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How Sharing Works in Harvey

This article explains how sharing works in Harvey, including how to share resources with external teams, what stays private, and what admins can manage.

Last updated: Mar 4, 2026

Overview

Many legal and professional workflows require multiple organizations to work together. Harvey supports this by allowing teams to collaborate in controlled environments without sharing their internal workspaces or exposing confidential activity.

Sharing is not a single feature. It is the set of capabilities that allow organizations to:

  • Share selected resources
  • Collaborate in shared environments
  • Govern access and activity across workspaces

The features that enable this include:

  • Shared Spaces
  • External Collaboration
  • External Connections
  • Guest Accounts - Early Access (EA)

Together, they support a flexible collaboration model where organizations retain ownership and control while working effectively with external partners.

Note: For details on Shared Spaces check out our Shared Spaces article.

Key Concepts

Key Concept

Definition

Shared Space

A Space can be created and used within a single workspace or jointly used across two workspaces.

External Collaboration

  • External users can be added to a Space if admins from both organizations approve the connection.
  • A Space can include external users from only one external workspace.

Guest Accounts (in Early Access)

External users without a Harvey workspace of their own who authenticate through login and can access only the Shared Space they were invited into.

Shared Resources

  • Data: Vaults or Knowledge Bases
  • Tools: Workflows or Playbooks that have been published into the Shared Space.
  • Artifacts: Output including review tables, drafts, and threads.

Access

Access is controlled at two levels: Space access and resource access.

  • Space access applies to all users in the Space.
  • Resource access is set individually for each item (Can View, Can Edit, Full Access).

Sharing Resources Externally

Harvey provides two ways to collaborate with people outside your organization. These options determine how external users access shared Workflows, Playbooks, vaults, and Shared Spaces.

  1. Share an individual resource
    1. You can share a single resource directly with a user in another workspace. This gives them access only to that specific resource, with the access you choose (for example, view, run, or edit).
  2. Add external users to a Shared Space
    1. Shared Spaces provide a dedicated environment for ongoing collaboration across multiple items.
      1. External users from another workspace can be added to the Space.
      2. Guest Accounts [EA] can also join Shared Spaces—even if they do not have a Harvey workspace of their own.
        1. Guest users cannot receive individual one-off resource shares; they can access only the shared spaces they are invited into.

Sharing options depend on your workspace configuration. Admins can learn more about permission controls in Set Up and Manage Shared Spaces (for Admins).

Admin Controls, Connections, and Approvals

Admins control how external collaboration is enabled, overseen, and audited. While end users focus on sharing items and working in Spaces, admins manage the relationships between workspaces and approval flows behind the scenes.

External Connections

External Connections are an admin-only setting that define the relationship between your workspace and an external workspace, providing a governance-level view of collaboration.

Through an External Connection, admins can:

  • See all resources shared with a specific external workspace
  • Identify all users—internal and external—who are involved in collaboration
  • Understand how collaboration spans multiple Shared Spaces and one-off shares

External Connection settings are not visible to users. Their ability to share externally depends on how an admin configures these settings.

Approving External Requests

Approving an External Connection Request

  • Establishes an administrative relationship between the two organizations. Users added to the Connection by admins on either side will now be visible to each other when trying to share.
  • Enables users in both organizations to be added to Shared Spaces or receive shared resources.

Note: The External Connection does not automatically share any items — it simply creates the conditions that make sharing possible.

Approving an External Sharing Request

Resources can be shared externally by adding them to a Shared Space or by sharing them directly with an external user. You may receive a request to share a resource with someone outside your workspace. When you approve it:

  • The external user gets the access level your workspace has set for that resource.
  • The approval is logged for record-keeping.
  • You can change or remove access later if needed.

Approval applies only to the specific resource in the request, not to your whole workspace or other Spaces.

Security, Privacy, and Data

Harvey applies consistent enterprise-grade protections across all sharing capabilities. These controls ensure organizations maintain confidentiality, ownership, and full visibility into how shared content is accessed and used.

Learn more: Security, Data, and Privacy for Sharing in Harvey

Guest Accounts (EA)

Guest Accounts (EA) extend secure collaboration to participants who do not have a Harvey workspace.

Learn more: Guest Accounts

Shared Spaces Overview

Learn how Shared Spaces help your organization collaborate securely inside and across workspaces.

Set Up and Manage Shared Spaces (For Admins)

Learn how to enable and configure Shared Spaces, external sharing, and guest accounts for your organization.

Security, Data, and Privacy for Sharing in Harvey

Learn how Harvey protects your organization’s data when you share Spaces and resources with collaborators and what controls you have.