Updated June 10, 2026
Public, sign-in-only, and private Drafty canvases
Quick answer
A Drafty canvas can be open to anyone with the link, limited to signed-in accounts, or private to people you invite by email. You pick the level per canvas, so one canvas can be public while the next stays private.
A canvas can be open to anyone with the link, limited to signed-in accounts, or private to people you invite by email. You pick the level for each canvas, so you can share one widely and keep the next one locked down.
Visibility only controls who can reach a canvas. Once someone has access, comments, threads, and live presence work the same way at every level.
Public: anyone with the link
A public canvas opens for anyone who has the link. They don't need an account — they can read it and comment as a named guest with no signup.
This is the right level when you want the widest reach: a doc you're posting in Slack, sharing on X, or dropping into a Notion page. The link unfurls with a title and preview image, and you don't have to manage who's on a list.
Sign-in-only: any signed-in account
A sign-in-only canvas opens for anyone who's signed in to a Drafty account. The link still works for everyone, but a reader has to sign in before they can see it.
Signing in takes a magic code — a one-time code emailed to you — from any device. Use this level when you want to keep a canvas out of fully open hands without naming each person, and you're fine with any signed-in account having access.
Private: only people you invite by email
A private canvas opens only for the people you invite by email. Having the link isn't enough — if an email isn't on the invite list, the canvas won't open for them.
This is the level for early drafts, internal reviews, and anything you don't want circulating. Only invited people can read and comment, so the canvas stays inside the group you chose.
How to set visibility and invite people
Visibility is a property of the canvas, so you set it per canvas and can change it later.
- Push your file as a canvas with
drafty canvas push report.html. - Set the visibility level for that canvas to public, sign-in-only, or private.
- For a private canvas, add the people you want by email — each invited address can open and comment.
- Share the canvas link. On a private canvas, only invited people will get in.
Because every push saves a new version, your visibility choice carries across versions — you don't reset it each time you ship an update.
Frequently asked
- Can I change visibility after sharing?
- Yes. Visibility is set per canvas, so you can move a canvas between public, sign-in-only, and private at any time. Switching to private means only people you've invited by email can open it from then on.
- How do I invite someone to a private canvas?
- Add them by email. A private canvas is limited to the people you invite, so each person you add by email can open and comment on it.
- Who can comment on a private canvas?
- Only the people you've invited by email. On a public or sign-in-only canvas anyone with access can comment as a named guest with no signup, but a private canvas is limited to your invite list.
- Does visibility change how comments work?
- No. Anchored comments, threads, live cursors, and presence work the same at every visibility level. Visibility only controls who can reach the canvas, not what they can do once they're in.