Embedded control room

SeatManager is a same-document operator board—not an iframe. It renders the event map, subscribes to live inventory, shows occupancy and activity, and exposes controlled custom selection, blocking, category, table, section, channel, cancellation, and reporting tools.

Trust boundary

Your backend authorizes the operator and asks SeatLayer to mint an event-scoped mse_… token. The browser receives only that token. Never put an account secret key in the page.

Mint a manage session

curl -sX POST \
  "https://api.seatlayer.io/v1/events/ev_9f3a/manage-sessions" \
  -H "authorization: Bearer $SEATLAYER_SECRET_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "allowedOrigin": "https://admin.example.com",
    "capabilities": [
      "event:view",
      "event:block",
      "event:categories:manage",
      "event:tables:manage",
      "event:reports"
    ],
    "expiresInSeconds": 3600
  }'

Add event:cancel only for operators allowed to return booked inventory to sale. A browser manage token cannot confirm a booking: the platform backend does that through /book. Managed Box Office is a separate commerce surface and capability.

If your backend omits capabilities, the API issues a view-only token with exactly event:view. Blocking, cancellation, reports, channels, and Managed Ticketing operations always require an explicit capability.

Mount the board

import { SeatManager } from "@seatlayer/js/manager";

const session = await fetch("/api/events/ev_9f3a/manage-session", {
  method: "POST",
}).then((response) => response.json());

const room = new SeatManager({
  container: "#control-room",
  eventKey: "ev_9f3a",
  token: session.token,
  tokenExpiresAt: session.expiresAt,
  mode: "view",
  keepLiveWhileHidden: true,
  followLive: false,
  onTokenRefresh: async () => {
    const next = await fetch("/api/events/ev_9f3a/manage-session", {
      method: "POST",
    }).then((response) => response.json());
    return { token: next.token, expiresAt: next.expiresAt };
  },
  onError: (error) => showOperatorError(error),
});

await room.render();

Give the container a real height. SeatManager fills that box and watches it with ResizeObserver. Fullscreen uses the browser Fullscreen API.

Operator modes

Tools are grouped in the toolbar as Watch (view, inspect — read-only), Manage (block, sections, categories, tables, channels — changes this event only) and Host tools (select, filterSections — hands a selection or filter to your app). Pass tools to offer a subset; it filters what is shown and never grants a capability.

event:reports is separate from the live board. Add it only when the embedded staff workflow must open booking history, category/section/channel breakdowns, downloadable inventory reports, or the full audit history. SeatLayer Orders, tickets, refunds, and attendance are not part of the Platform/SDK Control room.

Following live activity is off by default so a busy event does not repeatedly move the operator’s camera. Heat overlays express sales velocity without replacing chart category colors.

Common actions

room.setMode("block");
room.selectSection("sec-stalls");

await room.block(undefined, {
  releaseAt: Date.parse("2026-08-01T19:00:00Z"),
  reason: "Soundcheck hold",
});

await room.unblock(["A-3"]);
await room.unblockAll();

await room.cancelBooking(["C-14", "C-15"], "order_5567");
await room.setHoldTtl(10 * 60 * 1000);

room.setMode("select");
room.selectObjects(["A-1", "A-2"]);
const selectionState = room.getSelectionValidity();

room.setMode("filterSections");
const matchedSections = room.setFilteredSection("Balcony");
room.clearFilteredSection();

await room.setCategory("vip", ["A-1", "A-2"]);
await room.setTableBooking(["table-1"], "whole");

const report = await room.getReport();
const log = await room.getLog({ limit: 50 });

Cancellation changes inventory only; your application owns its commercial order, ticket cancellation, refund policy, payment execution, and buyer communication. The booking reference prevents releasing a newer booking.

Category assignments are event-only: the reusable venue chart is unchanged, and existing hold/booking price snapshots are not rewritten. Table-mode changes alter inventory identity and are therefore refused while any affected table is held, booked, or blocked, or when a private-channel allocation would be lost.

Long-running boards

Pass both tokenExpiresAt and onTokenRefresh. SeatManager proactively requests a replacement and also retries once after an authorization failure. Your refresh endpoint must repeat the full host-user authorization check rather than accepting the expired token as proof.

keepLiveWhileHidden: true forces a fresh paint after live deltas when browsers throttle background animation frames. Use it for a wallboard; consider battery and resource costs on laptops.

Custom operator UI

Use ManageApi when the packaged board does not match your workflow. It exposes the same token-authenticated reads and mutations: availability, category/table management, block/unblock, cancellation, hold TTL, report, control-room snapshot, audit log, and CSV Blob. Keep capability rules identical to SeatManager.

Verification

• The backend authorizes event and tenant before every SeatLayer session request.
• The token carries only necessary capabilities.
• The board has a bounded, responsive container.
• Token rotation is tested across laptop sleep and network loss.
• Detailed reports and full audit history stay unavailable unless event:reports is minted.
• Cancellation is paired with an explicit refund workflow.
• Conflict errors ask the operator to reload or reselect.
• destroy() runs during unmount and logout.
• Revocation occurs when access ends.

Continue to the SeatManager reference, embed sessions, and reports.