Access Codes & the Reveal Time

You control when guests can see their access code in the guest portal — usually a set number of hours before check-in. Vanio AI respects that exact same timing in chat, so a guest can't get the code early just by asking the assistant for it. Vanio AI also withholds key-collection details — pickup addresses, collection hours, and lockbox directions — until a booking is confirmed, so check-in logistics never reach someone who hasn't booked.

How it behaves

• Before the reveal time: if a guest asks for the door code or lockbox code, Vanio AI does not share it. Instead it tells the guest when the code will be available — for example, that it'll be ready 24 hours before check-in — so they know exactly what to expect.
• At or after the reveal time: Vanio AI shares the code when asked, the same moment it becomes visible in the guest portal.
• Unconfirmed inquiries — codes and key-collection details: if someone contacts you before completing a booking, Vanio AI will not share access codes, key pickup addresses, collection hours, lockbox directions, or any other check-in logistics. Instead, the guest receives a friendly response explaining that these details are waiting for them in the guest portal once their booking is confirmed. They still get a real, helpful answer — Vanio AI won't leave them with a flat refusal.
• Identity verification: if your portal requires a guest to complete identity verification before their code is revealed, Vanio AI enforces that requirement in chat too. A guest who hasn't verified will be directed to the guest portal rather than handed the code directly.

The assistant never guesses or makes up a code, and this applies however the code is stored — connected smart locks, lockbox codes, and codes you keep as a saved variable are all held back until the reveal time and until any identity verification requirement is met.

How access codes are shared

When Vanio AI shares an access code, it clearly separates two distinct pieces of information:

• Your checkout time — when you need to leave the property, taken from your reservation.
• When the door code stops working — when the smart lock stops accepting the code, which is often set to a later time than checkout so a departing guest can still get back in if needed.

Previously, Vanio AI could quote the code's expiry time as the guest's checkout time — for example, telling a guest "your check-out is at 10:55 AM" when their actual checkout was 10:00 AM and 10:55 AM was simply when the lock stopped accepting the code. This is now fixed. The two times are always stated separately, so guests are never handed time they don't have.

Example of how Vanio AI now phrases this:

"Your access code is 8122. Checkout is at 10:00 AM. The code will continue to work until 10:55 AM in case you need to re-enter after checkout."

If a guest does have a purchased or approved late checkout, Vanio AI accounts for that automatically — their later departure time is recognized as legitimate and communicated correctly.

What's protected for unconfirmed inquiries

For any guest who hasn't completed their booking, Vanio AI will not share:

• Access codes — door codes, lockbox PINs, gate codes, keypad combinations
• Key pickup addresses — the street address of an office, key safe, or collection point
• Collection hours — when the office or pickup location is open
• Lockbox or key directions — which lockbox to look for, where it's located, how to find it

Naming the topic is always fine — Vanio AI can tell an inquiry that "the entry details will be in your guest portal once you book" — but the actual values and locations are held back until booking is confirmed.

How the reveal window and verification gate are enforced

The timing and identity verification requirements you set are enforced end-to-end — including during Vanio AI's own internal quality review stage, which checks every reply before it reaches a guest.

Previously, there was a rare edge case where that review stage could inadvertently include a code in its suggested reply — for example, if the code was stored as a saved variable and the reviewer reasoned it was safe to share directly. That has been fixed. The quality review stage now operates under the same rules as everything else:

• If a guest hasn't completed identity verification, or the host's reveal window hasn't opened, the code is not visible to the review stage at all — even if it exists as a saved variable on the listing.
• If a suggested improvement to a reply would introduce a code the original reply didn't already contain, that suggestion is automatically discarded. The original, correctly withheld reply is kept instead.
• Saved variables that contain access codes are treated as withheld until the guest clears the verification and timing gates — the fact that a value exists in your settings is not itself clearance to share it.

The correct response in these situations — directing the guest to their guest portal — is recognized as a complete, helpful answer. The quality review stage will not flag it as unhelpful or try to improve it by adding the code.

This means there is no manual review path that can accidentally hand out a code too early or to an unverified guest. The gate holds at every stage.

One setting, everywhere

There's nothing extra to configure for this. Vanio AI follows the same reveal-time setting your guest portal uses, so the code appears to the guest at the same moment in chat and in the portal. Change the reveal time once and both stay in sync.

The protection for unconfirmed inquiries is also automatic — no setup required.

You set reveal timing where you manage your locks and check-in timing — look for the option that controls how far ahead of check-in the access code is shown to guests.

Why it matters

• Codes and key-collection details don't reach guests who haven't booked.
• Codes don't leak earlier than your policy allows, even to a persistent guest.
• Codes are never shared with guests who haven't completed identity verification, if your portal requires it.
• The timing and verification rules hold at every stage — including internal quality review — so there's no back-channel through which a code can slip out early.
• Guests always see their real checkout time — never the door code's expiry — so they know exactly when they need to leave.
• Guests still get a clear, friendly answer — a firm time they can count on, or a prompt to complete their booking — instead of a flat "no."

Common questions

My smart lock is set to expire an hour after checkout. Will guests be confused about when to leave? No. Vanio AI now always states checkout time and code expiry separately. Guests are told their actual checkout time from their reservation, and if the code's expiry is mentioned, it appears in its own sentence clearly labeled as the code window — not as their checkout time.

What if I've approved a late checkout for a guest? Vanio AI recognizes purchased or approved late checkouts automatically. When a guest has a later departure, that later time is correctly communicated as their checkout — it's not treated as a code expiry discrepancy.

Does this affect how codes are revealed or when guests receive them? No. The reveal time behavior is unchanged — guests still receive codes at the moment your reveal-time setting allows. This update closes a rare edge case where an internal quality review step could have introduced a code into a reply even when the original reply had correctly withheld it.

I store my lockbox code as a saved variable. Is that still safe? Yes. Saved variables that contain access codes are subject to the same reveal window and identity verification rules as codes from connected smart locks. The existence of a saved variable doesn't grant early access — the code stays withheld until the guest is cleared to receive it, and that applies at every stage of how Vanio AI prepares and reviews a reply.

A team member reviewed and approved an AI reply — can they accidentally send the code early? No. Even when a team member edits or approves a suggested reply, any version of that reply that introduces a code the guest isn't yet cleared to receive is automatically blocked. The approved reply that reaches the guest will never contain a code that the original, gated reply withheld.

Related

• Guest Portal & Check-In — where guests see their code.
• Smart Locks Overview — how access codes are generated.
• Vanio AI Replies to Cotravelers — the same safeguards apply to every traveler.