---
page-title: "Creating user accounts | Dendrite"
url: https://matrix-org.github.io/dendrite/administration/createusers
date: "2023-05-06 10:35:52"
---
## [](https://matrix-org.github.io/dendrite/administration/createusers#creating-user-accounts)Creating user accounts

User accounts can be created on a Dendrite instance in a number of ways.

## [](https://matrix-org.github.io/dendrite/administration/createusers#from-the-command-line)From the command line

The `create-account` tool is built in the `bin` folder when building Dendrite with the `build.sh` script.

It uses the `dendrite.yaml` configuration file to connect to a running Dendrite instance and requires shared secret registration to be enabled as explained below.

An example of using `create-account` to create a **normal account**:

```
./bin/create-account -config /path/to/dendrite.yaml -username USERNAME
```

You will be prompted to enter a new password for the new account.

To create a new **admin account**, add the `-admin` flag:

```
./bin/create-account -config /path/to/dendrite.yaml -username USERNAME -admin
```

By default `create-account` uses `http://localhost:8008` to connect to Dendrite, this can be overwritten using the `-url` flag:

```
./bin/create-account -config /path/to/dendrite.yaml -username USERNAME -url https://localhost:8448
```

An example of using `create-account` when running in **Docker**, having found the `CONTAINERNAME` from `docker ps`:

```
docker exec -it CONTAINERNAME /usr/bin/create-account -config /path/to/dendrite.yaml -username USERNAME
```

```
docker exec -it CONTAINERNAME /usr/bin/create-account -config /path/to/dendrite.yaml -username USERNAME -admin
```

Dendrite supports the Synapse-compatible shared secret registration endpoint.

To enable shared secret registration, you must first enable it in the `dendrite.yaml` configuration file by specifying a shared secret. In the `client_api` section of the config, enter a new secret into the `registration_shared_secret` field:

```
client_api:
  # ...
  registration_shared_secret: ""
```

You can then use the `/_synapse/admin/v1/register` endpoint as per the [Synapse documentation](https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/admin_api/register_api.html).

Shared secret registration is only enabled once a secret is configured. To disable shared secret registration again, remove the secret from the configuration file.