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Bolt supports secure sharing of a working prototype without exposing your full project. You can generate a private link so others can explore your app in a hosted environment, while your files and code stay safely inside Bolt. Sharing (restricted access to a published site) is available on paid plans. People you invite can view the site via the shared link. They cannot access the project itself.

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How sharing works

Screenshot of share button in top-right corner of screen
Instead of clicking Publish, click Share in the top-right corner of your screen. Bolt then creates a hosted version of your prototype and gives you control over who can open the link. This lets you collect feedback, run tests, or show progress to a stakeholder before release, without making your app publicly visible or searchable. You can share a project from both your personal Bolt account and a Teams account.

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Sharing vs. publishing

Sharing is only available on paid plans, whereas publishing is available on all plans, paid and free.
Sharing focuses on private access, while publishing is used when you are ready for the world to see your app.
OptionWho can accessVisibilityBest use
SharingInvited viewers onlyNot indexed or publicPrivate reviews and testing
PublishingAnyone on the webDiscoverable by search enginesPublic launch or open access
To learn more about deploying a fully-public version of your project, see Publishing.

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Keep your site updated

Your site is not automatically updated when changes are made to your project in Bolt. Just like publishing your site, after sharing it, you’ll need to click Update whenever you want people to see the latest version of your app.
Screenshot of updating shared sites in Bolt.
If you don’t see an Update button, it’s because your site hasn’t been shared or published yet.
There are two secure ways to control who can view your shared prototype:
  • Invite specific people by email
  • Share an invite link directly
To share an invite link directly, follow these steps:
  1. Log in to your project.
  2. Click Share in the upper-right corner of your screen.
  3. Ensure the Site visibility drop-down selection is Private.
  4. Click Generate a private invitation link.
  5. Copy the link that gets generated.
  6. Share the link with anyone you’d like to view the site.
Protect your link, as anyone with it can view your shared site.

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Invite specific people by email

You must first generate a share link before inviting people by email to view your project.
To invite people by email to view your project, follow the steps below:
  1. Log in to your project.
  2. Click Share in the upper-right corner of your screen.
  3. Ensure the Site visibility drop-down selection is Private.
  4. Enter an email address where it says Invite by email.
  5. Click Invite.
As you invite emails, you’ll see them appear at the bottom of the sharing window. You can click the refresh icon to resend the invite, or the trash icon to remove that person’s permission to view your site.

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Domain access for Teams plans

If you’re on a Teams plan, you get additional control over sharing. In addition to the sharing options described above, on a Teams plan, you can whitelist a company email domain. Anyone with an email from that domain can view the shared prototype. Also, members of your Team always have access to a private site by default, making internal reviews simple inside larger organizations.

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Whitelist an email domain for a shared site

To whitelist a domain so that anyone with an email address at that domain can view your shared site, follow the steps below:
  1. Log in to your project.
  2. Click Share in the upper-right corner of your screen.
  3. Click Whitelist email domains.
  4. Enter the comma-separated domains you’d like to whitelist, preceded by @. For example, @example.com.
    1. Click Save domains.

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Unpublish a shared project

If you’ve shared a link to your project but want to take that project offline, follow the steps below to unpublish it:
  1. Click the gear icon in the top center of your screen, then click All project settings.
  2. Click Domains & hosting.
  3. Click the red Unpublish text.
  4. Confirm by clicking Unpublish again.
You can always generate a new link and re-share your project later.