Create a client portal
Give a client their own login — link it to a project, send the invite by email or text, and attach an onboarding pack.
A portal is your client's login. Creating one optionally links it to a project, sends the invite, and attaches an onboarding pack in a single step.
Before you start
You need Client Portals (edit) permission, and the client record must have an email address on it. Without one you will see “Add a client email before creating portal access.”
Create it
You can start from three places: the clientOverview, the clientSettings, or the Create portal item on the row kebab in the clients list.
Open the client and click Create portal
Choose the portal target
Pick the project mode and select a project — or leave it unassigned.
Decide whether to invite now
Tick or untick Send onboarding invite now.
Pick a delivery method
Email, Text message, or Email + text. Text options only appear where the native app is armed. If you choose a text channel, enter the SMS phone number.
Attach an onboarding pack (optional)
Use Choose pack or Create pack, and optionally tick Require before first access to gate the portal until the pack is done.
Click Create portal
Rules worth knowing before you click
One unassigned portal per client
A client can hold only one portal that is not linked to a project. Creating a second gives you “This client already has an unassigned portal. Link the next portal to a project instead.”
- Pack buttons stay disabled until an invite delivery method is on. The hint reads “Turn on an onboarding invite delivery method to attach a pack during portal creation.”
- A text channel with no number blocks the save — “Enter a phone number before sending a text invite.”
Where the invite comes from
Invite emails send with your workspace sender name and reply-to, but from the platform address until you verify your own sending domain.
Verify a sending domain before your first real client
Do it under SettingsEmail identity. An invite from your own domain lands in an inbox far more reliably than one from a shared platform address — and it is the first thing a new client sees.
Watch the invite land
Open the client and read OverviewPortal setup. The card carries the milestones in order — Portal created, Invite sent, Account set, Portal accessed, then Discovery sent and Discovery completed — next to a Pack chip naming what was attached and a Required form, Optional form or Form disabled chip.
Resend invite sits on the same card and needs Client Portals (edit); without that permission the card says “Portal edit permission is required.” Resending is the right move when a client never set a password: Account set stays unticked until they do it themselves.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Create portal is missing | No Client Portals (edit) permission | Ask an owner to grant it in Team → member → Permissions |
| “Add a client email before creating portal access” | The client record has no email | Add one on the client's Profile |
| “This client already has an unassigned portal” | One unassigned portal already exists | Link the new portal to a project |
| The pack buttons are greyed out | No invite delivery method is on | Turn on Send onboarding invite now first |
| Only Email is offered as a delivery method | Text and Email + text render only where your workspace's native app host is armed | Send by email. This is what most workspaces see |
| The client never got the invite | Sending from the platform address, filtered | Verify your sending domain, then resend |