---
title: Sharing and access
description: The five ways to share an app, what viewers need to open it, company policies, search engines and AI crawlers.
---

# Sharing and access

Every app has one visibility that decides who can open it. You choose it when you first publish; Crow Nest never picks a default.

## The five visibilities

| Visibility | Who can open it | Sign-in |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `private` | Only you | Yes |
| `people` | You and the email addresses you add (up to 200) | Yes |
| `link` | Anyone who has the link and signs in | Yes |
| `org` | Everyone in your organization or company | Yes |
| `public` | Anyone on the internet | No |

`org` is only for apps in an organization or company.

## Changing who can see an app

- Ask your AI ("share it with sam@example.com", "make it public"). It uses the `share` tool.
- In the [dashboard](https://app.crow-nest.com/), open the app and use Share.

Changes reach every viewer within 60 seconds, including people who already have the app open.

## What viewers see

People who can't open an app see a page that says so, with **Request access** (which emails the owner) and **Switch account**. Signed-out viewers of a non-public app are sent to sign in and straight back. On `public` apps, a small "Made with Crow Nest" badge with a Report link sits in a corner of the page; other visibilities have no badge.

## Company and organization policies

Admins of an organization or company can set policies for apps inside it:

- whether apps may be `public`,
- whether apps may be shared by `link`,
- whether apps may be shared with emails outside the company's domains.

A share the policy doesn't allow is refused with a message saying so. Organization managers can also pause an app, which shows viewers a page saying the organization paused it.

## Search engines and AI crawlers

Public apps are hidden from search engines and AI crawlers by default. To let them be found, turn on `aiDiscoverable` for the app (ask your AI, or use the dashboard). It only works on public apps, and changing the app away from public turns it off.

## Inside the app

Visibility decides who opens the app. What each person can read and change inside it is set per collection in [crow.json](/crow-json): see [Data](/data) and [Files](/files).