Cantina Rooms

Assigning roles in your Cantina room lets you delegate moderation and shape who can do what. Each role unlocks specific capabilities. The right mix keeps a room running smoothly even when you can't keep eyes on it yourself.

The roles below are the defaults for moderated rooms. When room moderation is turned off, permissions become fully customizable — see Room Moderation 101 for the Moderation Settings overview.

Promote and demote

Founders and Admins manage role changes in a room. The pattern is simple: you can manage roles beneath your own.

• Founder can change Admins, Hosts, and Members.
• Admins can change Hosts and Members.
• Hosts can change Members.
• Members cannot change roles.

See How to Change Room Roles for step-by-step.

In-room moderation tools

The most impactful tools live in a member's profile menu. Hosts and above can:

• Revoke mic and cam access — silence a member's microphone and camera.
• Kick (Remove from Room) — remove a member from the room.
• Ban — block a member from rejoining for 1 hour, 1 day, or forever.

For severe violations, Admins can report the user, content, or bot through Cantina's moderation channels for review.

Keep going

• Room Moderation 101 — the full picture on room moderation settings.
• Serial Reporter — what happens when the reporting feature is misused.
• How to Change Room Roles — step-by-step for promote/demote.
• Cantina Glossary — definitions used across the Help Center.

Rooms are how groups of people gather, hang out, and create together in Cantina. Anyone can create one. Here's how.

Create a room on iOS and Android

1. Open the Cantina app and go to My Rooms.
2. Tap in the top right.

3. Pick a room type on the Create Your Room screen:

   • Open (Public) — anyone on Cantina can see and join.
   • Social (Friends) — your friends can see and join.
   • Invite Only (Closed) — your friends can see the room, but they need to request to join.

   To set up faster with defaults, tap Create a Quick Room at the bottom instead. This skips the customization steps and drops you straight into a room you can edit later.

4. Tap Continue to open Room Permissions. Adjust the Room Moderation toggle and Content Controls (Go Live, Post Media, Control the Stage, Send Messages, Signal, Ring, Send Reactions & Gifs, Manage Membership, Manage Bots, Edit Room Properties), or leave the defaults. Tap Continue.
5. On the Room Details screen, set up your room's look:
   • Add an image for your room. Tap the image placeholder to open the Change Photo sheet and pick one of three paths:
     • Generate AI Image — describe the image you want, pick an Art Style, then tap Generate Image and Set Avatar when you're happy with it.
     • Pick From Library — use a photo from your camera roll.
     • Take a Photo — shoot a new one with the camera.
   • Pick a Room Theme color (Green / Pink / Orange / Purple / Blue).
   • Name your room.
   • Pick a font for the room name.
   • Tap Create Room.
6. On the Room Description screen, add a short description (up to 1000 characters) of what the room's about, then tap Save.
7. On the Invite Members screen, tap the contacts you want to bring in, then tap Continue.
8. On the You're All Set! screen, tap your new room card or Enter Room to go in.

Create a room on Web

1. Go to web.cantina.com.
2. Click Places in the left sidebar.
3. Click + to open the Create Your Room dialog.
4. Pick a room type — Open (Public), Social (Friends), or Invite Only (Closed) — or click Create Quick Room for the fast path.
5. Click Continue and step through the same Room Permissions, Room Details, Description, and Invite Members screens as on iOS and Android.

After your room is live

A few things worth doing once you're in:

• Set Room Rules. Open Edit Room Settings → Rules & Content Policy to add ground rules visible to anyone who joins. Pick from preset rules (No Spam, No Trolling, Good Vibes Only, and more) or write your own.
• Promote members to Host or Admin. Once members are in the room, you can change their role from the Members list. See What are Room Roles? for the full role breakdown.
• Add AI bots — tap the Media button to add up to 3 bots to your room.
• Invite more people — tap the People button to send more invites.

Keep going

• How to Update Room Privacy — change who can see and enter your room any time.
• Room Moderation 101 — the full moderation playbook for room admins and hosts.
• What are Room Roles? — Founder, Admin, Host, Member.
• How to Add a "Rules and Content" Policy to a Room — set ground rules and content policy.
• Setting & Managing Room Lore — give your room a backstory.

When Go Live Requests is turned on in your room's Moderation Settings, members have to request permission before turning on their camera and microphone. Room hosts and admins approve or deny those requests. Here's how.

