Set access and limits

Silo is in active development before 1.0. These guides are updated frequently.

Start with an access group for people who should have the same libraries and limits. Change one account only when it needs an exception.

Administrator accounts cannot belong to access groups. Group policies apply only to regular user accounts.

Create an access group

1. Open Admin > Users > Access Groups and choose New group.
2. Name the group, for example Guests, and create it.
3. Open the group. Under Libraries & playback, choose the libraries and playback quality it can use.
4. Review Downloads, Requests, Concurrent streams, and Profiles. Under Permissions, choose which permissions member accounts may receive.
5. Choose Save changes.

Use Default for new users only if this should become the starting group for future accounts. Check its library access before making it the default.

A group permission only makes the permission available. Turn on Marker Editing or Metadata Curation for each account that needs it; both the group and the account must allow the action.

Assign a person to the group

1. Open Admin > Users, open the person, then choose Access & limits. The pencil on their row opens this tab directly.
2. Choose Edit under Library access, select the group in Access group, then choose Save.
3. Check the limits on the Playback & streaming and Downloads cards.

An account can override its group. If a group change seems to have no effect, look for values tagged CUSTOM.

Each value on Access & limits is tagged with where it comes from. GROUP means the access group, and CUSTOM means a value set on this account. DEFAULT means Silo’s built-in default: full access for an administrator, and the server’s defaults for an account without a group.

Choose limits that fit the task

Stream bitrate limits use Mbps in the web forms. Choose Unlimited, a preset, or Custom and enter a value such as 8 for 8 Mbps. This is a per-stream limit. Values below 1 Mbps trigger a low-quality warning.

The bitrate limit caps the stream’s bitrate, not the speed of the network connection. If a file is over the limit, Silo converts it. If it can’t, it tries another version that fits, and refuses playback only when neither works.

Max streams limits simultaneous playback. Max transcodes limits sessions that need conversion. With video transcoding off, a device that can’t play the original file can’t play it at all.

Max profiles sets how many household profiles each member account can have. A new group starts at 5, and you can set any whole number from 1 up. Accounts without a group, and administrator accounts, can have 5 unless you give them their own limit. To give one account its own limit, open its Access & limits tab, choose Edit on Sign-in & role, and set Profiles allowed to Custom. Default uses the group’s limit again. Lowering a limit doesn’t remove profiles: an account over the new limit keeps them but can’t add another until it has fewer than the limit.

Download permission and permission to create transcoded downloads are separate controls. Request access is also separate from the request quota and approval rules in Requests.

Marker Editing and Metadata Curation let a trusted user correct media in the libraries they can access, without making them a server administrator.

Limit downloads

Set download limits in Admin > Downloads > Settings. They apply to downloads from the Silo web and mobile apps and from Jellyfin-compatible apps. Download counts apply only to downloads saved in the mobile apps.

1. Turn on Allow downloads.
2. Set Server bandwidth in Mbps to cap all downloads combined.
3. Expand Advanced. Under Per user, set Per-user bandwidth in Mbps. Each account gets this much, shared by all of its downloads and profiles. When both bandwidth limits are set, the lower one wins.
4. In the same place, set Downloads at once per user, Downloads per period, and Period length.
5. Save. New limits apply within about 30 seconds. A download that’s already running keeps the speed it started with.

If you run more than one API server, each one applies the bandwidth limits on its own. Download counts are shared across all of them. While either bandwidth limit is set, proxy nodes don’t deliver downloads. The API server sends them itself, so the limit holds whatever the number of proxies.

Downloads per period counts the downloads an account added within the last Period length, such as 24h. Failed or cancelled downloads don’t count, and removing a download frees its place.

Check household restrictions

Account access determines which libraries the household can use. Profile restrictions narrow that access for one person; they cannot grant access to libraries the account cannot use.

The household’s primary profile can configure Maximum content rating, Maximum advisory age, and Restrict libraries in the web profile editor. See Set parental controls for the steps. When both rating limits are set, titles must pass both.

Titles with no age rating, in Admin > Libraries > Settings under Maturity limits, decides whether profiles with a content-rating limit see titles that have no rating or are marked Not Rated (NR). Hide from profiles with a ceiling is the default; Show to every profile lets them through. A rating Silo can’t read stays hidden from those profiles either way.

Missing advisory ages are handled per profile instead: the profile’s Hide titles without an advisory age switch applies when Maximum advisory age is set.

Check the active profile when testing access. Use a regular household account and its restricted profile: administrator accounts have broader authority.