UJ-A-005: Impersonate User for Support

Platform admin impersonates a user to troubleshoot issues

Journey Overview

Attribute	Value
Journey ID	UJ-A-005
Actor	Platform Admin
Goal	View platform as a specific user to diagnose issues
Trigger	Support request requires seeing user’s perspective
Outcome	Admin views platform as user, diagnoses issue

Preconditions

• Admin has ROLE_PLATFORM_ADMIN permission
• Target user exists in the system
• Impersonation feature enabled

Journey Flow

Detailed Steps

1. Access User Management

   Navigate to user management:

   • Admin Portal → Users
   • Or search user directly from dashboard
2. Find User

   Search for target user:

   ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
   │ User Management                                             │
   ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
   │                                                             │
   │ [🔍 Search by name, email, ID...                     ]      │
   │                                                             │
   │ Filters:                                                    │
   │ Tenant: [All Tenants ▼] Role: [All Roles ▼]                │
   │ Status: [All ▼]                                             │
   │                                                             │
   │ Results:                                                    │
   │ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
   │ │ John Smith                                              │ │
   │ │ [e-mail] • Acme Association                     │ │
   │ │ Role: Member • Status: Active                           │ │
   │ │ [View] [Edit] [🎭 Impersonate]                          │ │
   │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
   │                                                             │
   └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
   
3. Initiate Impersonation

   Click “Impersonate” button:

   Confirmation dialog:

   ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
   │ ⚠️ Confirm Impersonation                                    │
   ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
   │                                                             │
   │ You are about to impersonate:                               │
   │                                                             │
   │ User: John Smith                                            │
   │ Email: [e-mail]                                     │
   │ Tenant: Acme Association                                    │
   │ Role: Member                                                │
   │                                                             │
   │ This will:                                                  │
   │ • Switch your view to the user's perspective                │
   │ • Allow you to see what they see                            │
   │ • Log all actions taken during impersonation                │
   │                                                             │
   │ Reason for impersonation (required):                        │
   │ [Support ticket #12345 - login issue          ]            │
   │                                                             │
   │ [Cancel]  [Start Impersonation]                             │
   │                                                             │
   └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
   
4. Impersonation Session

   Session switched:

   Visual Indicators:

   • Banner: “You are impersonating John Smith [End]”
   • Different color scheme/border
   • Watermark (optional)

   Capabilities:

   • View all screens as user
   • Navigate as user would
   • See user’s data and permissions

   Restrictions:

   • Cannot change password
   • Cannot delete account
   • Cannot access other user data
   • All actions logged

   ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
   │ ⚠️ IMPERSONATING: John Smith ([e-mail])  [End]     │
   ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
   │                                                             │
   │ [Normal Member Portal View]                                 │
   │                                                             │
   │ Dashboard                                                   │
   │ Welcome, John                                               │
   │                                                             │
   │ Your Membership: Professional                               │
   │ ...                                                         │
   │                                                             │
   └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
   
5. Diagnose Issue

   Admin investigates:

   • View user’s dashboard
   • Check membership status
   • Review event registrations
   • Test feature access
   • Reproduce reported issue
6. End Impersonation

   Click “End” or “End Impersonation”:

   • Session returns to admin
   • Impersonation logged with duration
   • Admin back in Admin Portal

   ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
   │ ✅ Impersonation Ended                                      │
   ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
   │                                                             │
   │ Session Summary:                                            │
   │ User: John Smith                                            │
   │ Duration: 5 minutes 32 seconds                              │
   │ Pages Viewed: 12                                            │
   │ Actions Taken: 0 (view only)                                │
   │                                                             │
   │ [View Audit Log]  [Back to Users]                           │
   │                                                             │
   └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
   

Audit Logging

All impersonation activity is logged:

Event	Logged Data
Start	Admin ID, User ID, Reason, Timestamp
Navigation	Pages visited
Actions	Any changes made
End	Duration, Summary

Security Considerations

• Requires explicit permission
• Reason must be provided
• Session time-limited (30 min default)
• Cannot be used on other admins
• Audit trail maintained
• User may be notified (configurable)

Related Entities

• User/Member
• Audit Log

Related Journeys

• UJ-A-003
• UJ-A-007

Acceptance Criteria

Frontend

• Impersonate button on user records
• Confirmation dialog with reason input
• Impersonation banner visible at all times
• End impersonation button
• Session summary on end
• Visual differentiation during impersonation

Backend

• POST /api/admin/impersonate/{userId} - Start
• POST /api/admin/impersonate/end - End
• Session token with impersonation context
• Comprehensive audit logging
• Action restrictions during impersonation

Permissions

• Only ROLE_PLATFORM_ADMIN can impersonate
• Cannot impersonate other admins
• Tenant boundaries respected

Business Rules

• Reason required for audit
• Session timeout enforced
• Certain actions blocked
• Full audit trail

Error Handling

• User not found handling
• Session timeout notification
• Graceful end on browser close