Content Restrictions¶

Content Restrictions allow admins to control what content each user can access. Unlike Hidden Items (which users control themselves), Content Restrictions are admin-only and cannot be bypassed by users.

Overview¶

Key behaviors:

• Restrictions apply to user accounts only. Admin accounts are never restricted (they still see everything except the items they hide themselves), and the editor is not shown for admin accounts
• Restrictions cascade throughout the UI: restricted items don't appear anywhere, including galleries, images and clip markers
• Counts follow restrictions: the numbers on performer, studio, tag, collection and gallery cards count only what the user can see, and match the pages behind them
• This includes opening an item by a direct link and the related items listed in card tooltips
• A newly added Stash server appears once its first sync has finished and every user's restrictions cover it, so restricted content never shows while it syncs
• Items a sync adds or changes appear to restricted users once that sync finishes and their restrictions have been recomputed, never in between
• Users cannot see or modify their own restrictions

Restriction Types¶

You can restrict content by four entity types:

The Two Lists¶

Each entity type has two lists. Either, both or neither can have items.

Show only¶

If this list has items, the user sees only content with at least one of them. Content with none of the listed items is hidden.

Example: Show only the tag "Cartoons"

• Scenes, galleries and images tagged "Cartoons" (or one of its child tags) stay visible, even when they carry other tags too
• Everything tagged only with other tags is hidden
• The other tags themselves disappear from filters and lists; child tags of "Cartoons" stay

Always hide¶

Listed items and all their content are hidden, whatever else is on the item.

Example: Always hide the tag "Documentary"

• User won't see scenes, galleries, images or clip markers tagged "Documentary"
• Performers who only appear in "Documentary" content disappear as well
• "Documentary" won't appear in tag filters or lists

Always hide wins¶

An item can be in both lists; if it is, it is hidden. Use this to carve an exception out of a Show-only list.

Example: Show only "Cartoons", but never "Explicit"

• Show only: Tags = "Cartoons"
• Always hide: Tags = "Explicit"
• Result: the user sees "Cartoons" content, except anything also tagged "Explicit" (or one of its child tags)

The editor shows a note when the same item is in both lists.

Child tags and studios¶

A listed tag covers every tag under it, and a listed studio covers every studio under it, in both lists. Parents are not covered by a child: listing "Anime" does not list "Cartoons" above it. Collections and galleries have no hierarchy in Peek.

Setting Up Restrictions¶

Requirements: Admin role

Step 1: Plan Your Approach¶

Before setting restrictions, decide:

1. What content should this user see? (or not see)
2. Which entity type is most appropriate? (Groups are recommended)
3. Show only, Always hide, or both?

Step 2: Organize in Stash¶

Create appropriate groups/tags in Stash:

• For Show only: create groups containing allowed content
• For Always hide: ensure restricted content has identifying tags/groups

Step 3: Configure in Peek¶

1. Go to Settings > User Management
2. Click Edit on the target user (a user account, not an admin)
3. Click Manage Restrictions
4. For each entity type you want to restrict:
5. Search and select items for Show only and/or Always hide. The lists offer everything on every enabled Stash server, including items you have hidden for yourself
6. Check or uncheck Also hide items with no ... (see below)
7. Click Save Restrictions

Saving a list with no items is rejected; clear the list instead. A save applies completely or not at all: the lists and everything they hide are stored together, so if the save fails the user keeps their previous restrictions, and nothing is half-applied.

The "Also hide items with no ..." Box¶

Each type has one box. It hides content that has no item of that type at all, so unorganized content cannot slip through:

The box is disabled until a list has an item. When you add the first item it takes a default: ticked with a Show-only list, unticked with only an Always-hide list. Once you set it by hand, or once it has been saved, it keeps its value.

• With a Show-only list, the box decides what happens to content with no item of that type: hidden when ticked, visible when unticked
• With only an Always-hide list, ticking the box hides content with no item of that type on top of the listed items

Images use their own tags and studio here, and an image with none takes its gallery's: an image with no tags in a tagged gallery counts as having that gallery's tags, so "no tags" hides only images that have none of their own and none from their gallery (and likewise for a studio).

