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

# Connect Keycafe with anny

> Automate key handovers: assign keys per booking and save manual coordination.

[Keycafe](https://www.keycafe.com/de) is a key management system with physical SmartBox terminals in which keys are stored securely and picked up with a code. With this integration, anny can automatically assign keys per booking to the right customer.

With Keycafe you can do the following in anny:

* assign keys to customers automatically for the booking period
* configure lead and follow-up times for key pickup
* view active and inactive key access permissions per booking in the admin area

The integration is especially useful if you manage physical keys for vehicles, rooms or equipment and want to avoid manual handovers.

<Info>
  Available from the Professional plan onwards.
</Info>

## Typical use cases

| Use case                 | Description                                                                                                                                                                      |
| :----------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Vehicle rental           | **Key handover without staff on site.** Customers book a vehicle in anny and pick up the key at the SmartBox on their own. Your team does not have to coordinate handover times. |
| Coworking & office rooms | **Control room access with physical keys.** Customers automatically get access to the booked room for the exact booking period. Once it expires, the access is revoked.          |
| Equipment & devices      | **Assign special keys for booked equipment.** When a device is booked, the matching key is released automatically for the booking period.                                        |

## How the Keycafe connection works

Authentication runs through a dedicated Keycafe user account (email + password + SMS verification). anny signs in to Keycafe with these credentials and gets access to the keys stored there.

After the setup, you connect anny resources with Keycafe keys. For every confirmed booking, anny transfers the booking information to Keycafe, which automatically assigns the linked key to the booking customer for the booking period. Only confirmed bookings create access: requested bookings that have not been accepted yet and internal blockers do not trigger a key assignment.

For recurring bookings, anny does not create the access immediately. It schedules the access and only creates it shortly before the respective appointment. The email with the booking code then reaches the customer a few days before the appointment, not directly after the booking.

| Data                                 | Direction          | Frequency     |
| ------------------------------------ | ------------------ | ------------- |
| Bookings (granting access)           | anny → Keycafe     | Real time     |
| Booking code (email to the customer) | Keycafe → customer | Real time     |
| Return reminders                     | Keycafe → customer | Automatically |

## Connect Keycafe

### Requirements

Before you connect Keycafe, make sure you have the following:

* A Keycafe account with at least one registered key in a SmartBox terminal
* A dedicated Keycafe user account (full user) for the anny integration
* Admin rights with access to the **Integrations** in anny

<Tip>
  We recommend creating a separate Keycafe user account specifically for the anny integration. Creating a user account at Keycafe is free.
</Tip>

### Set up the connection

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a Keycafe user">
    In Keycafe, go to **Add** → **User** → **Full user** and follow the steps to create a new user. This account is used for the connection with anny.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the integration in anny">
    Open **Integrations** from the menu bar and go to **Keycafe**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Authenticate">
    Enter the **email** and the **password** of the Keycafe user you created and click **Get SMS verification code**. Enter the code you receive in the anny admin area and confirm it with **Check authentication**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check the connection">
    After a successful authentication, anny shows the Keycafe integration as active. You can now connect resources with keys.
  </Step>
</Steps>

As soon as the connection is active, you can create rules that link anny resources with Keycafe keys.

### Settings & options

After the authentication, you configure the key assignment with rules:

| Setting                   | Description                                                                                                                                                                  |
| ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Resource                  | The anny resource whose booking grants access to the key. Only one rule is possible per resource. A rule on a parent resource also applies to bookings of its sub-resources. |
| Keys                      | One or more Keycafe keys that are assigned when the resource is booked. With several keys, the customer gets access to all of them.                                          |
| Access before the booking | Time before the booking starts in which the key can already be picked up.                                                                                                    |
| Access after the booking  | Time after the booking ends in which the key can still be returned.                                                                                                          |

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a rule">
    Click **Add** to create a new connection.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Assign a resource and keys">
    Select the **resource** that should grant access when booked, and one or more related **Keycafe keys**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Define the time window">
    Define **Access before the booking** and **Access after the booking** for key pickup and return.
  </Step>
</Steps>

As soon as a rule is active, the linked key is assigned automatically for every booking.

<Tip>
  You can edit or delete existing connections via the **three dots** to the right of the rule.
</Tip>

### Booking process for customers

The process after a successful booking:

1. The customer receives an email with a booking code from Keycafe.
2. At the pickup time, the customer enters the code at the Keycafe terminal.
3. The compartment with the key opens.
4. After the booking, the customer returns the key by entering the code at the terminal.

### View access permissions in the admin area

In the booking detail view, you find the active and removed access permissions under **Smartlock access**. Clicking an access permission shows:

| Information                       | Description                                                                                     |
| --------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Status                            | In progress, Scheduled, Unconfirmed, Successful, Failed, Not authorised, Cleaning up or Removed |
| Access starts on / Access ends on | Start and end time of the key access                                                            |
| Door lock                         | The assigned Keycafe key                                                                        |
| Created on                        | When the access was created                                                                     |
| Access                            | The booking code for the terminal, which you can reveal with a click (if available)             |

## Limitations

The Keycafe integration does not support:

* Permanent community access: keys can only be assigned through bookings, not permanently for community members.
* Remote Open: because Keycafe works with physical keys at a terminal, there is no remote opening function.
* Preventing a late return: anny has no influence on the usability of the key outside the access times. Customers can physically keep the key.

