There is one kind of account on Orochia. Everyone joins as a member (a fan): watch, follow, tip, unlock, bid, back challenges, message. Publishing is a change of role of that same account — "Open your creator space" — followed by the identity and age review that 18 U.S.C. § 2257 requires before anything is published. Nobody is asked to sign up twice, and a signed-in person is never sent to the sign-up form.

This page describes the journey as the code implements it (apps/web/lib/creator-journey.ts, apps/web/app/creator/apply/page.tsx, apps/web/app/api/me/become-creator/route.ts, the operator console's /compliance), including what is not built yet.

1. The states of an account

Start
- → VISITORopens orochia.com
VISITORstarts here
not signed in
- → UNCONFIRMEDsigns up (date of birth checked 18+, certification, terms)
UNCONFIRMED
account created, e-mail not confirmed yet
- → MEMBERfollows the link e-mailed to them
MEMBER
a fan (role MEMBER)
- → CREATOR_PENDINGopens a creator space (POST /api/me/become-creator)
- → SUSPENDEDan operator suspends the account
- → CREATOR_PENDINGan operator sets the role directly (console → users) — the review still applies
CREATOR_PENDING
creator space opened, 2257 review pending (CREATOR, is_verified = false)
- → CREATORan operator approves the records (console → 2257 verification)
- → SUSPENDEDan operator suspends the account
SUSPENDED
suspended by an operator (suspended_at set)
- → MEMBERan operator reinstates a member
- → CREATOR_PENDINGan operator reinstates a pending creator (role and review kept)
- → CREATORan operator reinstates a verified creator (role and verification kept)
CREATOR
verified creator (CREATOR, is_verified = true)
- → CREATOR_PENDINGan operator withdraws the verification (console → creator registry)
- → SUSPENDEDan operator suspends the account

The state is read from the database on every page that shows a next step (lib/viewer.ts → viewerStateOf): the session cookie only says who is signed in. A member who opens a creator space, or a creator an operator has just approved, sees the right next step on the next page they open. The platform owner (ADMIN) is created verified and counts as a verified creator.

An operator can also make a member a creator directly (console → Users, PATCH /api/admin/users/:id set-role): the account then waits for the 2257 review like everyone else (is_verified is set to false — an account created by sign-up starts with true, which means "no review pending", so without this it would publish at once).

State	Database	What the person can do
Visitor	—	Watch what is public, explore, read profiles; sign up or sign in
Unconfirmed	`users.email_verified_at` null	Only confirm the e-mail (or ask for the link again) and sign out; the API refuses everything else
Member	`role = MEMBER`	Watch, follow, contacts, messages, tip, unlock, buy credits, bid, pledge, dare, collections, lists
Creator, pending	`role = CREATOR`, `is_verified = false`	Everything a member does, plus edit the profile as a creator page and save a payout account. No uploads: videos, stories and editor drafts are refused (`403 … pending`); no goals, no dares received, no open-call applications; not listed in Explore
Creator, verified	`role = CREATOR`, `is_verified = true`	Everything above, plus upload videos and stories, auctions, goals, dares, open calls, earnings and payouts; listed in Explore once something public is ready
Suspended	`users.suspended_at` set	Cannot sign in; an open session is refused by every API call; their videos are not listed, open auctions and challenges are cancelled

2. "Become a creator" — what it does

POST /api/me/become-creator (signed in, e-mail confirmed):

Same account. No new account, no new password, nothing to fill in again. The role goes MEMBER → CREATOR and is_verified is set to false — the 2257 review is now pending. Followers, contacts, credits, purchases and messages stay where they are.
18+ again, on record. It is refused (403, code BIRTH_DATE_REQUIRED) when the account has no recorded date of birth (an account completed before the date was asked for adds it in Settings — /api/me/birth-date fills a missing one, never rewrites it).
Nothing is published, nothing is charged. It only opens the door to the review.
Idempotent: a creator or the owner calling it again gets their current role back.

