> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.timetracker.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Client portal overview

> Give your clients a read-only view of their own projects, deliverables, comments and invoices – without exposing rates, costs or any other client's work.

The client portal is a separate, read-only door into your workspace for the people who pay you. A client contact signs in and sees only their own company's projects, the deliverables you shared, the comment threads on those deliverables, and their invoices.

They never see your rates, your costs, your margin, your team's other clients, or anything internal.

## What the client portal is

Your workspace is two products behind one address:

| Surface           | Address             | Who goes there                                                          |
| ----------------- | ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| The internal app  | `/northwind`        | Your staff – Owner, Admin, Project Manager, Finance, Member, Contractor |
| The client portal | `/northwind/portal` | Portal contacts – people with the `client` role                         |

A person with the `client` role is sent straight to the portal when they sign in. They are refused everywhere else in the app, because the `client` role holds zero internal capabilities.

<Note>
  The portal calls your business **"your group"** in its own wording – for example, `Your group hasn't shared any projects with you.` That is deliberate. It reads naturally to an outside contact.
</Note>

## Why it exists

Clients ask the same three questions over and over:

* Where is my project up to?
* Did anyone see my feedback?
* What have you invoiced me?

The portal answers all three without you writing a status email, and without giving anyone a login to your internal numbers.

## What a portal contact can do

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="See their projects" icon="folder" href="/portal/portal-projects">
    Only projects that belong to their own client company and are shared with them.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Review deliverables" icon="check">
    One card per client-visible task, with a status of **To do**, **In progress** or **Completed**.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Approve a deliverable" icon="thumbs-up" href="/portal/portal-projects">
    A one-click approval that notifies your group and is recorded.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Comment and upload" icon="message-square" href="/portal/portal-comments">
    Post a comment on a deliverable and attach a file.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Read their invoices" icon="file-text" href="/portal/portal-invoices">
    A read-only invoice list and a live invoice view.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## What the portal looks like

The portal has its own simple chrome. There is no sidebar and no internal navigation.

| Part           | What it shows                                                                                                                   |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Logo           | The TimeTracker wordmark. It links to the space list.                                                                           |
| Space switcher | A handshake icon plus the workspace name. The dropdown is headed `Spaces` and lists each space with the person's role under it. |
| Nav            | Exactly two items – **Projects** and **Invoices**.                                                                              |
| User menu      | The contact's avatar and name, their email, and **Sign out**.                                                                   |

There is no search, no theme toggle, no settings page and no notification centre in the portal.

<Note>
  There is no per-client branding. The portal shows the TimeTracker wordmark, not your logo or your client's logo.
</Note>

## How access is decided

A portal contact sees a project when two things are true:

1. They are a portal contact **of the client company that owns the project**.
2. The project is shared with them.

Sharing is mostly automatic. When a project belongs to a client, every portal contact of that client is given access. Moving a project to a different client moves the access with it. You can also untick a single project for a single contact.

Read the full rules on [what clients can see](/portal/what-clients-can-see).

## Portal contacts use a seat

A portal contact is a login like any other. Every active portal contact counts toward your workspace seat count, exactly like a staff member.

<Warning>
  On the Free plan a workspace includes **3 people in total**. That total counts staff, portal contacts and outstanding invitations together. Inviting a portal contact on Free is blocked, because the Client portal is a Pro feature in the first place.
</Warning>

See [seats and billing](/team/seats-and-billing) and [/billing/seats](/billing/seats).

## Plan and app requirements

The Client portal is an app you can switch on or off, and it is a **Pro** feature.

| Setting       | Value                        |
| ------------- | ---------------------------- |
| App name      | **Client portal**            |
| Group         | Connections                  |
| On by default | Yes                          |
| Plan          | Pro                          |
| Needs         | The **Projects & tasks** app |

Two different things can hide the portal, and they are not the same:

* **The app is switched off.** Contacts can no longer sign in. Their comments, approvals and uploads are kept. An owner or admin turns it back on in **Settings → Apps**.
* **Your plan does not include it.** The app stays visible in your settings with an upgrade prompt: `Client portal is a Pro feature`.

See [apps and modules](/concepts/apps-and-modules) and [plans and features](/concepts/plans-and-features).

## Example

Northwind Studio runs the Website Redesign project for Bluebird Coffee. Maya Ellis opens the Bluebird Coffee client record and invites Ruth Castillo as a portal contact.

Ruth accepts, signs in, and lands on `/northwind/portal`. She sees two cards – **Website Redesign** and **Monthly Retainer** – because both projects belong to Bluebird Coffee.

She does not see Harbor Logistics – Mobile App, or Fenwick Legal – Brand Refresh. She does not see Sarah Lin's $100 billable rate or her $45 cost rate. She sees the deliverables Northwind marked client-visible, and the invoices Daniel Okafor issued to Bluebird Coffee.

## Permissions

| Action                                    | Capability                 | Roles that hold it by default |
| ----------------------------------------- | -------------------------- | ----------------------------- |
| Invite a portal contact                   | `client.manage`            | Owner, Admin, Project Manager |
| Share or unshare a project with a contact | `project.manage`           | Owner, Admin, Project Manager |
| Switch the Client portal app on or off    | `workspace.updateSettings` | Owner, Admin                  |

The `client` role itself holds **no** capabilities. See [roles and capabilities](/concepts/roles-and-capabilities).

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Does a client need a paid seat?">
    A portal contact counts toward your seat total the same as a staff member. The Client portal is a Pro feature, so you need a Pro workspace to invite one at all.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can one person be both a staff member and a client contact?">
    Yes, in different workspaces. Someone can be a Member of your workspace and a portal contact of another. The space switcher lets them move between the two.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can a client see my other clients?">
    No. A portal contact can only reach projects owned by their own client company, and only invoices for those clients. Everything else returns an access error that does not even confirm the item exists.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can a client pay an invoice in the portal?">
    No. The invoice view is read-only. There is no pay button and no online payment step in the portal.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens if I switch the app off?">
    Contacts stop being able to sign in. Their comments, approvals and uploads are kept, and everything comes back when you switch it on again.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related guides

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="What clients can see" icon="eye" href="/portal/what-clients-can-see">
    The exact list of what is visible and what is never visible.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Invite a client contact" icon="user-plus" href="/portal/invite-a-client-contact">
    How to give a client access, and why it starts on the client record.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Portal permissions" icon="lock" href="/portal/portal-permissions">
    Which roles can manage portal access.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Client contacts" icon="users" href="/clients/client-contacts">
    Contacts on a client record.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Apps and modules" icon="toggle-left" href="/concepts/apps-and-modules">
    How switching an app off differs from a plan limit.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Seats and billing" icon="credit-card" href="/team/seats-and-billing">
    How people and invitations are counted.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>