Users API

The Users API manages simple kiosk-mode user profiles for Shop Planr. Users represent shop floor operators, inspectors, and other personnel who interact with the production system. There are no passwords or authentication — user identity exists purely for attribution (who advanced a serial, who created a note) and assignment (who is responsible for a process step).

Concepts

Kiosk-Mode Identity

Shop Planr is designed for shared workstation environments where operators select their name from a dropdown rather than logging in. A ShopUser record provides just enough identity to:

• Assign steps — Link an operator to a process step so their work appears in the Work Queue.
• Attribute actions — Record who advanced a serial, created a note, scrapped a part, or attached a certificate in the Audit Trail.
• Filter work — The operator work queue can be filtered by user to show only the steps assigned to a specific person.

Active vs. Inactive

Users have an active boolean flag. Inactive users:

• Still appear in historical audit records and existing step assignments
• Are excluded from the GET /api/users response (which returns only active users)
• Cannot be assigned to new steps (the assign endpoint validates that the user is active)

Deactivation is a soft delete — the user record is preserved for audit trail integrity.

Departments

The optional department field is a free-text string for organizational grouping (e.g. "Assembly", "Quality Control", "CNC"). It has no functional impact on routing or assignment but is displayed in the UI for context.

Common Use Cases

• Onboard a new operator — Create a user with name and department, then assign them to relevant process steps.
• Transfer departments — Update the user's department field.
• Off-board an operator — Set active: false to remove them from dropdowns while preserving their audit history.
• Seasonal workforce — Reactivate previously deactivated users by setting active: true.

Endpoints

Related

• Steps API — Assign users to process steps
• Operator API — Work queue views filtered by user
• Notes API — Notes attributed to users via createdBy