> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.laneapp.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Private Portal

> Give your customers a private, branded portal to submit requests and track their own — every submission lands in Lane as feedback.

The private portal is a customer-facing site where your users submit requests and follow their progress — without access to your Lane workspace. It's *private*: customers sign in with a magic link and see only their own requests (or their company's), never anyone else's. Every request they submit becomes [Feedback](/insights) in Lane, so your team manages everything from one place.

Portals are hosted at `portal.laneapp.co/{your-workspace-slug}` and are completely separate from the main Lane app.

## How it works

1. You enable the portal and share the link with your customers.
2. Customers sign in with their email via a magic link.
3. They submit requests and track the status of each one.
4. Requests appear as feedback in Lane with `source: Portal`.
5. As your team updates statuses in Lane, the portal reflects the change automatically through status mapping.

## Enable the portal

1. Go to **Settings → Portal**.
2. Toggle the portal **on**.
3. Copy the portal URL and share it with your customers.

<Note>
  When the portal is disabled, the portal URL returns a 404 page.
</Note>

## Configure

All portal settings are in **Settings → Portal** and save automatically.

### Design

* **Portal name** — the heading at the top of the portal. Defaults to "Requests".
* **Subtext** — a short description shown below the name.
* **Primary colour** — the accent colour for buttons and highlights.
* **Lane branding** — toggle whether a "Powered by Lane" footer link appears.

### Visibility

Controls what a signed-in customer can see:

* **Personal** (default) — customers see only requests they submitted.
* **Company** — customers see all portal requests from their company, which helps avoid duplicates.

### Status mapping

The portal shows four fixed status labels to customers — **Open**, **Planned**, **In Progress**, and **Done** — each mapped to one or more of your internal feedback statuses:

* **Open** — automatically maps to your triage status. This can't be changed.
* **Planned**, **In Progress**, **Done** — you choose which internal statuses map to each.

Each portal status has a configurable colour. When your team moves feedback to a new status in Lane, the portal updates automatically based on these mappings.

## Customer experience

**Signing in** — customers enter their email and get a magic link valid for one hour. Clicking it signs them in for 30 days; no password.

**Submitting requests** — after signing in, they click **+ New request** to submit a title and description, and get a confirmation email. On the Lane side this creates feedback with `source: Portal` and `status: Triage`, and Lane resolves or creates the company and contact automatically.

**Tracking requests** — the portal groups requests by status. Customers can open any request for detail or delete their own, and the sidebar shows an activity timeline and a completion counter.

**Profile** — customers can update their display name, which reflects on their Lane contact record.

## Best practices

* **Set clear status mappings** before sharing the link — customers see these labels, so make them reflect your real workflow.
* **Use company visibility** if you want customers at the same organization to see each other's requests and avoid duplicates.
* **Match the design to your brand** — name, subtext, and primary colour make the portal feel native.

## FAQs

**Q: Where do portal requests appear in Lane?**\
A: As feedback with `source: Portal`. Filter your feedback by source to find them.

**Q: Can customers see each other's requests?**\
A: Only within their own company, and only if you set visibility to **Company**. Otherwise each customer sees only their own.

**Q: What happens when I change a request's status in Lane?**\
A: The portal status updates automatically based on your mapping, and the customer who submitted it is notified by email.

**Q: Can I disable the portal without losing data?**\
A: Yes. Toggling it off makes the URL inaccessible, but all requests remain in Lane as feedback.

**Q: Do customers need a Lane account?**\
A: No — they sign in with a magic link tied to their email. No Lane workspace account needed.