---
title: Signing in to Omniscio (and having one account, not two)
---
# Signing in to Omniscio (and having one account, not two)

## What it is

> **Status:** shipped. Sign-in is required — there is no "skip" button on any build.
> Today the way in is **Google** (plus **GitHub**, only where it is configured). Desktop
> only; a phone signs in by pairing with a desktop that already did.
> Contract: global-auth-gate-contract.
>
> **Email + password is turned OFF right now** (owner decision, 2026-08-31) and goes back on
> for users later. It is built and unchanged — the switch is one boolean — so everything
> below about the email door describes how it behaves **when it is on**, not what you see on
> the sign-in screen today. While it is off there is no email form, no "Forgot password?",
> and no **Set a password** row, and an account cannot be created with an email address.
> Already set a password? Nothing was taken away — it still exists on your account and works
> again when the door re-opens. Until then, sign in with **Google at that same address**: one
> address is one account, so it is the same account either way.

The sign-in screen you meet before Omniscio opens, plus the matching card at **Settings →
Accounts**. It is separate from the Claude/Anthropic login that runs your sessions — this
one is your _Omniscio_ account, and it is what your plan, your team, and cloud sync hang off.

## Where to find it

The sign-in screen that appears before Omniscio opens, plus the matching card at **Settings → Accounts**.

## How it behaves

### One address is one account

Omniscio allows **one account per email address**. That is a deliberate setting, and it is
the thing to understand if you ever wonder why two sign-in methods land you in the same
place: they are _supposed_ to. Signing in with Google and signing in with your email and
password, at the same address, open the **same account** — same projects, same plan, same
history.

### If you signed up with Google and then try email + password

This is the common case, and it used to trap people.

A Google account has **no password**. Google vouches for you, so Omniscio never asked you
to choose one. So if you later type that same address into the email form:

| You try            | What happens                                                      |
| ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Create account** | "That email already has an account" — because it does, via Google |
| **Sign in**        | It fails — there is no password on that account _yet_             |

Neither is a broken account. You have two ways forward, and the screen now names both:

1. **Use the Google button.** Instant, and it is the account you already have.
2. **Choose "Forgot password?"** and set one. Despite the name, this works even though you
   never had a password — it _adds_ one to your existing account. Nothing is replaced, and
   your Google sign-in keeps working.

### Adding a password on purpose (Settings)

If you would rather not wait for an email, and you are already signed in:

**Settings → Accounts → Linked providers → Email + password → Set a password.**

Pick a password of at least 12 characters and save. From then on either door opens the same
account. The row reads **Connected** once you have one.

This is desktop-only on purpose. A phone paired to your desktop is deliberately not allowed
to create a password for your account — if that pairing link ever leaked, it would hand
whoever had it a permanent way in that survives un-pairing.

### Your email and your name

The **Identity** card at **Settings → Accounts** shows your display name, your avatar, and
the email address your account hangs off.

**The email is fixed to the sign-in identity and cannot be changed in the app.** It is
whatever Google or GitHub handed over when you signed in, and signing in with a _different_
address does not move your account to it — it makes a **new, separate account**, with none of
your projects, sessions or team access.

If the address itself has to change — a typo, or a mailbox you can no longer reach — use the
**Need to change it? Contact support** button on the card. It opens a pre-addressed message
so support can make the change on their side.

Your **display name and profile photo are editable**: **Settings → Accounts → Identity →
Edit** opens the profile dialog, where you can set the name and upload, change or remove a
photo.

### Signing out

**Settings → Accounts → Identity → Sign out.** It asks you to confirm first, because it ends
your Omniscio cloud session and clears the stores that hang off your identity — Team Chat,
User Management and Agent Email. You can sign back in whenever you like.

**It deletes nothing else.** Your projects, sessions and settings stay exactly where they
are on this machine and are waiting when you sign back in.

There is a second sign-out, for the case where Settings is out of reach: if you are stopped
at the full-screen sign-in gate — signed in, but not authorized yet, or waiting on an access
request — the gate itself offers **Use a different account**, which is the same sign-out, so
you can go back and pick the right identity.

> **Not the same as signing out of Claude.** Removing a Claude or API account
> ([Removing a Claude or API account](remove-a-claude-account.md)) forgets an Anthropic
> credential stored on this machine. It does not touch your Omniscio account.

### Why the sign-in error is always vague

Signing in with a wrong password and signing in with an address that has no account give
the **identical** message. That is intentional: a message that distinguished them would let
anyone check whether a given person has an Omniscio account, just by typing their address.
The same reasoning is why a password-reset request always answers "if that address has an
account, we've sent it a link" — it never confirms either way.

### Password rules

| When                                        | Minimum                |
| ------------------------------------------- | ---------------------- |
| Creating an account, or setting a password  | 12 characters          |
| Signing in with a password you already have | whatever it already is |

The floors differ on purpose. Raising the minimum for _new_ passwords must never lock out
someone whose existing password is shorter — their password still works.

## Related

- [Deleting your account / starting from scratch](account-deletion-and-reset.md)
- [User Management](user-management.md) — roles, invites, and workspaces once you are in