(Not seeing requests? The room's Go Live Requests toggle may be off. Turn it on under Edit Room Settings → Moderation Settings. See Room Moderation 101 for the full moderation playbook.)

Accept or deny a request on iOS and Android

1. If you're an admin and happened to overlook the pop-up notification, you can still view the pending request by tapping on the room title. 
2. Tap Pending Requests. 
3. Tap Approve or X next to the member's profile.

Founders, Admins, and Hosts of public rooms on Cantina are responsible for moderating their rooms to keep them aligned with Cantina's Community Guidelines. Addressing violations promptly keeps your room a place people want to come back to.

Founders are marked with a diamond on their profile picture. Admins are the next tier. Hosts sit below Admins. Members are everyone else. (Bots get the same role options as people — see How to Add and Remove Bots from Rooms for changing a bot's room role.)

When Admins or Hosts don't issue warnings and report violations in public rooms, the Admin's account may be suspended. Active moderation is part of running a public room.

Here's how to do it well.

Know the rules

Familiarize yourself with the Community Guidelines and Creating & Using Bots so you know what's allowed and what isn't, both for member behavior and bot behavior in your room.

Set expectations up front

Use the room's built-in surfaces to make your expectations visible before people start posting:

• Topic — the one-line description at the top of the room that frames what it's for.
• Description — the longer paragraph below the room name. Sets the vibe and context.
• Room Rules — explicit ground rules visible to anyone who joins. Add your own custom rules or pick from preset examples (No Spam, No Trolling, Good Vibes Only, and more).
• Content Policy — sets the content tier for the room. None by default; adjust in Rules & Content Policy.

Clear expectations cut moderation work in half.

Warning, then action

When someone breaks the guidelines, start with a warning. If the behavior continues, remove them.

Sample warnings to copy and adapt. Pick one that matches your room's vibe, or write your own:

• "Hey, can we keep things respectful in here? Otherwise I'll need to ask you to leave."
• "That's not how we do it in here. Adjust or you'll be removed from the room."
• "Your actions have disrupted the room. The next offense gets you removed."

If the violation is severe — harassment, threats, NSFW content, or anything that puts other members at risk — skip the warning and report directly.

Be consistent and fair

Apply moderation rules the same way to everyone, regardless of status or how long they've been in the room. Treat all members fairly and avoid favoritism or bias.

Use the moderation tools

Cantina gives you a set of room-level controls. Find them under the room's three-dot menu → Edit Room Settings.

Quick-start presets

If you don't want to dial settings one by one, four presets bundle them up:

• Open (Public) — the room is discoverable and anyone can join.
• Social (Friends) — your friends can see and join.
• Invite Only (Closed) — your friends can see the room, but only invited people can enter.
• Custom — mix-and-match the controls below.

Accessibility Settings

Who can enter the room. Four options:

• Everyone — anyone can enter.
• Contacts of Members — mutual follows and phone contacts of members can enter.
• Contacts of Hosts — mutual follows and phone contacts of hosts can enter.
• Invite Only — only invited people can enter.

Who Can Invite Others

Controls who can add new members once a room exists. Options follow the role hierarchy: Founder → Admins → Hosts → Members.

Visibility Settings

Who can see the room. Controls whether the room shows up in Discover, surfaces in Search, is visible to friends only, or stays hidden.

Moderation Settings

Who can do what in the room. For each feature, pick the minimum role required:

• Go Live — who can turn on camera + mic.
• Post Media — who can post media and links in chat.
• Control the Stage — who can add or feature content + users.
• Send Messages — who can send messages in chat.
• Signal + Ring — who can alert or ring members.
• Send Reactions & Gifs — who can send reactions and gifs.
• Manage Membership — who can remove members from the room.

Defaults are reasonable starting points. Most features open to Members; sensitive ones like Ring and Manage Membership start at Hosts.

Notifications

Control what notifications members of the room receive and from whom. Configurable for Doorbells (entry notifications) and Chat Messages, with options ranging from All to Follows Only to None. Lets you tune how loud or quiet your room feels.

Rules & Content Policy

Set explicit room rules and the content policy that applies to your room. These are visible to anyone who joins.

Banned Users

Manage the list of users you've banned. Add or remove people from the ban list here.

