Guest invitation is a method of inviting users in a separate category from Owner / Team Administrator / Group Administrator / Created user / View-only user, for information sharing only (view only / not included in aggregation for Training (Courses), Development (skill map), Usage Report, etc.).
Dive has two separate permission categories.
- Owner to View-only permission category: For normal operators (can create, edit, train, view usage reports, etc.). The "Number of accounts" in your contract plan corresponds to this.
- Guest invitation category: For partners, vendors, on-site contractors, etc. — those you don't want to mix into normal Dive operations (view only)
User permissions can be changed freely at any time, and when you change permissions, the category slot that person occupies automatically switches (for example: if you change a View-only user to a Guest, one View-only slot becomes available and one Guest invitation slot is consumed). There is no "once you make someone a Guest, you can't change them back" restriction.
What Guests can and cannot do
- SOPs: view only (cannot create or edit)
- Not eligible for Training (Courses) or Development (skill map)
- The SOP list does not display in folder hierarchy — only the SOPs that person can view appear together on a single screen (your company's internal organization structure remains private)
- Guest views are not aggregated in Usage Report (Guests themselves can still use their own View history and Favorites normally)
External Sharing URL vs. Guest invitation — which should you use?
There are two ways to share SOPs with external parties: ①External Sharing (login-free viewing URL) and ②Guest invitation (this article). Here's a rough guide to when to use each:
- External Sharing URL: A system where you issue a URL for each individual SOP. Best for one-time, pinpoint sharing — "I want to show this one SOP to this person." No preparation needed on the recipient's end (just open the URL).
- Guest invitation: A system to share folders as a group. Best for recipients you want to show multiple SOPs to continuously — long-term partner companies, on-site contractors, etc. Also ideal when you want to enforce controls via Audit log, IP address restriction, or SSO.
For detailed comparison and a decision chart, see SOP sharing with external parties: usage guide.
Available plans and permission categories
The "Owner to View-only permission category" and "Guest invitation category" are counted separately, and each plan has the following limits. For plans where Guest invitation is available, you receive 3 times your Number of accounts (for example, Core plan: Number of accounts 25 / Guest invitation 75, which is 3 times that)
When you purchase one additional account, the Guest invitation slots automatically increase by 3. When you change a user's permission, the category slot they occupy automatically switches (Owner to View-only category ↔ Guest invitation category).
Specify which folders Guest invitation users can access
Guest invitation users can view only SOPs in folders where [Allow Guest user access] is turned ON.
- Open the target folder and click [Folder settings]
- In the Access Restriction Settings modal, turn ON [Allow Guest user access]
- Once saved, SOPs in that folder will appear on the Guest's screen (a single-page list)
For details, see Folder Access Restriction Settings.
Inviting guests / changing existing users
To invite new guests, go to the user invitation screen and follow the same steps as normal email invitation, but set the role to [Guest]. See Add user (email invitation / Issue email-free account) for invitation steps.
You can also change an already-registered user to Guest invitation (or convert a Guest back to View-only user or above) anytime, freely, from the User management screen. No need to re-invite or re-register.
When Guest invitation is not suitable (Owner to View-only permissions recommended)
Since Guest invitation is for information sharing only, we recommend using Owner to View-only permissions in the following cases:
- You want the other party to create and edit SOPs too: Guest invitation does not allow creation, editing, or Upload. For collaborative editing, invite as Created user or above.
- You want to assign Training (Courses) or track completion: Guest invitation is not eligible for course assignments. For training purposes, invite as View-only user or above.
- You want to evaluate and record competency on Skill Map: Guest invitation is not eligible for Development (skill map). For development purposes, invite as View-only user or above.
- You want to track that person's viewing activity in Usage Report: Guest invitation views are not aggregated. For internal team members whose viewing activity needs to be visible, we recommend View-only user or above.
- You want that person to search for SOPs by folder hierarchy: Guest screens show only a single consolidated list without folders, and cannot display folder Tree view. For internal use where folder structure is operationally important, View-only user or above is more suitable.
Conversely, if any of the following apply, we strongly recommend using Guest invitation:
- The recipient is an external party (partner company, vendor, on-site contractor, etc.) and you don't want to reveal your internal organization structure
- You don't want them to be training or skill management targets, but you do want to place them under Audit log, IP address restriction, and SSO controls
- You want their views excluded from internal reporting aggregation
Frequently asked questions
Q. Should I use External Sharing URL or Guest invitation?
A. Use Guest invitation if the recipient will view continuously, and External Sharing URL for one-time sharing. The usage guide's decision chart makes it easy to choose.
Q. Can I change a Guest invitation user back to a regular user (View-only user or above) later?
A. Yes, anytime. Just change the role from the User management screen, and the category slot they occupy automatically switches from Guest invitation to Owner to View-only permissions (the reverse is also possible). No need to re-invite or re-register.
Q. Does Guest invitation consume a permission slot?
A. Yes, it consumes one Guest invitation slot. However, this is a separate category from Owner to View-only permissions, and for Core and above plans, you automatically receive 3 times your Number of accounts (Core=75 / Pro=150 / Enterprise=300).
Q. Can I just use View-only user instead for external people who don't need training or development management?
A. For external parties, we generally recommend Guest invitation. View-only users see the same screen as internal team members, which means other departments' folder names and your internal folder order become visible (even if they can't see the contents, they can see the folder names). Guests cannot see the hierarchy — they see only the SOPs they're allowed to view, displayed folder-less on a single screen, so no internal organization information leaks out.
Conversely, if you want internal team members to view only / be eligible for training / be tracked in usage reports, then Owner to View-only permissions (View-only user or above) is more suitable.
Q. Can I let Guests create SOPs?
A. No. Guest invitation is for information sharing only — creation, editing, and Upload are not allowed. For recipients who need to create, invite as Created user or above.
Q. Can I apply IP address restriction or SSO to Guest invitation users?
A. Yes. Guest invitation users fall under the same Team Security Settings as regular users, so they are subject to IP address restriction, SSO control, and Audit log.
Q. Can I invite internal team members as Guests?
A. Only. For anyone (internal or external) who should view only, you can operate under Guest invitation. However, they will not be eligible for Training (Courses) or Development (skill map).
Q. Can Guests see the folder hierarchy in the SOP list?
A. No. On the Guest's screen, only the SOPs they can view appear folder-less on a single consolidated page. They cannot see the hierarchy, so folder names and your internal folder order don't appear (this is by design to prevent internal organization structure from leaking out).
For internal team members who need to search by folder hierarchy, Owner to View-only permissions (View-only user or above) is more suitable.
Q. Can I see Guest invitation view history in Usage Report?
A. No, it's not aggregated. Guest views are not included in Usage Report, Viewing records modal, Stumble tab, or other aggregations (Guests themselves can still use their own View history and Favorites normally). For recipients whose viewing activity you want to track, use Owner to View-only permissions (View-only user or above).