Join a meeting from an invitation link¶
A meeting invitation can let someone outside the host workspace join a specific conversation. It does not make that person a workspace member or grant access to other meetings, messages, recordings or work records.
Availability: this draft describes the intended guest journey in WorkOS 06 Final Screens, checked against the current meeting implementation. The frontend remains a sample implementation. Link validation and meeting entry exist in the backend, but a connected flow for issuing, delivering, replacing or revoking invitations has not been established. Confirm that your host's environment supports guest invitations before relying on these steps for an event.
For workspace members, see join and host a meeting. Organizers should also read create and manage a meeting to understand guest eligibility, admission policy and the difference between a meeting plan and a live session.
Before you open the link¶
Use the invitation supplied for you by the organizer through the organization's approved channel. Keep it private: a guest invitation can be used without signing in, and the current guest entry checks do not independently verify ownership of the invited email address. A displayed guest name is not proof of who is holding the link.
People invited as members of the host workspace need to use their invited account. People invited from a linked workspace need the invited account and that home workspace. Those are different invitation types from a guest invitation, even when all three arrive as links. Signing in with a different account does not change the invitation's intended participant.
The host workspace must be available, the meeting must have a joinable live session, and its current access and storage checks must pass. A future start time, a Published label or a successful preview alone does not establish those conditions. Ask the organizer to confirm the correct session if a recurring meeting or replacement invitation is involved.
Review the invitation¶
- Open the invitation. The intended guest page is headed HiveComms guest meeting.
- Check the meeting title, displayed date and time, organizer and workspace. Some identifying labels may be unavailable; do not infer a host's identity from a missing label.
- Read the entry message. The inspected screen says Entry requires host approval and explains that you will wait for a host to admit you.
- Select Continue to meeting when the invitation is the one you expect. Select Leave if you do not intend to proceed.
The preview supplies limited meeting information. It does not expose the full participant list or grant access to the host workspace. It can still display meeting information when an attempt to join would fail, such as after a session has ended or when the invited participant is absent from that session.
Current admission difference: the approval message is not reliable for every policy. One current automatic-admission policy can admit guests immediately, while the preview can still describe a lobby. The host must confirm the intended policy and check the resulting admission state. Do not depend on that sentence as a guarantee that every guest will be screened by a host. The session guide explains the current policy differences.
The inspected guest screens do not establish a guest name-entry form, email verification step or a separate guest device-setup sequence. This guide does not add those steps. The general session design includes device setup, but its use in a connected guest journey still needs implementation verification.
Wait for the host¶
If entry requires approval, the intended next screen says You are waiting in the lobby. Keep the page open while the host or co-host reviews admission. Select Leave lobby if you no longer wish to wait.
Waiting is not the same as being in the conversation. The current entry result can contain a waiting state without the connection information needed to enter the room. Host admission must be reflected in fresh state before the client can proceed. The current frontend does not establish that this refresh and transition is connected.
If the screen remains unchanged, ask the organizer to confirm that the correct session is live and that your participant entry was admitted. Avoid repeatedly opening different copies of the invitation. A previous response can remain stale after admission, so seeing the old waiting screen does not necessarily mean that the host ignored the request.
Leave lobby expresses the intended exit. The current backend does not provide a dedicated operation recording that normal lobby exit, and the sample frontend does not establish one. Closing the page also does not prove that a stored waiting entry has been removed from the host's list.
Enter and leave the conversation¶
After admission, successful entry still depends on the meeting client and media connection. A success message or connection information alone does not mean your microphone, camera or audio is working. Follow the connected client's controls and confirm that you can participate. General controls and their current limits are described in join and host a meeting.
Use Leave to leave the conversation when available. For a host, ending the saved session and disconnecting everyone from the media room are separate outcomes in the current implementation. The guest guide therefore does not promise that every participant is disconnected, every invitation is revoked, or every recording has finished when the meeting is marked ended.
Joining does not itself grant access to a recording or transcript. The guest entry result is for the live conversation. Ask the organizer about any separately authorized follow-up material. Guest joins without a signed-in identity also do not create the same activity-history entry as an authenticated join, so activity history is not a complete guest attendance record.
Recover when a link is unavailable¶
The intended recovery screen says This meeting link is no longer available. It explains that the link may have expired or the meeting may have ended, and asks you to contact the organizer for a current link. Select Close to leave that screen.
| What you see | What it can mean | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The link is unavailable immediately | The invitation expired, is incomplete or changed, or cannot be validated in this environment. | Reopen the original complete invitation once. If it still fails, ask the organizer to confirm the event and supported invitation process. |
| The preview opens but entry fails | The session is not live, the link targets a different session, your participant entry is missing or denied, or current access checks failed. | Give the organizer the title, approximate time and visible message. Ask them to check that specific session. |
| A sign-in or identity problem | The invitation represents a workspace member or linked-workspace participant, and the active account does not match. | Use the invited account and home workspace. Ask the organizer to correct the invitation type if you were meant to be a guest. |
| You remain in the lobby after approval | The displayed response may be stale, or admission and client connection have not completed. | Ask the host to confirm the saved admission state; follow the connected client's refresh guidance. |
| The host workspace is unavailable | The workspace may still be provisioning or may no longer permit access. | Ask the organizer or support to confirm workspace availability; a replacement link alone may not resolve it. |
| The invitation may have been shared with someone else | The current guest path cannot distinguish the intended email owner from another holder of the same valid link. | Tell the organizer promptly using an established contact channel. Do not assume that changing the guest list or choosing a sample revoke control invalidates the invitation or an existing media connection. |
Do not paste the full invitation into a public discussion or support screenshot. Report the visible message and meeting details through an approved support channel; the link itself carries access and participant information.
What organizers should verify¶
The sample frontend shows choices for invited guests, workspace-domain access, disabling a guest link, expiry after a session, expiry after 24 hours and manual revocation. These controls do not establish working issuance or revocation. The implemented link mechanism uses a configured expiry measured from link creation, with a default of 24 hours; that is not the same as 24 hours after the scheduled meeting starts. The inspected creation helper has no proven production caller.
A link can be tied to a particular session or to the meeting more generally. A meeting-level link may remain usable for another live session while it is valid and its participant still exists in that session. Ending one session does not itself revoke the link. Editing the current meeting plan also does not rewrite an existing session's participant snapshot.
For managers and event owners, the practical checks are: confirm the supported invitation process, the intended participant type, the actual admission policy, the specific live session, and an available support contact. Treat these as readiness checks for the event. They do not establish that link delivery, guest identity verification, attendance reporting or emergency revocation has been accepted for production.