Per-user actions

The most important in-room moderation tools live in the member's profile menu. Hosts and above can:

• Revoke mic and cam access — silence a member's microphone and camera.
• Kick (Remove from Room) — remove a member from the room.
• Ban — block a member from rejoining. Choose the duration: 1 hour, 1 day, or forever.

For severe violations, report the user, content, or bot through Cantina's moderation channels for review.

Moderating bots in your room

Bots are part of room moderation too. If a bot is producing off-policy content:

• Mute Bot for everyone in the room from the bot's profile sheet.
• Remove from Room if the issue persists.
• Report through the same Cantina moderation channels you'd use for a member.

See How to Add and Remove Bots from Rooms.

Foster a positive environment

Set the tone yourself. Be polite, welcoming, and encourage members to interact respectfully. Rooms reflect the energy of their hosts.

Stay informed

Community Guidelines and moderation policies change over time. Check the Community Guidelines periodically and watch for notifications from Cantina.

When you're stuck

Mod work gets hard. When you're unsure how to handle a situation:

• Reach out to Cantina's moderation team through Contact Cantina.
• Recruit trusted, engaged members to help — promote them to Host or Admin so they can moderate alongside you.
• If you can't keep eyes on the room, change Accessibility Settings to Invite Only or restrict Visibility Settings until you can.

Keep going

• Community Guidelines — the canonical rules for what's allowed on Cantina.
• Serial Reporter — Cantina's policy on responsible reporting.
• What are Room Roles? — details on Founder, Admin, Host, and Member permissions.
• How to Change Room Permissions — control who can do what in your room.
• How to Add and Remove Bots from Rooms — manage bots in your room, including muting and removing.
• Creating & Using Bots — community standards for bot creation and bot behavior.
• Contact Cantina — reach the moderation team.

Room permissions in Cantina are controlled through Moderation Settings inside Edit Room Settings. This is where you decide who in your room (Admins, Hosts, or Members) can do what.

Change room permissions on iOS and Android

1. Inside your room, tap the room's name at the top.
2. Tap Edit Room.
3. Tap Moderation Settings.

Change room permissions on Web

1. Inside your room, click the room's name at the top.
2. Click Edit Room Settings.
3. Click Moderation Settings.

What each permission controls

Room Moderation (toggle) — Gives room hosts the power to approve communications by users in the room.

Go Live Requests (toggle) — Enable requests to go live in the room. Those who have permission to Go Live do not need to request it and can still go live.

Go Live — Who can turn on their camera and microphone in this room.

Post Media — Who can post media and links in chat.

Control the Stage — Who can control the stage in this room, including adding and featuring content or users.

Send Messages — Who can send messages in the room.

Signal — Who can alert members via signal.

Send Reactions & Gifs — Who can send reactions and gifs in the room.

Manage Membership — Who can remove members from the room.

Manage Bots — Who can add, remove, and adjust bot settings.

Edit Room Properties — Who can change room settings, including name, topic, and theme.

For each permission, choose the minimum role required: Admin, Host, or Member. Defaults are reasonable starting points — most features open to Members; sensitive ones like Signal and Manage Membership start at Hosts.

Keep going

• Room Moderation 101 — the full moderation playbook.
• How to Update Room Privacy — control who can see and enter your room.
• What are Room Roles? — Founder, Admin, Host, Member.

Room privacy controls who can see your room and who can enter it. You set these when you create the room, and you can change them any time after.

Quick-start rooms

When you create a room, you pick a preset that bundles privacy settings together:

• Open (Public) — anyone on Cantina can see and join.
• Social (Friends) — your contacts and friends of members can see and join.
• Invite Only (Closed) — your contacts and friends of members can see the room, but they need to request to join.

To set up faster with defaults, you can also tap Create a Quick Room during creation. This skips customization and uses Invite Only defaults you can change later. Once you're in the room, Edit Room Settings → Custom lets you mix Accessibility, Visibility, and Moderation independently.

Change privacy settings after a room is created

iOS and Android

1. Enter the room you want to update.
2. Tap the room's name at the top of the screen.
3. Tap Edit Room, then Edit Room Settings.
4. Tap Accessibility Settings or Visibility Settings to adjust who can enter or see your room.

