Last updated April 21, 2026
Publishing Boards
You've built the architectural picture. Now the CTO wants a link. The new hire needs context. The partner team wants to understand your API landscape. Publishing turns your living workspace into a read-only snapshot that stakeholders can access through the ContextDX portal — no editor account needed.
Visibility modes
Every published board has a visibility setting that controls who can see it:
Anyone with the URL can access the board — no authentication required. Best for open-source projects, public architecture showcases, or community-shared reference architectures.
- Indexed and discoverable
- No tokens or passwords needed
- Can be featured on your org's profile
Start with Unlisted while you're iterating. Switch to Public when you're confident in the content, or Protected when the architecture is sensitive.
Publishing a board
Publish your first board checklist
- Open the board you want to publish
- Review the board content — make sure nodes, edges, and descriptions are stakeholder-ready
- Run any final insight skills so results are included in the snapshot
- Click Publish in the toolbar
- Choose your visibility mode (public, unlisted, or protected)
- If using protected mode, decide whether to set a password
- Click Publish to create the read-only snapshot
- Share the URL with your stakeholders
Share tokens
Protected boards can use a share token — a URL parameter that grants access without a password. This is useful for embedding links in internal docs or Slack messages.
- Share tokens are generated automatically when you set visibility to Protected
- The token is appended to the portal URL for direct access
- You can rotate the token at any time to revoke access for anyone using the old link
Password protection & token rotation
Password protection
For an extra layer of security on protected boards:
- Set visibility to Protected
- Enter a password (4–128 characters)
- The password is hashed server-side — the plaintext is never stored
- Visitors to the portal enter the password to view the board
- Remove the password while keeping the share token if you want link-only access later
Token rotation
When you rotate a share token:
- A new random token is generated immediately
- All existing links with the old token stop working
- Anyone with the new token URL can access the board
- Password protection (if enabled) remains unchanged
This is useful when someone who had access leaves the team or when you want to periodically cycle credentials.
Rotating a share token immediately invalidates all existing links. Make sure to update any shared bookmarks or embedded references.
What stakeholders see
When someone visits a published board through the portal, they get:
- The board diagram — nodes, edges, and layout exactly as you designed them
- Insight overlays — signal markers, paths, and suggestions from the latest insight runs
- Read-only navigation — they can explore layers (nested boards) but can't edit anything
- Board metadata — name, description, type, and tags
They don't see your workspace, other unpublished boards, source bindings, or conversation history. The portal is a curated, stakeholder-facing view.
Managing published access
You can update publish settings without creating a new snapshot:
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Featured and listed boards
Beyond basic publishing, you can give boards more visibility:
- Featured — highlights the board on your org's public profile
- Listable — opts the board in for ContextDX curation, potentially surfacing it to the broader community
Featured boards appear prominently on your organization's public profile — a great way to showcase your architecture to the community.