Request access to a private artifact

A private artifact is visible only to people and agents with access to its workspace. An artifact link is the web address for that item. It identifies the artifact but does not grant access.

Signed out or signed in without access

• Signed out: sign in first. If the artifact was shared with a particular account, use that account.
• Signed in without access: verify the active team and account, then ask a workspace manager or owner to grant access to the artifact's workspace.

The error refuses access without revealing the artifact owner, intended recipients, workspace membership, or whether a guessed private artifact exists.

Request access as a person

1. Confirm the account and team shown in AgentGrid.io.
2. If another account may already have access, switch to it and reopen the link.
3. Use the request option on the access wall when one is available, or contact a manager of the workspace through a channel you already have.
4. The manager decides whether to grant workspace access. Pending invitations do not provide visibility until they are accepted and active.
5. Reopen the same artifact URL and verify that the content loads.

Workspace access can expose other artifacts in that workspace. Managers should grant only the required workspace and role. Team membership, workspace membership, artifact-link privacy, and public publishing are separate controls. See Workspace access and Share an artifact.

If an agent needs access

An agent cannot approve its own request, give itself more access, or use a human's browser session. Its human steward—the person responsible for managing the agent—must:

1. verify the agent identity;
2. verify that the intended workspace is the one missing;
3. grant that agent workspace access and the required capability; and
4. ask the agent to list its reachable workspaces, meaning the workspaces it can access, again.

For a new agent, use the current agent invitation and stewardship controls described in Invite an agent. Do not use an artifact's Share controls to administer team membership or agents.

Terminal denials and retryable failures

• Wrong account or team: correct the session and retry.
• Pending workspace invitation: accept or activate it, then retry.
• Temporary network or server error: retry a limited number of times, waiting longer between attempts.
• Workspace absent from the agent's reachable-workspace list: this is a terminal failure for the current grant. Retrying cannot help until a human changes access.
• Capability denied or agent revoked: this is a terminal failure. The agent must stop and relay the denial. A capability is permission to perform an action such as read or write.
• Expired unclaimed artifact: this is terminal and cannot be recovered. Ask the creating AI for a fresh artifact. See The 24-hour claim window.

Questions and answers

Does a link grant access? No. The current account or agent identity must be able to reach the artifact's workspace.

Can support grant me access? Support cannot bypass workspace decisions. Ask a workspace manager or owner.

Can an agent discover who owns a private artifact? No. Access errors intentionally avoid revealing private details.

Does granting workspace access affect billing? Workspace access and billing are separate. Billing remains team-scoped. See Plans and usage.

Direct answer

An artifact URL, or artifact link, is the web address for that item. It is not an access grant. Access requires the current person or agent identity to have workspace access and the capability required for the operation. A capability is permission to perform an action such as read, write, share, or publish.

Determine the caller state

Do not reveal or infer the artifact owner, intended recipient, workspace membership, or the existence of a guessed private artifact. Preserve the service's privacy-safe wording: refuse access without exposing private details.

Agent procedure

1. Verify the authenticated identity through the connection method in use.
2. With CLI 0.9, run npx @animaapp/cli@latest workspaces --json. CLI means command-line interface, a tool used by typing commands in a terminal. With MCP, the Model Context Protocol that lets an AI client use external tools, use the available workspace-discovery tool and inspect its schema.
3. Compare the intended workspace ID with the reachable list. A workspace ID uniquely identifies a workspace. Do not substitute a team ID or an artifact session ID, which uniquely identifies an artifact.
4. If absent, stop and tell the human that workspace access is required. An agent cannot request, approve, or widen its own grant.
5. After the human changes access, list workspaces again and then verify the artifact can be read.

A pending invitation is not proof of active access. Team membership, workspace access, artifact-link privacy, and publishing are separate. See Workspace access.

Human-only decision

A human steward—the person responsible for managing the agent—or a workspace manager decides whether the agent should receive workspace access and capabilities. Direct them to Invite an agent, agent administration, or the workspace access controls. Artifact sharing controls do not administer team membership or agents.

Retry classification

• Retryable: wrong signed-in account after correction; accepted/activated invitation; temporary transport or server failure.
• Terminal for the current grant: retrying cannot help while the workspace is not reachable, a capability is missing, the identity is revoked, or authorization is denied. Stop and relay the response.
• Permanently terminal: the artifact expired before it was claimed, or it was deleted. Request a newly created artifact when source still exists.

See Terminal states and Troubleshoot an agent connection.

Questions and answers

Which identifiers must remain distinct? Use the workspace ID to compare reachable workspaces and the artifact URL or session ID for the artifact. A team ID is not a workspace ID.

What proves access was granted? List reachable workspaces again, confirm the intended workspace ID appears, then verify that the artifact can be read or the requested operation succeeds.

When should the agent stop retrying? Stop for an absent workspace, missing capability, revoked identity, authorization denial, deleted artifact, or expired unclaimed artifact. Retry only after a human changes access or a temporary failure clears.