How to Share a Defect With Anyone: One Bug, One Secure Link, One Live Conversation

Send a single defect to a client, developer, or stakeholder by email, and keep the conversation in one thread that updates on its own.

For QA agencies, testers, and QA leads who work with clients, developers, or stakeholders outside the project.

Bring Anyone Into the Bug That Matters

Some defects need a voice from outside the team: the client who reported the issue, the developer at a partner company who owns the fix, or a stakeholder who decides whether it ships. Defect sharing in Evaficy Smart Test sends that person one defect by email, with everything they need to understand it and a comment thread to discuss it with your team.

Well-written defects travel best; QA Defect Reporting Best Practices covers the details that make a shared bug easy to act on.

Defect sharing is included on every plan. A recipient sees the one shared defect and uses no seat on your team. To give someone access to the whole project with a role, use Project Invitations instead.

Share a Defect in Three Steps

Any project member with an editing role (Owner, Product Owner, Tech Lead, or QA) can share a defect:

Open the defect

Open any defect from the Defects page. The Share icon, labelled "Share outside the project", sits at the top of the defect view.

Add the email addresses and an optional message

Enter up to 10 addresses separated by commas, and add a short message of up to 500 characters, such as what you would like the recipient to check.

Each address gets its own secure link by email, and the dialog reports the result for every address right away.

The dialog shows one result per address:

Result	What it means
Sent	A new share was created and the email is on its way.
Resent	The address already had a link waiting to be opened, so it receives a fresh one. A link can be sent up to 5 times.
Already has access	This person already opened their link and can see the defect.
Team member	The address belongs to someone already in the project, who sees the defect on the Defects page.

What the Recipient Receives

Each recipient gets an email from Evaficy Smart Test with your name and email address, the defect title and severity, your message, and a View Defect button. The email asks them to sign in with the address it was sent to and notes that a free account takes a minute to create.

A link that stays fresh

The link is ready to open for 7 days. Once the recipient opens it with their account, the defect stays available to them until someone on the team removes their access. If a link runs out unopened, sharing the defect with the same address again sends a fresh one.

Opening the Link: Sign In or Sign Up With the Invited Email

The shared page guides each recipient to the right account, whatever state they arrive in:

The recipient is	What the page shows
Signed out	The defect title, who shared it, and the message, plus Sign in and Sign up with the invited email already filled in.
Signed in with another email	The invited address (partly masked) and a Switch account button.
Signed in, email not verified yet	A prompt to verify the email, after which the defect opens.
Signed in with the invited, verified email	The defect itself, ready to read and comment on.
Link revoked, expired, or used by another account	A clear message explaining the link no longer opens the defect.

Signing in with Google counts as a verified email, so the defect opens straight away. The page also remembers the link for 24 hours through detours such as Google sign-in, two-factor authentication, or verifying the email in another tab, then brings the recipient back to the defect.

Built so only the right person gets in

A link opens the defect only for an account signed in with the invited, verified email address, and it binds to the first account that opens it. After that, the recipient's page has its own stable address, which notifications and comment emails link to.

Exactly What a Recipient Can See

The shared view is read-only and shows the defect in full:

Title, description, steps to reproduce, severity, priority, and status, with the defect's dates.
The names of the reporter and the assignee.
Attachments and evidence links, ready to open.
The comment thread, where the recipient can reply.

Your project stays private

Recipients see the one defect only. The project itself, its scenarios, test runs, other defects, integrations such as Jira or Linear links, and every team member's email address stay with your team.

One Comment Thread for Team and Recipients

Every defect has one comment thread that the team and all its recipients share, so questions and answers stay next to the bug:

Comments from recipients carry an External label, so the team always knows who is speaking.
When a defect is shared, the team sees a note above the thread, such as "This defect is shared with 2 people outside the team. They can read and reply to these comments."
Recipients see team members by name, their own comments as "You", and other outside participants with a partly masked address unless they set a name.
Comments hold up to 1,000 characters. Viewers in the project can read the thread; members with an editing role and recipients can post.

A conversation that replaces the email chain

Clarifying questions, retest results, and the final confirmation all land in the same place, next to the steps and evidence they refer to. Anyone who joins later can read the whole story in order.

Comments That Update Live

While a defect is open, its comments refresh every 15 seconds, on the team's Defects page and on the recipient's shared page alike. A reply from the other side appears on its own, without a page reload.

Light on the browser

Updates run while the tab is visible and pause when you switch away. When you come back to the tab, the thread refreshes once right away, so you always return to the latest comments.

Notifications That Bring You Back

Notifications keep both sides moving and refresh every 30 seconds while you are signed in, so they arrive without a reload:

When	Who hears about it	How
A recipient opens the defect for the first time	The team member who shared it	In-app notification
A recipient adds a comment	The sharer, the defect's reporter, and its assignee	In-app notification
A team member comments on a shared defect	Every recipient with access	In-app notification, plus an email at most once an hour per recipient

Open goes straight to the defect

Defect notifications have an Open action. Team members land on the defect in the Defects page, even when that page is already open, and recipients land on their shared view. Each recipient gets at most one comment email an hour for a defect, so a busy thread stays a helpful nudge.

Managing and Revoking Shares

The Share dialog doubles as the overview: its Shared with list shows every address the defect was sent to, with a status and how often it was viewed.

Pending: the email was sent and the link is waiting to be opened, for up to 7 days.
Active: the recipient opened the defect with their account and keeps access.
Expired: the link was not opened in time; share again to send a fresh one.
Revoked: access was removed by the team.

Who can remove access

The team member who shared the defect can remove a recipient, and so can the project's Owner, Product Owner, or Tech Lead. Access ends immediately. Deleting a defect, or the whole project, also removes its shares.

Common Questions

Does the recipient need an Evaficy Smart Test account?

Yes, and creating one takes about a minute. The sign-up form opens with the invited email already filled in, and signing in with Google works too. The account is free and stays theirs after the defect is closed.

Does a recipient take a seat on my team?

No. A share gives access to one defect, so recipients sit outside the project and its member count. For someone who should see the whole project, a project invitation is the right tool.

Can a recipient see other defects or the rest of the project?

They see the one defect that was shared with them: its details, attachments, evidence links, and comments. The project, its scenarios, test runs, other defects, and the team's email addresses stay private.

What if the email is forwarded to someone else?

The link opens only for an account signed in with the invited, verified email address, and it binds to the first account that opens it. Anyone else sees a message instead of the defect.

How does a recipient find a shared defect again later?

Every defect shared with them is listed under Shared with me in their account menu, with a dot on any defect that has new comments since they last opened it. An account with no projects of its own also sees these defects on its home page right after signing in.

How do I stop sharing a defect?

Open the Share dialog on the defect and remove the person from the Shared with list. Access ends straight away. The team member who shared it, the Owner, a Product Owner, or a Tech Lead can do this.

Is defect sharing available on the Basic plan?

Yes. Sharing, the shared comment thread, live updates, and notifications work on Basic, Advanced, and Enterprise.

Key Takeaways

Share one defect by email with up to 10 people at a time, from the Share icon in the defect view.
Recipients sign in or sign up with the invited, verified email; the link binds to one account.
They see the defect in full and nothing else from the project, and they use no seat on your team.
Team and recipients share one comment thread that refreshes every 15 seconds while it is open.
Notifications cover first views and new comments, with Open going straight to the defect.
The sharer, Owner, Product Owner, or Tech Lead can remove access at any time.
Defect sharing is included on every plan.

Bring the right person into your next bug

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