# Account and profile

> The account is the person and their login, the same in every community; the profile is who they are inside one community, with a role, display name, tags and points.

Each person has two layers on Memberfy, and understanding the difference saves a lot of confusion when editing a member.

| | **Account** | **Profile** |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The login: email, password, full name, photo | Their presence in a community |
| How many | One per person, across the whole platform | One per community they belong to |
| Where it's edited | **My Account › Profile**, under **Account Information**; the password, in **My Account › Security** | **My Account › Profile**, under **Community Profile** |
| What it holds | Email, password, full name, avatar | Role, display name, bio, community avatar, profile type, tags, groups, ranking points |
| Who sees it | The person themselves | The members of that community |

## Why the split

The same person can be in more than one community and be different things in each. Ana, a teacher, is the **owner** of her course's community and a **member** of the community at the coworking space where she works. She signs in to both with the same email and password, but:

- in the course community, she appears as "Prof. Ana Prado", with her teacher bio and the owner role;
- in the coworking community, she appears as "Ana", with another avatar and the member role.

The screen points this out: what's in **Account Information** *is shared across all communities*; what's in **Community Profile** *is visible only in this community*.

## How it works

### What the person changes themselves

**My Account** has five tabs, each with its own address (`/account?tab=…`), so you can send someone straight to it:

| Tab | What it holds | Address |
|---|---|---|
| **Profile** | **Account Information** (full name, avatar, phone and language, the same in every community) and **Community Profile** (**Display Name**, **Bio**, **Profile Type** and **Community Avatar**; the **Current Role** is shown read-only) | `/account?tab=profile` |
| **Security** | The e-mail you sign in with and the password change | `/account?tab=security` |
| **Communities** | The communities you belong to, with your role in each, and **Leave Community** | `/account?tab=communities` |
| **AI assistants** | Connecting an assistant through MCP, and the assistants already connected. See [Authorize and disconnect](/mcp/autorizar-e-desconectar) | `/account?tab=assistants` |
| **Payments** | The way to [Billing](/pagamentos/faturamento-do-membro): plan, cards and history | `/account?tab=billing` |

### Change the password

1. **My Account › Security**.
2. **Current password**, **New password** and **Confirm the new password**.
3. **Change password**.

The new password needs at least 8 characters, with an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter and a number. If the current password is wrong, the form says so and you stay signed in to try again. The change applies to the account, in every community, and a **Password changed** e-mail arrives.

### What the staff changes

In **Administration › Members**, whoever manages the community edits the person's profile in that community: display name, tagline, profile type, role, avatar, tags and place in the organization. The **full name** and **email** belong to the account and can't be changed there: changing the login email is done by Memberfy support, because it applies to all of the person's communities. See [Manage members](/membros/gerenciar-membros).

### Profile type

The profile says whether it belongs to a person (**User**: *personal profile for individual members and contributors*) or an organization (**Company**: *business profile for organizations, brands, and companies*). It changes how the profile is displayed, not what it can do.

### Leaving a community

In **My Account › Communities**, **Leave Community** deletes the profile in that community. The account remains, and so do the profiles in other communities. An owner can't leave this way: *"Owner cannot leave the community"*.

## Frequently asked questions

**I changed my photo and it didn't change in the community.**
Check whether you changed the account avatar or the **Community Avatar**. The community one applies only in that community and takes precedence there.

**Can I use a different email in each community?**
No. The email belongs to the account, and there's only one account.

**I forgot my password. Do I need to reset it in each community?**
No. The password belongs to the account: reset it once and it works everywhere.

**Can an admin see my email?**
Yes, whoever manages the community sees its members' email addresses, so they can contact them.

## In the API

- The account is the `Member` (`/api/members`, `/api/auth/me`).
- The profile is the `Profile` (`/api/profiles`), and the role is `profile.role`.
- Anyone acting on behalf of another profile (owner, admin or moderator) sends `X-ProfileId`; nobody acts on behalf of an owner without being an owner.

## Related

- [Roles and permissions](/conceitos/papeis-e-permissoes)
- [Manage members](/membros/gerenciar-membros)
- [Community](/conceitos/comunidade)