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Collaboration

Collaboration lets you share selected workspace entities with other Thrive users. Recipients sign in with their own accounts, see the shared item in their workspace views, and can work with it according to the access level you grant.

This is different from Publish, which creates a public read-only web link for people who do not have a Thrive account. Use collaboration when you want authenticated access between Thrive users; use publish when you want an unlisted guest link.

What You Can Share

Many entity types support collaboration. The common ones include:

If an entity supports collaboration, the web app shows an Access section on its leaf panel. Not every surface in the workspace is shareable yet.

Access Levels

Each collaborator has an access level on the shared entity:

  • Reader — can view the entity.
  • Commenter — between reader and writer; useful when you want more than view-only access without full edit rights.
  • Writer — can view and change the entity (updates, archival where the product allows writers, and similar mutations).
  • Owner — the person who created (or otherwise owns) the entity. Ownership is not transferred by inviting someone else. Only the owner can invite others, change grants, or remove collaborators.

When you invite someone or they ask for access, you choose reader, commenter, or writer—not owner.

How Sharing Works

Invites

As the owner, open the entity and use the Access section:

  1. Search for the Thrive user you want to invite.
  2. Choose an access level.
  3. Send the invite.

Thrive creates a grant immediately and records an invite for the recipient. They see it under Core → Collaboration → Invites (and on the optional Collaboration home widget). They can acknowledge the invite to clear it from the pending list, or the owner can cancel it.

Acknowledging an invite does not create access—that already exists from the grant. It simply marks that the recipient has seen the invitation.

Access Requests

If someone opens a link to an entity they cannot access, Thrive shows an Access Denied screen. For shareable entities they can ask for read access or ask for write access.

That creates a pending request for the owner. The owner reviews it under Core → Collaboration → Asked of you and can accept or reject. The requester tracks status under Asking.

Changing Or Ending Access

  • Owner — in the entity’s Access section, change a collaborator’s level or remove their grant.
  • Collaborator — use Forget on the shared entity (or from the grant detail under Collaboration) to drop their own access. Forget applies to the entity that holds the grant, not to children that only inherited access.

Inherited Access

Sharing some parents also covers related children without a separate invite for each child. Typical cases:

  • Doc folder — access to the folder cascades through subfolders and docs.
  • Smart list — items under the list inherit access.
  • Metric — entries under the metric inherit access.
  • Time plan — activities under the plan can inherit access.

Inherited access shows up in the Access UI so you can tell a direct grant from rights that come from a parent. Manage invites and removals on the parent (or the entity that owns the grant), not on every inherited child.

Collaboration Hub

Open Core → Collaboration in the left sidebar for a workspace-wide view:

Tab What it shows
Invites Pending invitations you received
Asked of you Access requests on entities you own
Asking Access requests you sent
Shared with you Entities others have granted you
Shared by you Entities you have shared with others

You can filter by person. Opening an entry shows details and actions (acknowledge, accept/reject, forget, and so on).

You can also add a Collaboration widget on the home page for a quick glance at pending invites and requests.

How Shared Entities Appear

Shared entities show up in the usual lists and views for the people who have access—not only for the owner. Trunk and leaf views show an owner chip so you can tell when an item belongs to someone else.

Your own workspace remains yours: collaboration does not merge workspaces. It grants access to specific entities across accounts.

Collaboration Vs Publish

Collaboration Publish
Audience Other Thrive accounts Anyone with the link (no account)
Access Reader / commenter / writer Read-only guest page
Control Invites, requests, grants, forget Draft / active public URL
Where Access panel + Core → Collaboration Globe / Publish panel + Core → Publish

You can use both on the same entity when that makes sense—for example, invite a partner as a writer while also publishing a read-only page for a wider group.

Security And Privacy

Only invite people you trust with the level you grant. Writers can change the shared entity; readers can see its contents, including notes and related fields.

Treat entity links as private. Someone without a grant who opens a link will hit Access Denied and may request access—they do not see the private contents.

For a step-by-step walkthrough, see Collaborate on an Entity. For public guest links, see Share an Entity and Publish.