---
id: KB-GL-018
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/glossary/what-is-a-participant
idioma: en
categoria: glosario
subcategoria: procesos
audiencia: usuario
nivel: basico
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-GL-011, KB-GL-012]
citadoPor: [KB-TL-007]
---

# What a participant is

_Who takes part in a file, and why their name stays there even after they stop working with you._

**Responde a:** what is a participant in a file · who takes part in a process · can someone take part without an account · remove someone from a file

A file is almost never one person's business. There is whoever opens it, whoever contributes a document, whoever reviews it and whoever closes it — and often someone on the outside who does not work with you and has no reason to hold an account.

**Participant** — Anyone who takes part in a file: contributing something, reviewing, approving or simply receiving what is asked of them.

## The three types worth telling apart

| Type | Who they are | What they need to take part |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Internal | Someone on your team | Their user and the permissions you granted |
| External | A supplier, a client, a technician | Nothing beyond the link sent to them |
| Automatic | A task that runs on its own: a reminder, a check | Someone to have set it up |

> [!WARNING]
> What surprises people most about the second type: **an external participant needs no account to leave a trace**. When they upload a document through the link you sent, who they were, when they did it and what they contributed is recorded, just as for someone in-house. You do not have to give them access to your account to have evidence of what they did — and you are better off not doing so.

## What happens when someone stops taking part

1. **They are removed from whatever is open** — They stop receiving notices and can no longer contribute.
2. **What they already did stays** — Their name remains on every step they took, with its date.
3. **And someone else takes their place** — The file carries on; what changes is who answers from now on.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> That second point is deliberate and sometimes uncomfortable: **removing someone from a process does not erase what they did**. If it did, the file would stop telling what actually happened, which is precisely what it is for. A history rewritten whenever someone leaves proves nothing.

The practical consequence is simple: each person should take part under their own name, not through a shared department account. A history full of «admin» says nothing about who did what on the day you need to find out.

> [!NOTE]
> A person's rights over their own personal data are a different matter, and they are honoured. Traceability of who did what inside a file is one thing; that person's personal data is another. **How the two are reconciled in your case is for your adviser to settle**.

**Does an external participant see the whole file?**

No: they see what is asked of them and what is shared with them, not the rest.

**Can I add someone halfway through a process?**

Yes, and the date they joined is recorded.

**What if the same person takes part for two different companies?**

They are told apart by the role they hold in each file.

## Ejemplos

**An external technician has to add a certificate to an ongoing file.**

- Gets a specific link instead of an account user

→ They contribute their part, who and when is recorded, and they get into nothing else.

**A participant leaves the company and there is a wish to remove their name from the file.**

- Keeps the record of what they did

→ The history stays true.

**Someone who only had to provide one paper is invited as a user.**

- Sends them a participant link instead

→ No licence is consumed for a one-off contribution.

**Two people from the same company provide different documents.**

- Records each as a participant

→ It is on record who provided what.

**A participant asks to see the whole file.**

- Checks what they are entitled to see

→ They see their part without reaching everyone else's.

**Months later it must be established who provided a certificate.**

- Checks the participant record

→ The question is answered without phoning anyone.