2. The member signs in with the authentication email on their member record.

If you did not send a notification, share the Windmill sign-in link through your own communication channel.

## FAQs

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What if someone uses a different email for authentication?">
    For SAML SSO, the primary invitation email must match the SAML sign-in email. For other sign-in methods, use an email associated with the employee. On **Settings > Members**, select the pending-invitation indicator beside the email address and use **Change Invite Email** when you must replace the primary invitation email.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I invite someone without a manager?">
    An Admin, HR Admin, or Integration Manager can invite the employee. Without a manager, the employee has no upstream manager scope in the org chart. Assign the correct manager when you want reporting-subtree access to apply.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if my HRIS adds new employees—do I need to invite them?">
    Yes. When your HRIS syncs new employees to Windmill, they appear in your org chart but aren't automatically invited. You need to manually invite them to give them Windmill access.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do SCIM or Rippling provisioned users receive invite emails or Slack messages?">
    No. When users are provisioned through SCIM or Rippling, they're created as members in Windmill automatically, but Windmill does not send an invitation email or Slack message. Communicate access details to them through your own channels.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is removing a member the same as archiving access?">
    The **Remove member** action archives the member record. Windmill keeps the employee record and historical data. You can reactivate a manually managed member from the Members page.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>