On Web, click the room name at the top to open the settings panel, then click Edit Room Settings.

Accessibility Settings — who can enter the room

• Everyone — anyone can enter.
• Contacts of Members — mutual follows and phone contacts of members can enter.
• Contacts of Hosts — mutual follows and phone contacts of hosts can enter.
• Invite Only — only invited people can enter.

Who Can Invite Others

When the room is Invite Only, choose who can add new members:

• Founder — only the room's creator can invite.
• Admins — admins and the founder can invite.
• Hosts — hosts and above (admins and founder) can invite.
• Members — all room members can invite.

Visibility Settings — who can see the room

• Everyone — everyone can see this room.
• Contacts of Members — only mutual follows and phone contacts of members can see this room.

Moderation Settings

Moderation Settings is the third sub-section inside Edit Room Settings. It controls who in your room can do what — Go Live (camera and mic), Post Media, Control the Stage, Signal, Ring, Send Reactions & Gifs, Manage Membership, and more — so you can shape how your room feels for everyone who joins.

For the full moderation playbook, see Room Moderation 101.

Deleting room history when going more public

When you change a room to a more public setting, you'll be offered the option to delete room history. Take it if you want to make sure private conversations don't get exposed to new members.

Keep going

• How to Create a Room — set privacy at room creation.
• Room Moderation 101 — the full moderation playbook.
• How to Change Room Permissions — control who can do what once people are in.
• What are Room Roles? — Founder, Admin, Host, Member.

As a room admin or host, you can remove any member from the room at your discretion. Removed members are no longer part of the room, but they can be re-invited or rejoin anytime. If you want to prevent someone from rejoining, ban them from the room instead.

Remove a member on iOS, Android, and Web

1. Tap (or click) the member's avatar.
2. Tap Remove from Room.
3. Confirm by tapping Remove.

Note on permissions

The availability of this action depends on your room's Moderation Settings. If you're a host or admin and don't see the option, the room's founder may have limited who can moderate.

Keep going

• Room Moderation 101 — the full moderation playbook.
• How to Ban Members from a Room — prevent rejoining.
• How to Change Room Permissions — control who can moderate.

What is Room Lore?

Room lore provides bots with a shared context or background information within a room. It can be used to define character roles, set the scene, or equip bots with group-specific details to reference in conversation. Once added, Room Lore stays active for all bots in the room until you update or remove it. 

Room Lore is Good For...

• Roleplaying: Keep bots in-character as friends, rivals, love interests, or any persona you set
• Group Details: Add personalized details about room members for bots to naturally reference, understand, and recall over time
• Themed Rooms: Set the scene by defining a specific setting, genre, or world of your choice
• Content Creation: Establish narratives, guide storytelling and interactions, and ground creative projects

Setting & Managing Room Lore

How To Set Room Lore (currently available on iOS only)

1. From your home screen, tap the menu in the top left corner, then select a room

   

2. From the room profile, select the 3 dots in the top right corner 

   

3. Select Edit Room Lore

Note: You'll only see the option to Edit Room Lore if it's your room, or you have permission to edit Room Properties

Room Lore Management Settings

• You can choose to make Room Lore public or private
  • If Room Lore is public, you can view it by navigating to the room profile → Bots tab → Room Lore

• To allow other room members to edit Room Lore, go to Edit Room Settings → Moderation Settings → Edit Room Properties.
  • From there, you can choose to allow all members, Hosts, or Admins to edit.

Room Lore Templates

Try out these ready-made lore templates or adapt them to shape your room's story!

Roast Room

Anyone who enters this room will be roasted- no one is safe. Bots will always interact as part of the group, quick with comebacks, exaggerations, and cutting jokes. When conversing, bots should lean into inside references and jokes, throw ridiculous personal jabs, and maintain a humorous and over-the-top energy. The room energy thrives when it’s bold, unfiltered, lively, & fun 

Immersive Roleplay

This room is dedicated to in-character roleplay. Bots are to maintain defined character tropes and interact as a group as if they are living inside a dramatic unfolding narrative. Bots in this room should use dialogue, inner thoughts, and stage directions in asterisks (e.g., smiles softly, glancing away) to build immersive scenes. Dialogue should be passionate, emotional, and focus on character dynamics and storylines. Each message should read like a passage from fanfiction and evolve the story further into unexpected and compelling plotlines.

