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

# Location access

> How visibility and authorisation combine to control who can find a location and who can charge there.

Location access is how you control two things at a site: who can see it, and who can charge there. You set both through a location's own settings and the tokens and vouchers that grant access to it.

## Overview

Access has two aspects, and every mechanism below controls one or both:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Visibility" icon="smartphone">
    Whether a driver can find the location in an app or map.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Authorisation" icon="key-round">
    Whether a driver can actually start a charging session there.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

A location's own settings set the baseline, and tokens and vouchers layer on top to open access to specific drivers. Each mechanism has a home of its own; this page is how they fit together.

| Mechanism                 | Controls                     | Set in                 |
| ------------------------- | ---------------------------- | ---------------------- |
| Publicly available        | Visibility and authorisation | Location configuration |
| Hidden from charging apps | Visibility                   | Location configuration |
| Enabled for roaming       | Visibility and authorisation | Location configuration |
| Opening hours             | Visibility and authorisation | Location configuration |
| Tokens                    | Authorisation                | Tokens                 |
| Token groups              | Authorisation                | Tokens                 |
| Vouchers                  | Visibility and authorisation | Vouchers               |

## Who can see a location

Two publishing settings decide visibility, and they work independently:

* **Publicly available** lists the location in Spirii Go and the maps where Spirii shares location data, so any driver can find it.
* **Hidden from charging apps** removes that listing without changing who can charge — a driver who already knows the site is there, and carries a valid token, can still use it.

Combined, they give three practical states:

| Publicly available                    | Hidden from apps                      | Result                                                         |
| ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| <Icon icon="check" color="#16a34a" /> | <Icon icon="x" color="#dc2626" />     | Listed in the apps and open to any registered token            |
| <Icon icon="check" color="#16a34a" /> | <Icon icon="check" color="#16a34a" /> | Not listed, but any registered token can charge on arrival     |
| <Icon icon="x" color="#dc2626" />     | <Icon icon="check" color="#16a34a" /> | Not listed, and only vouchers or bound token groups can charge |

**Enabled for roaming** extends visibility further, publishing the location to drivers on other networks through Spirii's roaming partners. See [Roaming connection](/capabilities/roaming/roaming-connection) for how that works. These settings are configured on the location itself — see [Location configuration](/capabilities/connection/location-configuration).

## Who can charge

Whether a driver can start a session comes down to the token they present and the access tied to the location.

* A [token](/components/access/tokens) — a charge key in Connect — authorises charging at any public location in the Spirii network, and on roaming networks too when the location has roaming enabled. This is the default path for a public site: any registered, active token works.
* A **token group** restricts a set of locations to the tokens inside it. Only those tokens can authorise there, and they can do so even when the location isn't public — a token group always grants its members access. It's how you make a depot exclusive to your own fleet's keys.
* A [voucher](/components/access/vouchers) grants a driver both access and a specific rate at a defined set of locations. A driver enters the voucher code in the app, or you link it to a token, and it opens access even where the location is private. See [Voucher access](/capabilities/access/voucher-access) for the full mechanism.

Chargers can also require authentication or allow charging to start on plug-in, and support methods such as Plug & Charge. Those sit with the token rather than the location — [Token authentication](/capabilities/access/token-authentication) covers them.

## How the settings combine

The mechanisms follow a clear order of precedence, and it's worth holding the whole picture in view, since a single setting rarely tells you who can charge.

On a **public** location, any registered token can charge. If you've set [opening hours](/capabilities/connection/location-configuration#opening-hours), that holds during open hours; outside them, the site narrows to drivers whose token is in a bound token group, or who hold a voucher.

On a location that **isn't public**, an ordinary token is declined. Only two things get a driver in: membership of a token group bound to the location, or a valid voucher.

For example, keep Munich DC Hub private and bind your fleet's token group to it: your drivers charge, everyone else is turned away. Add opening hours later and the same site can open to the public by day while staying exclusively yours overnight.

<Note>
  Vouchers and token groups always grant access. They override the public setting and opening hours alike — so a driver with either can charge at a location even when it's private or closed to the public. Treat them as the deliberate exceptions to a location's general rules.
</Note>

## Dependencies & limitations

* **Vouchers and token groups override location settings.** They're absolute grants, so a location's public setting and opening hours don't restrict a driver who holds one. Keep that in mind when you rely on opening hours to limit access.
* **A non-public location declines ordinary tokens.** Only a bound token group or a voucher authorises there; a plain registered token isn't enough.
* **Residential access works differently.** Private, residential-type charge boxes use their own sharing and app-user mechanisms, set from Spirii Go rather than the location settings here.

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Tokens" icon="key-round" href="/components/access/tokens">
    The keys that authorise charging, and the groups that scope them to locations.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Vouchers" icon="badge-percent" href="/components/access/vouchers">
    Codes that grant access and a set rate, overriding a location's own rules.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Voucher access" icon="ticket-check" href="/capabilities/access/voucher-access">
    How vouchers open access and pricing to specific drivers.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Roaming connection" icon="globe" href="/capabilities/roaming/roaming-connection">
    Extend visibility and access to drivers on other networks.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Location configuration" icon="map-pin" href="/capabilities/connection/location-configuration">
    Where a location's publishing settings and opening hours are set.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Token authentication" icon="key-round" href="/capabilities/access/token-authentication">
    How a token authenticates a session, and the methods a charger accepts.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>
