> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://decentralabs-2.gitbook.io/decentralabs-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://decentralabs-2.gitbook.io/decentralabs-docs/marketplace/access-laboratories.md).

# Access laboratories

Learn how institutional users reserve and access laboratories in the DecentraLabs marketplace.

DecentraLabs provides an institutional marketplace where students, researchers, and staff can reserve and access remote laboratories operated by integrated providers.

Customer access in the marketplace now follows a managed institutional model:

* users authenticate with their institution;
* reservations are handled through the marketplace and institutional backend;
* laboratory access is granted through short-lived gateway tokens issued after reservation checks.

Personal wallet login is not part of the customer access flow described in this guide.

***

## Prerequisites

Before you can reserve and access a laboratory, you need:

1. **Institutional access**\
   Your institution must be integrated with DecentraLabs and you must be able to sign in through the institutional login flow.
2. **Available service-credit entitlement**\
   Your institution or provider configuration must allow the reservation you want to make.
3. **Browser requirements**\
   A modern browser with JavaScript enabled. If a new window is used for institutional authorization, allow pop-ups for the Marketplace origin.

***

## Step-by-Step Guide

### 1. Sign in with Your Institution

Navigate to the [DecentraLabs Marketplace](https://marketplace-decentralabs.vercel.app) and use **Institutional Login**.

After a successful sign-in, the marketplace creates an institutional session for your user and loads the reservations and credits available to your organization. Credits are internal units and cannot be exchanged for cash.

The session may expire after a period of inactivity or when the institution's SSO session ends. If Marketplace asks you to sign in again, complete Institutional Login before retrying the reservation or access request.

***

### 2. Browse and Select a Laboratory

Explore the laboratories listed on the marketplace homepage. Each lab card shows:

* lab name and provider;
* price or credit consumption model;
* category and keywords;
* availability status.

Open the laboratory details page to review:

* description and documentation;
* supported equipment or software;
* provider information;
* booking and access requirements.

The normal catalogue contains listed laboratories. An unlisted lab may appear only when the explicit discovery filter is enabled; it is not eligible for public booking.

The catalogue refreshes periodically in the background. A brief refresh delay does not prevent browsing or booking. Marketplace only shows a warning when the last valid catalogue snapshot is significantly old; repeated warnings for the same snapshot are suppressed during the browser session.

If a provider's metadata is temporarily unreachable during a refresh, the catalogue retries the read and keeps the last complete snapshot instead of replacing a lab's name or image with a generated fallback.

***

### 3. Reserve a Time Slot

From the reservation page, choose:

1. a date;
2. a start time;
3. a duration.

The marketplace shows:

* available slots;
* estimated credit usage;
* reservation constraints or conflicts.

Submit the reservation request to continue. The marketplace requests institutional authorization and records the reservation only after the backend and contract checks succeed.

Important booking rules:

* an external-provider reservation must start at least **10 minutes from now**;
* the laboratory's time zone is shown alongside your local time;
* available durations and booking periods are laboratory-specific; and
* concurrent FMU laboratories may show their current occupancy and maximum concurrent users.

See [Reservations and cancellations](/decentralabs-docs/marketplace/reservations-and-cancellations.md) for the complete lifecycle and cancellation rules.

***

### 4. Wait for Reservation Confirmation

Once the reservation request is submitted:

1. the marketplace records and validates the request against the configured backend and reservation model;
2. the institutional backend completes the authorization and on-chain execution;
3. the booking appears in your **User Dashboard** with its current status.

When confirmation succeeds, the reservation status changes to **Confirmed**. Pending means that provider confirmation is still outstanding. If an external provider does not confirm within the decision window, the request can expire without capturing credits.

***

### 5. Cancel a Pending or Confirmed Reservation

Open the reservation from your **User Dashboard** and choose **Cancel** when it is available.

* a pending request and a confirmed reservation follow different cancellation paths;
* the marketplace checks that the reservation belongs to your institution and that its on-chain state can be cancelled;
* the confirmation screen shows the current credit-return and fee preview when the contract provides one;
* an expired source-credit date is shown as an advisory because it may affect part or all of the returned credits, but it does not disable cancellation when the on-chain preview says `cancellable=true`;
* the institutional backend and smart contract verify the final cancellation and amount again.

Cancellation is not a cash refund. A completed, expired, already cancelled or otherwise ineligible reservation cannot be cancelled from Marketplace. An `ACCESS_AUTHORIZED` reservation is also not a consumer-cancellable state: the Diamond reserves that state for provider-side `PROVIDER_SERVICE_FAILURE` cancellation while the attestation grace period is open. Providers must use the Lab Gateway's **Actionable Reservations** view for that path.

***

### 6. Access the Laboratory

At the scheduled time:

1. go to your **User Dashboard** or the lab page;
2. locate the active reservation;
3. click **Access** when the reservation window is open.

The marketplace then:

* validates the active reservation;
* performs institutional check-in when required;
* requests a short-lived access credential from the configured lab gateway;
* redirects you to the remote lab interface.

***

### 7. During the Session

During the reserved window:

* you can use the remote interface exposed by the provider;
* you may reconnect while the reservation remains active, depending on provider policy;
* you should save any work before the reservation end time.

At the end of the reservation window, access is closed automatically by the provider-side access controls.

***

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What if my institution is not integrated?

You will not be able to use the institutional customer flow until your institution is configured in the platform.

### What if the reservation is not confirmed?

Check your **User Dashboard** for the current status. If the reservation remains pending or fails, contact the provider or platform support according to your institution's support path.

### Can I access the lab before the start time?

No. Access is granted only during the valid reservation window.

### What if I lose connection during the session?

If the reservation is still active, you can return to the marketplace and use **Access** again. Reconnection behavior depends on the provider configuration.

***

## Summary

The customer laboratory-access flow is:

1. sign in with your institution;
2. choose and reserve a lab;
3. wait for confirmation or cancel an eligible reservation;
4. access the lab during the active reservation window;
5. use the session until the reservation ends.

This keeps customer authentication and access aligned with the institutional and managed-custody model used by the current marketplace.

For common login, credit, metadata and Gateway failures, see [Troubleshooting](/decentralabs-docs/marketplace/troubleshooting.md). Last reviewed: 2026-09-02