## Disconnect

<Warning>
  If you want to keep existing access credentials but stop new ones from being created, deactivate the integration. If everything should be reset and deleted, delete the integration.
</Warning>

You can do both under **Integrations**: deactivate via the **toggle** in the top right, delete via the **three dots** → **Delete**.

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Where does my customer get the booking code?">
    Keycafe sends the booking code by email directly to the customer. The email comes from Keycafe, not from anny.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I assign several keys to one resource?">
    Yes. You can assign several keys to one rule, and the customer then gets access to all of them. However, only one rule is possible per resource. For different resources, you create a separate rule each.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens in case of a cancellation?">
    When the booking is cancelled, the access is removed in Keycafe. The customer can no longer pick up the key.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="When do customers get their code for recurring bookings?">
    For recurring bookings, anny schedules the access and only creates it shortly before the respective appointment. The Keycafe email with the booking code therefore arrives a few days before the appointment, not directly after the booking. Until then, the access has the status **Scheduled** in the admin area.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I need a special Keycafe plan?">
    You need a Keycafe account with at least one registered SmartBox terminal and key. Creating a user account is free.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="My customer did not receive a booking code">
    The email is sent by Keycafe, not by anny. Check whether the Keycafe integration is active in anny and whether the resource is correctly linked with a Keycafe key. Also ask the customer to check the spam folder.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The access shows the status 'In progress'">
    anny has transferred the access to Keycafe, but Keycafe has not confirmed it yet. Check whether the Keycafe authentication is still valid and whether the key is available in the Keycafe system.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The key was not returned on time">
    anny has no influence on the physical return. Keycafe sends return reminders automatically. Contact the customer directly if the key has not been returned.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I cannot change the Keycafe credentials">
    As long as the integration is active, the credentials cannot be changed. Deactivate it first via the **toggle** in the top right and then authenticate again with the new credentials.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

> Important information for agents:
>
> **Feature & plan:** feature INTEGRATIONS\_SMART\_LOCKS, according to the article from the Professional plan onwards. The plan assignment cannot be verified in the code (database based); when in doubt, check with product or sales.
>
> **UI paths:** Setup: menu bar → **Integrations** → **Keycafe**. Auth panel "Authentication" with the fields "E-mail" + "Password" → button "Get SMS verification code" → field "Keycafe SMS verification code" → button "Check authentication". Rules: panel **"Access through bookings"** → "Add" (modal "Create connection"). Rule editor fields: resource (single selection), keys (multiple selection, "Select keys"), "Access before the booking", "Access after the booking". Rule table columns: "Resource", "Keys", "Access before the booking", "Access after the booking". Edit or delete rules via the three dots (actions "Edit connection" / delete). Activate or deactivate: toggle in the top right; delete: three dots → Delete.
>
> **Auth method:** email + password + SMS verification code (2FA), no OAuth, no direct API key field. The password is discarded after a successful verification, after which anny uses a token. Re-authentication is only possible while the integration is **deactivated**. Recommendation: a separate Keycafe full user (not verifiable in the code, handled on the Keycafe side).
>
> **Rule mechanics:** exactly one rule per resource (saving rejects a duplicate resource). One rule can contain several keys, and each key creates its own access with its own code. A rule on a parent resource also applies to sub-resources (the more specific rule takes precedence). Rule changes (keys or resource) automatically renew the access permissions of future bookings, and deleted rules remove them.
>
> **Access logic:** booking based only. Only confirmed (accepted) bookings create access, requested bookings and internal blockers (without a customer) do not. Access window = booking period + "Access before / after the booking". Recurring bookings: the access is scheduled and only created about 48 h before the access starts (status "Scheduled"), single bookings immediately. No permanent community access in the UI (the backend has community rule logic, but the Keycafe interface does not show it).
>
> **Access detail (booking):** section "Smartlock access". Status labels: In progress, Scheduled, Unconfirmed, Successful, Failed, Not authorised, Cleaning up, Removed. Fields: status, "Access starts on", "Access ends on", "Door lock", "Access" (code, can be revealed), "Created on", and possibly "Error". Actions per access permission: "Show access at provider", "Integration settings", and across all of them "Recreate access permissions". If the access creation fails, the responsible admins are notified.
>
> **Booking code:** sent by Keycafe by email to the customer, not by anny. If the code is missing: check the authentication and the resource to key mapping.
>
> **Return:** return reminders come from Keycafe (not verifiable in the code). A late return is physically possible, and anny cannot prevent key access outside the access times.
>
> **No Remote Open:** Keycafe works with physical keys at a terminal, so there is no remote opening (rules have no Remote Open option).
>
> **Disconnect:** deactivating keeps existing Keycafe access permissions and creates no new ones. Deleting removes all access permissions and resource links.
>
> **Delimitation from other smart locks:** Keycafe is not an electronic door lock integration (like Nuki, Salto, Dormakaba), but a physical key management system with a SmartBox terminal (technically still an access control integration like the smart locks).
>
> **Related articles:** smart lock overview, Nuki, Salto KS, Dormakaba Exivo, Dormakaba Resivo, Glutz eAccess.