3. The checks, and why

Check	When	Why	Where it lives
Date of birth, 18+	Sign-up (and Google / Facebook completion); required again before opening a creator space	Orochia is adults-only; a ticked box is not enough, the server computes the age	`checkDateOfBirth` (`lib/profile.ts`) → `users.date_of_birth` — private, never shown
18+ certification and terms	Sign-up	The person states they are an adult and accepts the terms	Validated by the API (`isAgeVerified`, `acceptTerms` must be `true`) → `users.is_age_verified`. The acceptance itself is not stored as a dated record yet
E-mail confirmed	Before anything but the confirmation page	One reachable person per account; reviews and payouts write to it	`users.email_verified_at`
Identity and age records (18 U.S.C. § 2257)	Between opening the creator space and the first upload	US law requires the producer of sexually explicit content to verify and keep proof that every performer is an adult, before publishing	Operator console → 2257 Creator Verification (`/compliance`) → `PATCH /api/admin/creators/:id` → `users.is_verified`. Checked by `create-upload-session`, `stories` and `video-drafts` on every upload
Per-upload declarations	Every upload	The creator confirms the people shown are adults, consented, and that the records are kept	A required step of the upload form (client side); not stored per video yet
Payout account	Before the first payout (minimum $20)	Earnings go to a verified destination only	`payout_accounts`, validated like a bank would (IBAN mod-97, ABA) and encrypted at rest (AES-256-GCM, `PAYOUT_ENCRYPTION_KEY`); the creator only sees a masked hint

What is not built yet

No in-app document submission. The upload API accepts a private documents category (stored under private/documents/…, readable only by operators through /api/admin/documents), but no screen sends it: today the operator reviews the records by hand and writes to the creator's address. The application page says exactly that. An identity-verification provider (ID + liveness: Veriff, Yoti, Onfido…) wired to this flow and to the operator queue is issue #34.
No co-performer consent records. Records cover the account holder; releases for other people in a video are not modelled.
The legal pack — custodian of records, legal entity on the 2257 statement, age-assurance per jurisdiction — is issue #33. Tax forms for payouts: issue #42.
No notification on approval yet: the creator finds the studio open on their next visit.

4. Who sees what

Who	Sees
The person	Their state on `/creator/apply` (the steps, the review, what they can do meanwhile), a banner on the dashboard while they are a member or pending, the next step under every empty list
Everyone	A creator's profile, with "Verified creator" or "Verification in progress" in its About tab. A pending creator is never in Explore (`lib/discoverable.ts`: verified, active, with something public)
Operators	The verification queue and the creator registry in the console, the 18+ flag and 2257 state per account, private documents when there are some, a payout request's decrypted destination
Nobody	The date of birth, the e-mail address, a payout account in full (outside the operator's payout review)

5. Where each viewer is sent

One rule for every call to action (creatorSpaceCta, feedEmptyActions in lib/creator-journey.ts, unit-tested and checked end to end in e2e/scenarios.mjs): a signed-in person never meets the sign-up form.

Viewer	"Publish" leads to	The empty home feed offers	An empty Contacts tab offers
Visitor	Sign up → back to the creator application (`/auth/register?next=/creator/apply`, kept through the e-mail confirmation)	Create a free account · Become a creator	Sign in to see them
Member	Open your creator space → `/creator/apply` (this account)	Explore creators · Open your creator space	Find people · Your network
Creator, pending	See your verification status → `/creator/apply`	Explore creators · See your verification status	Find people · Your network
Creator, verified	Upload a video → `/creator/upload`	Upload a video · Explore creators	Find people · Your network
Suspended	—	Nothing to do: contact the operator	—

/creator/apply: a visitor is sent to sign up first; a member sees the steps and the button; a pending creator the status of the review; a verified creator goes straight to the studio (/dashboard?tab=uploads).
/creator/upload: verified creators only; a member or a pending creator lands on /creator/apply.
/auth/register and /auth/login send a signed-in person on to next at once, and pass next to each other.
The top bar shows nothing in place of the account while the session is read — never "Join" for a second.
When the feed cannot be read (the database does not answer), the home says so ("The feed could not load") instead of "no video yet".

Why a feed can be empty

The home feed lists videos that are encoded (READY), not taken down, not invited-only, from accounts that are not suspended (listFeed, lib/queries.ts). A database rebuilt from the migrations (the dev deployment was on 2026-10-08) has none until a verified creator publishes one — the empty state then speaks to whoever is looking.

Product overview →

Creator Onboarding

1. The states of an account

2. "Become a creator" — what it does

3. The checks, and why

What is not built yet

4. Who sees what

5. Where each viewer is sent

Why a feed can be empty

On this page

Creator Onboarding

1. The states of an accountCopy Anchor Link

2. "Become a creator" — what it doesCopy Anchor Link

3. The checks, and whyCopy Anchor Link

What is not built yetCopy Anchor Link

4. Who sees whatCopy Anchor Link

5. Where each viewer is sentCopy Anchor Link

Why a feed can be emptyCopy Anchor Link

On this page

1. The states of an account

2. "Become a creator" — what it does

3. The checks, and why

What is not built yet

4. Who sees what

5. Where each viewer is sent

Why a feed can be empty