Share Conversations on the Web

Conversation sharing (beta111+) publishes a Hub chat as a public read-only web page so coworkers, friends, or collaborators can read the full discussion in a browser — no Alter install required. This is separate from:

• Save Conversation as Markdown (⌘⇧S) — saves a local .md file on your Mac
• Share trace — uploads a task subagent thread to Alter support for debugging

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When to use web sharing

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Requirements

• You must be signed in to Alter. If you are logged out, sharing fails with a sign-in error.
• The conversation must be a normal Hub chat. Meeting discussions started from Live Notepad or Meeting Scribe actions cannot be shared on the web.
• The discussion must be saved — unsaved temporary conversations do not show share controls.

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What gets published

Alter uploads a package that includes:

• Conversation title and full message thread (user, assistant, and external messages)
• Context attached to messages — files, images, text selections, app context, and other referenced material that is still available on your Mac
• Attachment files bundled when they fit size limits

Recipients see a read-only web view of that content. They cannot continue the chat or edit what you shared.

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Size limits

Alter enforces upload limits when building the package: Oversized or missing attachments may appear as unavailable in the published view instead of blocking the whole share.

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Share a conversation

While the upload runs, the dialog shows Sharing discussion… and disables the primary button until the request completes.

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Where to find Share

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Hub sidebar

Right-click a conversation in the Hub history list:

• Share — create a new public link
• Share submenu (when already shared):
  • Copy link
  • Update
  • Remove

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Conversation tab menu

Open the tab action menu (⋯ on the conversation tab) for the same Share item or submenu.

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Command palette

Open the Hub command palette (default ⌘K in the Hub switcher) while a conversation tab is active. Search for: QuickHub exposes the same share commands through its switcher when the active tab is a saved conversation.

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Manage an existing share

After the first successful publish, Alter remembers the link for that conversation on your Mac.

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Copy link

Use Copy link from the sidebar or tab submenu, or Copy Share Link in the command palette. The URL is copied to the clipboard without re-uploading.

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Update

When the thread changes and you want viewers on the latest version, choose Update (submenu) or Update Shared Conversation (palette). Update re-publishes immediately — Alter skips the confirmation dialog and uploads the current conversation state, then copies the link again.

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Remove

Choose Remove (submenu) or Remove Shared Conversation (palette). Confirm Remove sharing? — The published discussion will be unpublished. After removal, the public URL should stop working. Alter clears the stored link for that conversation on your Mac.

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Public link format and hosting

• Links are served on alterhq.com (for example https://alterhq.com/s/...).
• Alter validates that returned URLs use the trusted Alter front-end host before copying them.
• The API may return an expiration timestamp for a share. Treat links as revocable but not secret — share only with people you trust to see the content.

Removing a share unpublishes the discussion; expiration behavior depends on Alter’s server policy when an expiresAt value is set.

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Privacy and data handling

Conversation sharing is opt-in and not the same as Alter’s local-first history: Do not share conversations that contain passwords, financial data, confidential documents, or private meeting recordings unless you intend for that material to be visible on the web. Cloud model providers used during the original chat are separate from sharing — sharing uploads what is in the conversation snapshot, not your full local database.

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Troubleshooting

Share is missing from the menu

• Meeting Live Notepad and Meeting Scribe chats cannot be shared on the web
• Save the conversation first — temporary unsaved chats have no share controls
• Wait if another share dialog or upload is already in progress

Share fails with a login error

• Sign in under Settings → Profile or the account menu, then retry

Share fails because the package is too large

• Remove large attachments from context, or export with Save Conversation as Markdown and share the file through your own channel
• Limits: 50 MB per file, 200 MB total, 100 attachments

Copy link does nothing

• Use Update to re-publish if the server no longer has the share
• Confirm you are copying from the same Mac where you originally shared (link memory is local)

I need a support bundle, not a public link

• Use Share trace for task debugging uploads to Alter support

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Related docs