How do visitor codes work?
4 min readUpdated 25 Aug 2026For renters, owners, managers, estate staff and gate teams
Short answer
You create a code, you send it to your visitor, and the guard checks it at the gate to let them in. Short codes work once and long ones keep working until they expire, so a plumber coming this afternoon and a cleaner coming every Saturday are not the same code.
Who are you?
Parts of this page change for renters, owners, managers, estate staff and gate teams
The longer version
A code is six characters and a QR square that carries the same thing. Your visitor can read it out at the gate or show the square. Both land in the same place, so a visitor with a cracked screen is not a problem.
Say what it is for
Every code carries its reason: somebody coming to visit, a delivery, a repair, or a guest. It is not paperwork. It is what the guard sees before he opens the gate, and it is what you see afterwards when you want to know who came through on Saturday.
How long it lasts, and whether it works twice
You choose how long the code should be good for, from a few minutes to a month, and that one choice also settles whether it works more than once. The short ones are for a single arrival: the Bolt rider comes in and the code is done. The long ones keep working until they expire, which is what you want for the cleaner who comes every Saturday.
There is no separate switch for using a code twice, and that is on purpose. One choice that means one thing is harder to get wrong at 11pm than two switches that contradict each other.
| The Bolt rider outside now | The shortest option. In and done. |
|---|---|
| The plumber this afternoon | An hour or so. Still one arrival. |
| Your in-law staying the week | A week. Comes and goes freely. |
| The cleaner every Saturday | A month. One code, no reminders to yourself. |
How many you get
I rent here
On the Resident plan, 100 codes a month. In a normal month with a delivery or two a week, that is not a number you will meet.
Cancelling one
Cancel a code and it stops working immediately. Worth doing when the plumber cancels, when a guest leaves early, or when you sent a week-long code to somebody you have since fallen out with.
- Does the visitor need the app?
- No, and this is the point. They need a code you sent them by WhatsApp or by text. Nobody downloads anything to walk through a gate.
- Can I see who used a code?
- You can see the code was used and when. If you need to know which of your visitors it was, put it in the note when you create it.
- What if the code does not work at the gate?
- Usually it has expired, or it was a single-arrival code that has already been used. Both show plainly when the guard checks it, so the guard is never guessing and neither is your visitor.
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