Auto-KJ — auto-kj.com Host Dashboard Guide & FAQ

The Operator Console is the host dashboard on the website. It holds your account, your License Key, the OpenKJ songbook bridge, and your billing. Venues and gigs are managed in the desktop app's Gigs tab (needs a cloud plan or an active trial). Everything about running a show happens in the desktop app.

Open it at auto-kj.com → Sign In, or go straight to https://auto-kj.com/#manage. Related guides: User Guide · FAQ · Help & Troubleshooting.

1. Creating an account

1. On auto-kj.com click Get Started (or Sign In → Sign up). Enter a display name (your stage or operator name), email, and password.
2. You land in Free version with a permanent License Key already minted. The welcome email carries it too.
3. Forgot the password later? Sign In → FORGOT KEY? emails a one-hour, single-use reset link. Opening it shows the Set New Password form; every other session is signed out when it completes.

One account can run any number of rigs; the plan decides how many live shows run at the same time (not venues-total, not shows-per-month).

2. The tabs

TELEMETRY

Venues and gigs (in the desktop app)

The dashboard no longer has a VENUES & GIGS tab. Venues and gigs are managed in the desktop app's Gigs tab (needs a cloud plan or an active trial). The dashboard shows your plan, License Key, OpenKJ request hosting and security settings. Free version and Full version (venue Wi-Fi only) are refused.

• Each venue gets a 4-character show code (letters, sometimes ending in digits, e.g. CAZZ or CAZ1), used by the singer app, GPS discovery, Browse Before You Go, and the OpenKJ songbook link.
• Pick tonight's gig in the Gigs tab (Use for this show). Singers within 50 miles see a scheduled gig as UPCOMING, then LIVE NOW once the desktop app picks it and goes online.

OpenKJ request hosting

For hosts who run OpenKJ instead of Auto-KJ. Request hosting is a Full version add-on at $5/mo ($50/yr) on its own, and it is included with cloud Full version licenses, including Auto-KJ Lifetime and grandfathered cloud licenses. Full version (venue Wi-Fi only) does not include it. The standalone add-on does not activate the Auto-KJ desktop app.

• REQUEST SERVER URL (https://auto-kj.com/api/okj) and API KEY: paste both into OpenKJ under Settings → Requests. NEW KEY invalidates the old key immediately.
• CATALOG: how many of the 100,000-song allowance OpenKJ has uploaded. Titles and artists only; music files never leave the rig.
• Request links: pick the auto-kj.com/your-venue address per venue (lowercase letters, digits, hyphens). Singers open it, search, and send requests that appear in OpenKJ.
• Read commands keep working if the subscription lapses, so the songbook stays visible; adding songs and accepting requests resume when it's renewed.

SECURITY

• CHANGE PASSWORD (current password required; other sessions are signed out).
• DELETE ACCOUNT: type DELETE, confirm. Removes venues, gigs, catalog cache, and the account. Desktop-app data on your rig is untouched.

Bottom buttons: RETURN TO SHOW closes the console; DISCONNECT CONSOLE signs out.

3. Activating the desktop app

1. Install Auto-KJ from the site (Windows x64/ARM64 or Linux x64 AppImage/.deb/.rpm; choose the build matching your processor. Mac installers are not currently published).
2. In the app's setup wizard choose Full version or free 60-day trial → Yes — I have my key, or later Settings → 🔑 License Activation.
3. Enter the account email and the License Key from TELEMETRY → Activate License.

The app verifies the key with the server and caches the result for 14 days offline (365 days on Auto-KJ Lifetime). Every 5 minutes it re-checks quietly; a cancelled plan drops the app to Free version when the period ends.

4. The 60-day trial

The trial is started inside the desktop app, never on the website: Settings → 🔑 License Activation → Try Full version for 60 days, or the wizard's Start my free 60-day trial. It signs in with the account you created here, emails you a verification code, and then unlocks Full version (1 live show at a time) on that computer for 60 days with no card and no automatic billing.

• One trial per account and per computer. The app hashes a firmware identifier; extra accounts on the same machine, or reinstalls, don't get another one.
• Only Free version accounts qualify. Songbook and paid accounts are refused.
• When it ends, buy a plan here, copy the License Key, and enter it in the app. Free version keeps the library and show data meanwhile.

5. Plans and seats

Seat takeover: if every simultaneous-show seat is busy when another rig starts a show, that rig sees Another show is already running on this license at the same time with Take over (ends the longest-running instance, whose state is saved locally) or Exit.

6. FAQ

Where is my License Key? TELEMETRY → LICENSE KEY → COPY. It is also in the welcome email.

The app says "Verification failed". The email must be the account email exactly as shown under EMAIL, and the key must be current. Check that the plan under LICENSE is not Free version (Free version has a key but nothing to unlock), and that the rig is online for the first activation.

I changed my email. Do I re-activate? Yes: the app verifies email + key together. Enter the new email in Settings → License Activation.

Why is ACTIVE SHOW CODE a long id? It's the internal show id. The 4-character join code singers use is on the venue, and the desktop app shows it on the lyrics and rotation screens and in Settings → Browse Before You Go.

Can I see the join QR here? Not yet. The QR lives on the desktop app's lyrics and rotation screens (and per-venue under Settings → Browse Before You Go).

How do I run more than one show at the same time? Full version ($10/month) is 1 live show at a time. A Full version add-on is +$5/mo for each additional simultaneous show. Auto-KJ Lifetime ($500, one time) allows up to 4 shows running at the same time. These are simultaneous seats, not venues-total and not shows-per-month. Buy the add-on or Auto-KJ Lifetime on the pricing page while signed in.

Do different Full version licenses unlock different features in the app? No. The desktop app treats every Full version license the same; licenses differ only in how many shows can run at the same time.

Are custom skin and theme unlocks tied to my account or my machine? All skin unlocks (including the $5.00 Signature skins from the Skin Creator Market) are permanently tied to your Auto-KJ dashboard account (host_id), not an individual machine or license key. Any rig activating with your account email or license key automatically synchronizes all unlocked skins, allowing you to design or purchase skins on one rig and run them across all your venue setups seamlessly. Eligible Full version licenses unlock all Signature skins automatically across all rigs. The Full version ($10/month) does not include them.

Does the Full version include OpenKJ request hosting? Yes on the Full version ($10/month), on Auto-KJ Lifetime, and on grandfathered cloud Full version licenses, and on the OpenKJ request-hosting add-on itself. Not on Full version (venue Wi-Fi only). Auto-KJ hosts don't need it: the singer app is the request system.

Can I rename a venue or change a gig's schedule? Yes, in the desktop app's Gigs tab: press Edit on the venue or gig row. Editing keeps the venue's show code, so printed QR sheets and Browse Before You Go links keep working. Monthly gigs can repeat on the 1st–5th or the Last weekday of the month.

I deleted a venue by mistake. Add it again in the desktop app's Gigs tab. It gets a new show code, so update any printed QR sheets and Browse Before You Go links.

7. Troubleshooting

Auto-KJ Host Dashboard Guide • Documentation Revision 2026-09-10 (v1.22) • auto-kj.com