Share a credential securely

When an end user or a contractor needs a password, send it as a link rather than in an email or a chat message. The link stops working after it is opened, or when it expires, whichever comes first, and every open is recorded. This page shows how to create the link, how to protect it, and what the recipient sees.

Before you begin

• You need vault:share and access that lets you see the credential. You cannot send what you cannot read.
• An administrator can turn sharing off, or lower the limits, under Documentation > Settings on the Sending a credential card. Links already sent keep working until they expire or are withdrawn.
• When Ask for a second factor before a reveal is on in Settings, creating a link asks for your authenticator code first.
• Outpost does not send the link itself. You copy it and send it the way you normally would. Outpost sends only the optional confirmation code.

Caution

Creating a new link for a credential withdraws any live link for that credential, so only one link per credential works at a time.

Create the link

1. Open the credential and select Send this credential.
2. In The link works for, choose 1 hour, 24 hours, or 7 days. If your administrator allows less, the console says the link will stop working sooner.
3. Leave Stop working after the first view selected, or clear it and enter How many times it can be opened.
4. Choose what to include: Include the username, and Include the current one-time code if the credential has one. Only the code is sent, never the setup secret.
5. To make the recipient prove who they are, enter an email address or a mobile number in Send a confirmation code to, and choose Email or Text message in Send it by. Leave it empty to send the link with no second step.
6. Optionally, enter a Passphrase (optional). The recipient types it before the value is shown. Tell them the passphrase another way.
7. In Deliver it, choose As a link I copy myself, or To the Outpost tray on their machine.
8. Optionally, enter a Message (optional) to show the recipient.
9. Select Create the link.
10. Copy the link with Copy the link. It is not shown again in this dialog.

Text only someone who expects the code. The recipient gets one message from Outpost and can reply STOP to opt out.

Deliver to the tray

To the Outpost tray on their machine shows the link in the Outpost tray app on the recipient’s endpoint. A tray delivery always needs a confirmation code, because someone else at the endpoint can see the tray. The credential must name the person the code goes to. The tray only opens the link in the browser. It never shows the secret itself.

What the recipient sees

The link opens a page on your Outpost address under /s/.

1. If you asked for a confirmation code, the page asks for the Code that was sent to them, then Continue.
2. The page says This link works once. Closing this page ends it. when the link allows one view.
3. If you set a passphrase, they enter it in Passphrase.
4. They select Show it and see the Username, Password, and Sign-in code you included, each with Copy. Get the next code fetches a fresh one-time code.

A link that has expired, been used up, or been withdrawn, or a wrong passphrase, all show the same page: This link is no longer available. The page never reveals which of these happened.

Track and withdraw a link

The credential’s Links sent card lists the links sent for it, with their state (Live, Opened, Expired, Withdrawn, or Deleted), who sent each one, when it stops working, and how many times it was opened. To withdraw a live link, select Revoke.

Each open is recorded in the audit log as Opened from a link. The audit entry identifies the recipient by a hash, not by their address. A link holds no copy of the password: it reads the credential when it is opened. The link’s token, passphrase, and recipient contact details are erased Keep a spent link’s record for, days after the link’s expiry time, 30 by default. The record of the link stays, so the audit can still say who opened it.

Sharing limits

An administrator sets these in Documentation > Settings, on the Sending a credential card:

Setting	Default	Range
Let technicians send a credential as a one-time link	On
A link lives at most, hours	168	1 to 8,760
Times a link can be opened, by default	1	1 to 100
Make the recipient prove who they are first	Off
Keep a spent link’s record for, days	30	0 to 3,650

A request for more than the limits is shortened to the limit, and the console says so, rather than refused. Times a link can be opened, by default is also the most opens a link can allow.

Verify

After you create the link, the credential’s Links sent card lists it as Live. Open the link in a private browser window. If it allows one view, reload it after viewing and confirm the page says This link is no longer available.

If something goes wrong

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Send this credential is unavailable.	You lack vault:share, or access to see the credential.	Ask an administrator for the permission or for access to the collection.
A tray delivery needs a named person to send the confirmation code to.	The credential does not name a person.	Deliver it as a link instead.
The recipient sees This link is no longer available straight away.	The link was already opened, expired, was withdrawn, or the passphrase was wrong.	Create a new link and send it again.

Next steps

• Credentials vault
• Audit logs