When a Stash server is deleted¶

Deleting a Stash server removes its items from every user's Show-only and Always-hide lists; items on other servers stay listed.

• An Always-hide list left with no items is removed: it no longer hid anything
• A Show-only list left with no items stays, and the user keeps seeing none of that type. Removing it on its own would suddenly show the user everything of that type. The editor then shows: "Show only: nothing (every item was on a deleted server). This user sees no ... until you choose items or remove this list". Save Restrictions stays off until you choose new items for the list or click Remove list

How Cascading Works¶

Restrictions cascade to related content:

Tag Restrictions¶

An always-hidden tag (and each of its child tags) hides:

• Scenes with that tag (direct or inherited)
• Galleries and images with that tag
• Clip markers with that tag
• Performers, studios and collections tagged with it
• The tag itself in all filter dropdowns and lists

Studio Restrictions¶

An always-hidden studio (and each of its child studios) hides:

• All scenes, galleries and images from that studio
• The studio in filter dropdowns
• Studio info on performer pages

Group Restrictions¶

An always-hidden group hides:

• Scenes in that group
• The group in browse views
• Group info on scene detail pages

Gallery Restrictions¶

An always-hidden gallery hides:

• The gallery itself
• Images in that gallery
• Gallery links on scene pages

Organizing entities¶

Performers, studios, collections and tags that are left with no visible content disappear from lists and filters for user accounts. Admin accounts always see them (their restrictions do not apply). They come back as soon as some of their content is visible again.

A collection's content includes its sub-collections, at any depth: a collection that only groups other collections stays visible while one of them holds a visible scene. A collection whose sub-collections are all empty or hidden, and which holds no visible scene of its own, disappears like any other empty collection.

Common Patterns¶

Age-Based Access¶

Create groups in Stash for different age ratings:

- "All Ages" group
- "Teen" group
- "Adult" group

Then use Show only: Kids see only "All Ages", teens see "All Ages" + "Teen", etc.

Category-Based Access¶

Use tags to categorize content, then Always hide unwanted categories:

• Tag content in Stash by category
• Always hide specific tags per user

Studio-Based Access¶

Restrict by production company:

• Show only specific studios for limited access
• Always hide studios for blocking specific sources

Combining Restrictions¶

You can set restrictions on multiple entity types. They combine as follows:

1. Types AND together: content must pass every type's rules
2. Within a type: Always hide wins, then Show only needs one match, then the "no ..." box applies to content with no item of that type

Example:

• Show only: Groups = "Approved Content"
• Always hide: Tags = "Violence"

Result: User sees content from "Approved Content" that isn't tagged "Violence"

Verifying Restrictions¶

After setting restrictions:

1. Create a test account with the same restrictions
2. Log in as that user (or use incognito)
3. Browse the library to verify expected content appears
4. Check filters to ensure restricted items don't appear in dropdowns
5. View detail pages to confirm cascading works

Troubleshooting¶

User sees restricted content¶

• Verify the restriction is saved (refresh User Management)
• Ensure sync has completed after making changes in Stash

Too much content is hidden¶

• Review Show-only lists: content needs at least one listed item, and the "no ..." box hides content with none
• Check for overlapping Always-hide rules (child tags and studios are covered too)

The editor says a stored list could not be read¶

A saved list that Peek cannot read (damaged by hand editing, say) blocks the editor, so a save cannot silently replace it. Click Retry to load again. If the message stays, click Clear all restrictions and confirm: every list of that user is deleted, the unreadable one included, and the editor opens empty so you can set them again. Until you do, the user sees everything except what they hid themselves.

Admin accounts cannot be restricted¶

• Restrictions do not apply to admin accounts and cannot be saved for them
• Promoting a user to admin stops their restrictions applying; demoting an admin applies any saved restrictions again. Either change recomputes what the account sees

Restrictions don't cascade¶

• Wait for sync to complete after Stash changes
• Trigger manual sync if needed
• Check that related entities have proper associations in Stash

Related Features¶

• Hidden Items: User-controlled hiding of individual items
• User Management: Full user administration guide
• FAQ: Common questions including sync behavior