Set Up and Manage Shared Spaces (For Admins)
Learn how to enable and configure Shared Spaces, external sharing, and guest accounts for your organization.
Last updated: Mar 4, 2026
Overview
Shared Spaces allow you to organize and share Workflows, Playbooks, Vaults, and Assistant Threads in secure collaboration environments.
As a workspace admin, you control:
- Who can create and use Shared Spaces
- Who can collaborate with other Harvey organizations
- Who can invite non-Harvey users as guests
By the end of this article, you’ll understand how to:
- Enable the correct permissions
- Configure external sharing approvals
- Set up guest access
- Communicate collaboration models to your team
Shared Spaces are secure, branded collaboration environments in Harvey that allow teams to organize and share tools, data, and work product in one place. They support multiple modes of collaboration:
- Internal Spaces: Organize resources within your own workspace. Great for practice groups, project teams, or knowledge management.
- External Spaces: Spaces shared between two Harvey organizations. Both organizations can contribute and access shared resources while maintaining separate data visibility and approval controls.
- Guest Accounts: Invite non-Harvey users into a Shared Space using a limited-access account. Guests authenticate through a secure email link and can only access the Spaces they're invited to.
All members of a Space see the same resources within that Space. You can grant higher access levels on individual resources when needed.
Collaboration Permissions
Important: Shared Spaces is fully opt-in. Collaboration features are disabled by default. You must explicitly enable each permission before users can access Shared Spaces, collaborate externally, or invite guests.
Guest Accounts are in Early Access — contact your Harvey account team to get access.
You can manage shared spaces permissions in Settings > Users.
Each permission controls a different level of collaboration:
Permission | What It Enables | Recommended For |
|---|---|---|
| Users can see the Spaces tab and create or join internal Spaces within your workspace | Any user who should organize or access Spaces internally |
| Users can share resources or Spaces with other Harvey organizations and participate in external collaboration | Users who need to collaborate with people at other Harvey workspaces (e.g., firm and client) |
| Users can invite non-Harvey users (guests) into a Shared Space with limited access. Learn more below. | Users who need to bring in collaborators who don't have a Harvey license |
Note: These permissions are independent. You can combine them based on your organization’s collaboration model.
Permission Configurations
Shared Spaces | External Collaboration | Guest Accounts | What Your Users Can Do | Typical Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
✅ Enabled | ❌ Disabled | ❌ Disabled | Internal Spaces only, no external sharing | Organize resources for teams. Knowledge Management teams curating resources by practice group |
✅ Enabled | ✅ Enabled | ❌ Disabled | Internal Spaces + share Spaces and resources with other Harvey organizations | Organization-to-client collaboration where both sides have Harvey |
✅ Enabled | ✅ Enabled | ✅ Enabled | Full collaboration: internal, external, and guest invites for non-licensed users | Active client collaboration across Harvey and non-Harvey users |
✅ Enabled | ❌ Disabled | ✅ Enabled | Internal Spaces + invite non-Harvey users as guests. No cross-workspace connections | In-house team giving guest access to Finance or HR for workflows |
❌ Disabled | ✅ Enabled | ❌ Disabled | Direct resource sharing only (no Spaces) — share a Workflow or Vault to a specific external user | Lightweight, infrequent sharing without a full Space |
Manage Permissions
Permissions can be managed per user, by role, or for all users.
Option 1: Enable for Specific Users
- Go to Settings > Users
- Search for the user you want to enable
- Select Manage Permissions
- Search for the relevant permission name
- Select Add permissions
Option 2: Enable Permissions by Role
- Go to Settings > Roles
- Expand the Collaboration permission category
- Select Edit Table
- Check the appropriate permission boxes for each role. Check the boxes for every role to enable for all users.
- Select Save
Tip: Start by enabling shared spaces for all users to encourage internal adoption. Then selectively enable external collaboration for users who actively collaborate with other organizations.
External Collaboration
External Collaboration lets your users share Workflows, Playbooks, Vaults, and Spaces with users at other Harvey organizations.
Before you begin: Your workspace must meet the following requirements
- Both organizations must have Harvey.
- Both workspaces must be in the same data processing region (US to US, EU to EU, etc.).
- At least one External Connection Admin. You must designate at least one user in your workspace who can review and approve external collaboration requests.
Designate Connection Admins
Harvey supports two levels of connection administration:
- External Connection Admin (workspace-level permission)
- Connection Admin (assigned to a specific partnership)
Choose the appropriate access based on whether a user needs organization-wide governance or responsibility for a single connection.
External Connection Admin
An External Connection Admin has the manage:external_connections permission. This is a workspace-wide role.
They can:
- Manage all external connections in Settings > External Connections
- Review and approve (or deny) share requests across all spaces in Spaces > Requests
- Assign Connection Admins to specific connections
Important: This role provides organization-wide control over external sharing. Limit it to a small number of trusted users. Workspace Admins have this permission by default.
Tip: Assign this role to users responsible for governing external collaboration across your organization.
Connection Admin
A Connection Admin is designated for one specific external connection.
They can:
- Send and receive resources for that connection without additional approval from their workspace
- Approve resource shares for that connection
Tip: Assign this role to relationship managers or deal leads who own a specific partnership but do not require broader administrative access.
Note: The external organization’s Workspace Admin or Connection Admin must still approve requests on their end.
Steps to Give Connection Admin Access to a Single Connection
- Go to Settings > External Connections
- Select a connection
- Adjust the access level to Connection admin.
How Sharing Requests Work in Spaces
External Sharing Approval Flow
When a user in your workspace shares any resource or Space with someone at another Harvey organization, the following approval flow occurs:
Step 1: Outgoing Approval
The request to share externally appears in your workspace through Spaces > Requests. Your External Connection Admin (or Connection Admin) accepts the request.
Step 2: External Recipient Approval
Simultaneously, the other organization’s External Connection Admin must approve the request.
Step 3: Access Granted
Access is granted only after both organizations approve.
Note: Internal-only Spaces do not require approval.
Guest Accounts
Guest Accounts will allow your organization to invite non-Harvey users into a Shared Space. You can find more information about Guest Accounts on our Roadmap.
Data, Privacy, and Security
Spaces support secure collaboration while protecting data residency, ownership, query privacy, and access controls.
For more details, refer to Security, Data, and Privacy for Sharing in Harvey.
Use Cases: Getting Your Team Started
Tip: Start with one or two high-value internal Spaces first — no external approvals needed — then expand to external collaboration once your team is comfortable.
Go-Live Checklist for Admins
Use this checklist to configure collaboration for your workspace.
☐ Decide your collaboration model: internal only, external with other Harvey orgs, or full collaboration with guests
☐ Enable use:shared_spaces for the users or roles who need it
☐ If using external sharing: Enable use:external_collaboration for relevant users, and designate at least one External Connection Admin (manage:external_connections)
☐ If using guest accounts: Obtain Early Access approval with your Harvey account team, then enable use:invite_guest_accounts for users who will send invitations
☐ Communicate to your users: Let them know which capabilities are enabled and where to find Spaces in the app
☐ Create your first Space in the correct processing region (US, EU, or AU) — matching the region of the people you'll be collaborating with
☐ For external sharing: Ensure the other organization's admin is also set up and ready to approve connection requests