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Client Portal

The Client Portal gives your clients a branded, real-time view of their projects — without needing a dronelist.io account. Share a secure link, and your client can track progress, review deliverables, approve work, exchange messages, and view invoices.

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How It Works

Each portal link is tied to a client’s email address and your organization. When a client opens the link, they see a sidebar-driven interface branded with your organization’s logo and name. No signup, no password — just a direct link to their project information.

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Access flow

1

Create a portal link

From any project detail page, open the Client Portal section and click Create Link. Enter the client’s email, optional name, and security settings.
2

Share the link

Copy the generated URL and send it to your client via email or any channel you prefer. If email notifications are enabled, the client receives automatic updates when you send messages.
3

Client opens the portal

Your client clicks the link and sees their personalized portal dashboard — branded with your organization’s identity. If an access code is set, they enter it first.
4

Ongoing updates

As you update project status, upload deliverables, or send messages, the client sees the changes in real time.

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Security

Portal links use cryptographic tokens in the URL — long, random strings that are effectively unguessable. You can add two additional layers of security:

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Access codes

Set a 6-digit access code when creating a portal link. The client must enter this code before viewing any portal content. The code is verified server-side and remembered via a secure cookie for 30 days. Set an expiration period (in days) when creating a link. After the expiry date, the link becomes inactive and the client can no longer access the portal. You can create a new link at any time.

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Revoking access

Revoke any portal link instantly from the project detail page. Once revoked, the link stops working immediately — even if it hasn’t expired.

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Security summary

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Portal Navigation

When a client opens their portal link, they see a sidebar with four sections: Section badges show counts so clients can see at a glance how many proposals, projects, and invoices they have. Sections with no data are hidden automatically.

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Project Progress Phases

Inside each project, clients see a visual progress stepper that maps your internal project status to five client-friendly phases:
1

Planning

The project has been confirmed and scope is being defined.
2

Pre-flight

The project is scheduled — dates are set, preparations are underway.
3

In Progress

Field work is happening — flights are being flown, data is being captured.
4

Review

Deliverables have been uploaded and are ready for the client to review and approve.
5

Invoiced

The project is invoiced or complete — all deliverables are delivered.
This stepper appears in the project detail sidebar, giving clients a clear sense of where things stand without exposing your internal status labels.

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Deliverables & Files

Clients can only see deliverables and files that you’ve explicitly marked as client-visible. This is controlled per-deliverable and per-file from the project detail page on your side.

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What clients can do

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Client approval statuses

Deliverables are grouped by mission when the project has missions defined. Clients see mission titles, types, scheduled dates, and completion status alongside the deliverables for each mission.

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Messaging

The portal includes a built-in messaging thread for each project. Both pilots and clients can send messages, creating a simple conversation history.
  • Pilot messages are sent from the project detail page under the Client Portal section
  • Client messages are sent from the portal’s Messages tab within a project
  • Messages show the sender name, sender type (pilot or client), and timestamp
  • If email notifications are enabled on the portal link, clients receive an email when you send a new message
Messages are stored permanently and visible to both sides in chronological order.

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Organization Branding

The portal automatically displays your organization’s branding in the sidebar header: The portal footer shows your client’s name and email, plus a “Powered by dronelist.io” attribution. Set up your branding in Settings > Organization to make sure clients see a professional, branded experience. See Settings for details.

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Cross-Organization Discovery

If a client works with multiple drone operators who use dronelist.io, they can switch between organizations directly from the portal sidebar. The portal automatically detects all organizations that have shared portal links with the client’s email address. Each organization’s access code is independent — verifying with one organization doesn’t grant access to another.
From the Projects detail page, the Client Portal section lets you:
  • Create new links — with optional access code and expiry
  • View existing links — see client email, access count, last accessed date
  • Toggle notifications — enable or disable email notifications per link
  • Revoke links — instantly deactivate a link
  • Send messages — communicate with clients through the portal thread
The clientPortalEnabled flag on a project is set automatically when you create the first portal link for that project.

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Tips

For high-value or confidential projects, add a 6-digit access code to the portal link. Share the code separately (e.g., via phone or text) for an extra layer of security.
Before creating a portal link, review which deliverables and files are marked as client-visible. Only items you’ve toggled to visible will appear in the portal.
Portal messages keep the conversation in context — tied to the project, visible to both sides, and preserved in the activity timeline. This is easier to reference than scattered email threads.
If you have multiple organizations (e.g., separate divisions), your clients automatically see all of them in the portal sidebar. Each org manages its own links and access codes independently.
For deliverable review rounds, create a link that expires in 7 or 14 days. This keeps access time-boxed and encourages clients to review promptly.