---
title: "Accessing the Control Panel"
description: "Learn how to access and use the Control Panel to manage your self-hosted Rallly instance."
---

The Control Panel is your central hub for administering your self-hosted Rallly instance. From here, you can manage users, activate your license, and configure instance-specific settings.

To access the Control Panel:

1.  Ensure your Rallly instance is running.
2.  Open your web browser and navigate to `/control-panel`.
3.  You may be prompted to log in if you haven't already. Only users with administrative privileges can access the Control Panel features.

## Claiming Initial Admin Rights

The first user designated as an administrator needs to manually claim their admin role. This user is specified by the `INITIAL_ADMIN_EMAIL` environment variable during setup (see [Configuration](/self-hosting/configuration)).

To claim admin rights:

1.  Ensure the user account associated with the `INITIAL_ADMIN_EMAIL` has been created (e.g., by logging in once).
2.  Navigate to the Control Panel: `/control-panel`.
3.  If you are the user specified in `INITIAL_ADMIN_EMAIL` and have not yet claimed admin rights, you should see a section or button prompting you to "Make me an admin".
4.  Click this button to elevate your account to an administrator.

Once claimed, this user can manage other users and settings.
