Example User 🔍 read-only

A demonstration account that lets you explore every feature of the Workbench — without making any permanent changes.

What Is the Example User?

The Example User is a special, pre-configured account designed to demonstrate the full capabilities of the Statisticians Workbench. It's intended for people who want to evaluate the software before installing their own instance, or for training sessions where participants need to explore features safely.

🔍 Think of it as a "guided tour" account

You can look at everything, click around, and understand how the Workbench works — but you cannot change passwords, delete users, modify settings, or alter any data. It's a sandboxed, read-only experience.

What the Example User Can Do

👀 Browse Everything

  • Navigate all pages and sections
  • View the AI Chat interface
  • Explore AI Database Design, Dataset Cleaning, and Analysis Rules pages
  • Browse datasets, notebooks, and recipes
  • Open the Visualization tool
  • View the tools page

🛡️ See Admin Pages (Read-Only)

  • View the Admin Panel and see all registered users
  • Browse the AI Providers and Models configuration
  • Explore Visualization Type definitions
  • View Group management pages
  • Access Global Settings (demo mode, email, password policy — view only)

🔍 Review Without Risk

  • No changes are saved — all mutations are blocked
  • Action buttons (toggle admin, delete, verify) are visibly disabled
  • Content areas that would be editable for normal users are locked with an overlay
  • Safe to hand to anyone — students, evaluators, prospective users

What the Example User Cannot Do

The Example User's account is locked down at both the frontend and backend to prevent any data changes:

🔒 No User Modifications

  • Cannot change their own password
  • Cannot edit other users (all action buttons disabled)
  • Cannot promote or demote admins
  • Cannot verify emails
  • Cannot soft-delete or hard-delete any user
  • Cannot manage groups

🔒 No System Changes

  • Cannot modify AI provider or model definitions
  • Cannot add or edit visualization types
  • Cannot change global settings (demo mode, SMTP, password policy)
  • Cannot create, edit, or delete datasets (read-only data preparation preview only)
  • Cannot create, edit, or delete recipes
  • Cannot import notebooks

How the Read-Only Lock Works

The Example User experience is enforced through multiple layers:

🟠

Orange Banner

A fixed orange banner appears at the top of every page with a registration call-to-action. It identifies the session as read-only and can be dismissed temporarily.

🔒

Badge in Sidebar

An orange 🔒 badge appears next to the user's name in the sidebar, clearly marking the account as the Example User.

🚫

Disabled Buttons

All action buttons (toggle admin, delete, verify, save, etc.) are rendered as disabled in the UI. They appear greyed out and cannot be clicked.

🔐

Locked Content Overlay

Editable content areas show a semi-transparent overlay with a lock icon and a message inviting the viewer to register for a full account. The underlying form controls are blocked with pointer-events: none and opacity: 50%.

🛡️

Server-Side Enforcement

Even if someone bypasses the frontend restrictions (e.g., crafting a direct API call), the backend checks isExampleUser on every mutation endpoint and returns a 403 Forbidden response.

Important for administrators: The Example User account is defined by the isExampleUser flag in the database. It is not the same as demo mode. Demo mode adds a banner to all pages for all users; the Example User is a specific account with read-only restrictions. Both can be active simultaneously on a public demo instance.

Example User vs. Regular User — Side by Side

FeatureExample UserRegular User
Log in✓✓
Navigate all pages✓✓
View admin pages✓ (read-only)✗ Hidden
Change password✗ Blocked✓
Create/edit datasets✗ Read-only✓
Create/edit recipes✗ Read-only✓
Manage users✗ Blocked✗ No access
Change global settings✗ View only✗ No access
Add AI/DB connections✗ Blocked✓
Pro tip for evaluators: The Example User account is the best way to understand the full scope of the Workbench without installing anything. You can see the admin dashboard, browse how AI providers are configured, inspect visualization type definitions — all the capabilities that are normally hidden from regular users. This makes it ideal for IT managers and decision-makers evaluating the platform.