# Data Sharing
> Data Sharing allows you to share an Item from a Collection with anyone, regardless of their permissions, even if they
> are not users within the project.
[[toc]]
## What's a Share?
In a given Project, some Collections will likely be hidden for the Public as well as other Roles. There may be cases
when you want to share an Item with a person _(or people)_ that don't have the permissions to see it. This is where
Shares come in to play. Shares let you give anybody access to an Item. When a Share is created on an Item, you assign a
Role for the Share to inherit view permissions from, then you can _share_ the Item via hyperlink or email. The link
leads to a page with nothing but the read-only content of that shared Item.
::: tip Read-only
At this time, Shares are read-only. However, Data Sharing is an extensible feature that could support full CRUD
permissions. We welcome any [pull-requests](/contributing/introduction/) to address this or interest in
[sponsoring the feature](/getting-started/support/#sponsored-work).
:::
::: warning Users, Roles and Permissions!
You will need to understand how
[Users, Roles, and Permissions](/configuration/users-roles-permissions/#configuring-permissions) work in Directus to
configure Shares properly. That said, if you're unfamiliar with those concepts, it is quite reasonable to learn them in
tandem with Data Sharing.
:::
## How It Works
1. Navigate to the Content Module.
2. Navigate to the Collection of the Item you want to share.
3. Click the Item to go into the Item's Editing Page.
4. Click the Shares button in the Sidebar.
5. From the dropdown, click "New Share".
6. Fill in the Share Options. Everything on the [Share Options Menu](#share-options-menu) is optional, but please note:
- Without a name, it will be harder to remember the context/reason for the Share, especially with multiple shares on
a single Item.
- If no Role is selected, it defaults to Public permissions, which provides no real benefit since anyone can access
Items available to Public.
- The other access constraints are totally optional.
7. Click check in the Menu Header once you have set a name, a Role and constraints. You will see
your new Share under "Shares" in the Sidebar.
8. Click the more_horiz button on the right side of your Share.
9. Here you have 4 options:
- **Copy Link** – Creates a hyperlink that you can copy and paste.
- **Send Link** – Creates prompt for User to add email(s) and share the link.
- **Edit** – Reopens the Share Options Menu for additional edits.
- **Delete** – Permanently deletes the Share.
Once the link is opened by a user, a custom page displaying the Shared Item will be rendered.
::: warning Logout to test links
If you open a Data Share link while logged in to Directus, it will redirect to the item in the regular Directus App.
When testing a share, make sure to logout of the app before opening the link or simply open the link in another browser
or incognito tab.
:::
## Share Options Menu
- **Name** – Adds a name to describe the Share.
- **Role** – [Assigns a Role](#assigning-a-role) for the Share to inherit permissions from.
- **Password** – Creates a password that must be used to access the shared Item.
- **Start Date** – Selects the first date that the Share can be accessed.
- **End Date** – Selects the last date that the Share can be accessed.
- **Max Uses** – Sets total number of times the shared Item can be viewed.
- **Times Used** - Displays number of times the shared Item was viewed.
## Creating and Viewing Shares
A User's ability to create shares will be based on their Role's permissions. If you are an `Administrator`,
_congratulations_! You can share any Item you want. However, other Roles created will likely have limits set on their
Share permissions.
Any given Share will inherit the same read permissions as the Role it was associated with in the Share Options Menu.
This system allows for absolutely granular configuration options on Shares... _but it also means you'll need to
understand [Users, Roles, and Permissions](/configuration/users-roles-permissions/#configuring-permissions) thoroughly
to use Shares properly_. Here are some highlights of what you can do:
- Set the Collections a Role can view or share.
- Filter for specific Items a Role can view or share.
- Set specific Fields a Role can view or share.
- Set view permissions of relationally linked Items.
- Restrict Role access to specific IP address(es).
## Is Data Sharing Safe?
We obviously don't want to expose Items unless they are explicitly shared, however some Items may be linked to Items in
other Collections. So, in addition to inheriting the role's permissions, the API automatically generates and injects a
permissions set so that only the shared Item _(and the Items relationally linked to that shared Item)_ can be viewed.
But again, as noted previously, view-ability is still dependent on whether the Role associated to the Share has read
permissions on those linked Collections.
## Assigning a Role
The Role option in the [Share Options Menu](#share-options-menu) lets you associate a Role to the Share. The Share will
then inherit permissions of that Role.
### Assign an Existing Role
1. Navigate to the **Share Options Menu**.
2. Click the Role Input Box and a new side menu will appear _(shown above)_.
3. Select the Role you'd like your Share to inherit permissions from.
4. Click check to confirm.
### Creating / Editing a Role
_If your Role has the correct permissions configured_, you can create a new Role and assign it to a Share _"on the fly"_
in the Share Options Menu. However, you will still need to navigate to **Settings > Roles and Permissions > [Role
Name]** to configure any read permissions.
### Create a New Role
1. Navigate to the **Share Options Menu**.
2. Click add in the Role Input Box and the Role Options Menu will appear.
3. Fill out the options to create the Role according to your needs.
4. Click check to confirm Role creation.
### Edit an Assigned Role
1. Navigate to the **Share Options Menu**.
2. Click open_in_new in the Role Input Box and the Role Options Menu will appear.
3. Edit Role options according to your needs.
4. Click check to confirm edits.
::: warning You're creating / editing actual Roles!
If you create or edit a Role in this menu, these changes will take effect app-wide, not just in the context of the
Share.
:::
## Limit Sharing by Collection
You can limit which Collections a Role is allowed to share.
1. Navigate to **Settings > Roles and Permissions**.
2. Select the **[Role Name]** that will be responsible for creating the Share.
3. Find the **[Collection]** you wish to set Filter(s) for and click the icon in the column under
share and a small menu will appear.
4. Select check to enable and block to disable Shares on this collection.
## Limit Sharing by Item
Sometimes you may want a given Role to be able to share some Items but not others. Filters allow you to control exactly
which Items a Role will be able to share, enabling you to do things like _only share reports that are marked as 'Done'_.
1. Navigate to **Settings > Roles and Permissions**.
2. Select the **[Role Name]** that will be responsible for creating the Share.
3. Find the **[Collection]** you wish to set Filter(s) for and click the icon in the column under
share and a small menu will appear.
4. Select rule**Use Custom** and a side menu will appear.
5. Create your Filter(s) as needed.
## Limit Sharing by Field
When you create a Share on some Item, you associate a Role _(and thus the Role's permissions)_ to the Item. This allows
you to set read permissions for the exact fields _(including relational fields)_ that get shared.
1. Navigate to **Settings > Roles and Permissions**.
2. Select the **[Role Name]** that is assigned to the Share.
3. Find the **[Collection]** and click the icon in the column under the visibility icon and a small
menu will appear.
4. Select rule**Use Custom** and a side menu will appear.
5. Click **Field Permissions**.
6. Click to check the Collection Fields you'd like to allow read permissions on.
7. Select check in the side menu Header to confirm changes.