Why you land on Client vs Investigator dashboard

After signing in, NearbySpy sends you to one of two dashboards: the Client dashboard or the Investigator dashboard. Which one you land on is decided by the role on your account, not by anything you click. This article explains how the routing works and what to do if you ended up in the wrong place.

Where the role comes from

Your role is set when your account is first created and is stored on your profile. The two values that matter are:

• Client: chose "Client" at sign-up, or accepted a Case invitation that did not require an Investigator account.
• Investigator: chose "Investigator" at sign-up, finished investigator onboarding, or claimed a listing.

How routing decides where you land

1. You sign in. Your session is established and stored in an httpOnly cookie.
2. The app reads your profile role.
3. Clients are routed to the Client dashboard. Investigators are routed to the Investigator dashboard.
4. If your account is mid-onboarding (Investigator only), you are routed into the onboarding flow until it is complete. See Completing Investigator onboarding.

Why we do not show both dashboards by default

The two dashboards solve different problems. The Investigator dashboard is built for running Cases, managing Operations, uploading Evidence, and billing Clients. The Client dashboard is built for accepting invitations, watching shared Operations, and replying to Messages. Mixing the two creates confusing UX and access-control mistakes, for example Client controls leaking into a workspace that is supposed to be Investigator-only. Keeping the dashboards separate also keeps RBAC cleaner: a Client account simply cannot see Investigator-only routes.

You landed on the wrong dashboard

• Client landed on Client, expected Investigator. Your account is set to Client. To become an Investigator you need to complete Investigator onboarding under that account, or create a separate Investigator account, or contact support to switch roles. The cleanest path for active Investigators is a role switch via support.
• Investigator landed on Investigator, but a Case invite is not visible. Case invitations attach to an email, not to a role. If your invitation went to a different email than the one on this account, sign in with that email or have the inviter resend to your current address. See Accepting a Case invitation.
• Investigator stuck on onboarding pages. Onboarding has required steps. Until you complete them, the routing keeps sending you back. See the onboarding overview linked above.

One person, two roles on the same Case

Inside a Case, your role is set at the Case level: Owner, Admin, Investigator, Viewer, or Client. That Case-level role is independent of your account-level role. The dashboard you land on after sign-in does not change what you can do inside an individual Case. See Case roles.

Related articles

• Choosing between a Client account and an Investigator account
• How to sign up and sign in
• What to do when you see access denial on a Case