---
id: KB-CL-001
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/collaboration/sharing-a-space-with-someone-outside
idioma: en
categoria: colaboracion
subcategoria: externos
audiencia: usuario
nivel: basico
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-ET-008, KB-CO-013]
citadoPor: [KB-CL-002, KB-CL-003, KB-CL-008, KB-CL-009, KB-CL-011, KB-CL-014, KB-CL-020]
---

# Sharing a space with someone outside

_When the back-and-forth with a third party lasts months and does not fit in one link._

**Responde a:** shared space with a client · working continuously with a supplier · shared folder with an external party · collaborate with a third party without full access

Requesting documents with a link works when the relationship is one-off. When you will be exchanging things with that third party for months — a long project, a site, a client who sends material weekly — the link runs out of road.

## Link or shared space

| Situation | What to use |
| --- | --- |
| You ask them for four documents once | A case with its link |
| Continuous exchange over months | A shared space |
| They also need to leave things for you | A shared space |
| There are several people on each side | A shared space |

## What they see and what they do not

**En corto**

- They see what is in that space, and nothing else of your organisation.
- Not other clients, other suppliers, or your internal notes.
- They can leave things, not only collect them.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> A shared space is more convenient, which is why it is easier to over-share into it. Before uploading, ask whether that person has to see it: what goes into a shared space is seen by the other side, with no further filter.

> [!WARNING]
> When the relationship ends, close the space that day. It is the most forgotten step, because an open space bothers nobody — until it does.

> [!NOTE]
> If you work with several competing clients, one space per client is not tidiness: it is what stops one seeing another's material.

**Does the outsider need an account?**

For an ongoing space, yes; for a one-off case, no.

**Can I see what they looked at?**

Yes, accesses are logged.

**Can a link become a space?**

Yes, without losing what was already delivered.

## Ejemplos

**A builder exchanges drawings and certificates with the same engineering firm for two years.**

- Opens a shared space instead of sending separate links
- Closes it when the project ends

→ Documents stop circulating by email and everything sits in one place with its dates.

**A contractor shares a network folder with their advisers and ends up giving access to other clients' files.**

- Shares the specific file rather than the folder
- Limits access to read-only if they only need to consult
- Revokes access when the engagement ends

→ The adviser sees what they need, there is a trail of what they opened, and access expires with the work.

**Something is shared with an external party and nobody knows what they opened.**

- Checks that file's access log

→ The question is answered with data rather than an assumption.

**The external party asks for access to everything to avoid asking weekly.**

- Grants what they need for their specific task
- Extends later if needed, and it is recorded

→ Scope grows for a reason rather than for convenience.

**The project ends and the consultant is still logging in six months later.**

- Sets an expiry date when granting access

→ Access closes itself even if nobody remembers.

**A link is shared by email and ends up forwarded to a third party.**

- Shares with the person, not as an open link

→ Access stands in the name of whoever uses it.

**The external party uploads documents and there is no record of who did.**

- Records them as a named participant

→ Every contribution has an author and a date.

**Two consultancies work on the same project and can see each other.**

- Separates each one's scope

→ Each sees their own without crossing over.