Reality Show

This room is the set of a reality TV mansion where contestants live under constant spotlight. Bots are to always roleplay as over-the-top housemates, hosts, or producers. They should stir up drama, deliver confessionals, hype each other up, and react as if every moment is being filmed for a dramatic episode. Bots must stay in character, treating the room like an endless competition full of alliances, rivalries, and shocking twists.

Murder Mystery 

This room is the headquarters of a small-town detective agency, tasked with unraveling a dramatic and ever-evolving murder mystery. Bots are to stay in character as detectives, assistants, informants, or suspects in the case. Bots should share clues, interrogate suspects, and build theories with evidence collected throughout the investigation. Bots must use professional detective language, react dramatically to new "developments" in the case, and always re-direct focus to the case if conversations steer too far off-topic- after all, there's a murder to solve!

Cantina has various emojis, reactions, and gifs for you to use to enhance your group chat.  

The ability to use emojis, sound reactions, and GIFs in your Cantina room may be determined by the room's permissions. These features may be enabled or disabled by the room's creator or admin. 

GIFs

To share a GIF on iOS and Android: 

1. Inside your room, tap the in the chatbox to pull up the GIF selection menu.
2. Tap the icon to the right of smiley face.
3. Click the GIF you want to share, and it will automatically show up in the chat.

To share a GIF on Web: 

1. Inside your room, click on in the chat box. 
2. Search or scroll to find a GIF you want to share, and click it to share automatically in chat.

Available only on the Cantina web app, share your screen and audio on Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, or Safari:

1. Enter a room where you have permission to control the stage.
2. Select Screen from the bottom menu.
3. Select the type of screen sharing you want to do:

• Chrome tab (Chrome and Edge only): Select the Chrome tab you want to share, you can also toggle the option to share tab audio on/off before clicking 'Share'.
• Window (Chrome and Edge only): Click the 'Window' tab, select the window or app you want to share, and click 'Share'. Keep in mind that audio sharing is not supported with this option.
• Entire Screen: Select the 'Entire Screen' tab, you can toggle the option to share system audio on or off, and then click 'Share'.

To cease screen sharing, click the "Stop Sharing" button on your screen.

The Signal feature is a quick and easy way to get the attention of the members of your room. Just tap on the Signal icon, and anyone who is a member of your room will receive a notification that you are online and ready to hang out. The room’s creator and admin can choose who is permitted to use the Signal feature by adjusting the room's permission settings.

Signal is time-gated — there's a 10-minute cooldown between signals in the same room.

Send a Signal on iOS

Empty room? When you enter your room and no one else is there, Cantina prompts you to signal your room members to join. Tap Signal.

Otherwise, from the room header:

Enhance your Cantina experience by watching videos with your friends. 

To watch media on iOS and Web:

1. Tap the on the Media left of the chat box.
2. Use the search bar to look for YouTube, photos, games, bots & more.
3. You can Present or Post to Chat. Also, you can also share media you have saved to your device.

To watch media on Android:

1. Tap the on the Media left of the chat box.
2. Use the search bar to look for YouTube, photos, games, bots & more.
3. Tap Play for Room. Also, you can also share media you have saved to your device.

To remove media that’s playing on iOS and Web: 

1. Tap the media you want to remove.
2. Tap X in the top right corner of the media to stop presenting the media.
3. Tap Remove.

To remove media that’s playing on Android: 

1. Tap the media you want to remove.
2. Tap X in the top right corner of the media to stop presenting the media.
3. Tap Stop Playing.

To delete the media in the chat on iOS and Android: 

1. Tap the media you want to delete.
2. Tap delete in the drop down box.

To delete the media in the chat on Web: 

1. Click next to the media you want to delete.
2. Then select Delete Message in the drop down box.

Cantina’s video chat feature allows up to 16 people to be live on stage at the same time. The room’s creator and admin can choose who is permitted to go on stage by adjusting the room's permission settings. Additionally, members can request to go live, or you can manually invite them onto the stage.   

To request to go live on stage on iOS, Android, and Web:

1. Inside your room, tap on Wave to the right of the chat box. You will not see the Wave if the room’s permissions are set to allow members to request to go live. 
2. Tap Request. 
3. If your request is approved, you will see a message that prompts you to turn on your mic and camera.