👨‍💼Client Portal

The client portal is a secure way to collaborate with external stakeholders on specific projects. It gives clients controlled visibility into progress, tasks, and shared documents without exposing your full Motion workspace. Instead of managing updates through email or multiple tools, clients can use the portal to review project status, complete assigned tasks, upload files, and communicate with your team.

This guide explains how the client portal works, how to share a project with clients, and how clients interact with the portal once invited.

At a glance

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• What the client portal is and how it fits into project collaboration

• How to share a project with clients and manage access

• How clients navigate and interact with the portal

You’ll also learn how to:

• Share a project and control what clients can see

• Onboard clients using a magic link

• Assign client-facing tasks and collect approvals via Complete

• Share documents and receive file uploads

• Manage invites, active shares, and access revocations

What is the client portal?

The client portal is a dedicated, read-limited collaboration space for external clients. It is separate from your internal workspace but linked to the specific project you choose to share. Each client receives a secure link that grants access only to the shared project.

Clients can:

• View the project’s overall progress and task list

• Complete tasks assigned to them

• View client-visible tasks assigned to your team (if you choose to expose them)

• Upload and download files within tasks

• Communicate with your team through task comments

The portal is project-specific: sharing one project does not grant clients access to any other projects or areas of your workspace.

How to share a project with clients

Steps to share a project

Sharing a project gives clients controlled access to selected tasks, documents, and attachments through the client portal. You choose what they can see and update these settings at any time.

1. Open your workspace Go to the workspace that contains the project you want to share.

2. Open the project menu In the project list or project view, click the three-dot menu next to the project name.

3. Select “Share with clients” This opens the client-sharing panel where you can manage visibility and access.

4. Add client email addresses Enter the client’s email in the field provided and click Add. Repeat this step for each client you want to include. Once you’re done, click Continue.

5. Choose what to share You control the visibility of project content:

   1. Share all items Gives clients access to every task, document, and attachment currently in the project.

   2. Choose what to share Lets you manually select specific tasks, documents, and attachments.

6. Select tasks and documents Choose the items clients should see. Only the items you select will appear in their portal.

7. Decide how future items are shared If you turn on “Automatically share all newly created tasks, documents, and attachments with the client,” any future additions to the project will be visible by default. If this is off, new items remain internal unless manually shared.

8. Send invites Click "Send invites" to give clients access. They’ll receive a magic link in their email to open the project in the client portal.

Managing visibility after sharing

You can return to the client-sharing panel at any time to:

• Add or remove shared items

• Adjust the auto-share setting

• Change which clients have access

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How clients access the project

Clients can access the shared project through a secure, client-specific link. You control who has access at all times. There are two ways clients can join:

Method 1: Email invite

When you share a project, clients receive an email containing a link that grants them access to the client portal for that project.

• The link works without requiring a Motion account.

• Clients can open the project immediately from the email.

Method 2: Shareable link

You can also copy a shareable access link directly from the project’s client-sharing panel.

• Send the link to the client through any channel you prefer (email, chat, etc.).

• Anyone with the link will only see the specific project you shared and only the items you selected.

Managing client access

You can update or revoke client access at any time.

Removing a specific client

• Open the project’s Share with clients panel.

• Find the client’s name in the access list.

• Click the X next to their name to immediately remove their access.

Unsharing the project entirely

If you want to remove access for all clients at once:

• Click Unshare within the client-sharing panel.

• This revokes access for every client and disables all magic links previously issued.

After removal, clients will no longer be able to open the project or access any previously visible tasks, documents, or attachments.

Working with client tasks

The client portal allows clients to view and complete work assigned to them within a shared project. This section explains how to assign tasks to clients, what actions they can take, and the current limitations of the feature.

Assigning tasks to clients

You can assign a task directly to a client once they have been invited to the project.

To assign a task:

1. Open the task in your project.

2. Go to the Assignee field.

3. Search for the client’s email. They will appear as a client.

4. Select the client from the list.

Important:

• Motion supports only one assignee per task. You cannot assign a task to multiple clients or a mix of clients and internal users.

• The client will receive an email notification with a link to the task and can begin working immediately.

How task views differ for clients and internal users

Task modals look different depending on whether the viewer is a client or a Motion user. The fields available in each modal reflect the user’s permissions and the actions they’re allowed to take.

Client task modal

When a client opens a task in the portal, they see a simplified interface with only the fields they are allowed to interact with.

Motion user task modal (assigned to a Motion user)

When an internal user opens a task assigned to someone inside the workspace, they see the full Motion task modal.

Client permissions and visibility

What clients can see

• Tasks assigned to them

• Tasks you explicitly share

• Files attached to shared tasks

• Comments on shared tasks

• Docs you select for them

What clients can do

• Complete tasks

• Change their own task deadlines

• Upload files

• Comment on tasks

• Create tasks/docs (if allowed)

Access control and revoking access

• Clients access via magic link

• They authenticate as guest users

• You can revoke access individually or revoke all at once

• Revoking disables the magic link immediately

Activity logging

• All deadline changes, file uploads, completions, and comments are logged

• Internal users can view these logs for transparency

Restrictions of the client portal

The client portal is designed to provide controlled access. Clients cannot modify internal fields, change project settings, or see areas you have not shared. Current restrictions include:

• Clients cannot assign tasks to other people. They can only work on tasks assigned to them.

• Clients cannot change the project’s deadline. Only workspace members can update project-level dates.

• Clients cannot write comments directly inside documents. They can only comment at the task or project level.

• Clients cannot add labels to tasks. Labels remain an internal organizational tool.

• Clients cannot see project stages or workflows. These remain internal to your team.

• You cannot share individual tasks without first sharing the project. Task sharing requires the project to be shared.

• You cannot share projects from a private workspace. The project must belong to a shared workspace to enable client access.

• Auto-scheduling is disabled for tasks assigned to clients. Since clients do not have connected calendars, Motion cannot schedule tasks on their behalf.

• Clients cannot change task priority or status, even when they are the assignee.

These limitations ensure internal structure, priority, and execution workflows remain controlled by your team.