Getting Started
Connect Notion, add clients, and create your first portal view in a few minutes.
Video walkthrough
A quick tour of the full setup flow - from creating your portal to sharing it with clients.
Overview
Portalize turns your Notion databases into branded client portals. You keep working in Notion; clients log in with a magic link and see only the data scoped to them.
1. Set up your portal
After you sign up, the setup wizard walks you through connecting Notion and mapping your clients database.
Create your portal (name and URL slug) - Step 1 of the wizard.
In Step 2, click Connect with Notion. Portalize uses Notion OAuth - you authorize your workspace in Notion's UI. There is no integration token to create or paste.
In Step 3 (Plan with AI, beta), answer a few questions so Portalize can map your Notion databases into a client portal. You can still pick the Clients database and login fields yourself. When Notion asks which pages to share in Step 2, include your Clients database and any others you plan to expose.
In Step 4 (Import Clients), confirm the clients Portalize has already imported from Notion - saving Step 3 starts the import for you, and Sync again re-runs it if you want a different set. Each client is linked to their Notion page, which relation-based scoping and Check matches rely on.
In Step 5 (Create Views), build the pages clients see. When a database relates directly to your Clients database, Portalize proposes a first view and its scoping so each client only sees their own rows. Review what it suggests before you save.
Portalize suggests the database, view, and scoping choices in steps 3 and 5, and every suggestion is checked against what actually exists in your workspace. Step 3 saves nothing until you save the form. Step 5 is the one to watch: a new view is visible to clients as soon as you save it, so check the scoping first, and turn off Visible to clients in the view editor if you want to keep working on it before anyone sees it.
If a database doesn't appear in Portalize later, open it in Notion and use ⋯ → Connections to grant Portalize access. See Notion Workspace Setup for database structure and our Notion template.
2. Add clients
The usual workflow is to maintain clients in your Notion Clients database, then sync them into Portalize. The email in Notion must match what they use to log in.
- Add each client in Notion with Name and Email filled in.
- In the dashboard, open Clients and click Sync Clients. This imports them into Portalize and links each client to their Notion page (required for relation-based view scoping).
- Clients visit your portal URL, enter their email, and request a magic link to log in (default expiry is 15 minutes; you can change validity under Settings → Client Login). Sync does not email clients - they request login themselves. No Notion account required.
Details: Managing Clients
3. Create portal views
Views connect a Notion database to your portal. Sync clients first so scoping and Check matches work with real client records. You control visible fields, scoping, and editable fields.
Go to Views and create a view for each database you want clients to see (Projects, Tasks, Invoices, etc.).
Configure view scoping so each client only sees their own rows. Views cannot be enabled without scoping.
Choose visible fields and optionally mark fields as editable (status, select, checkbox, number, rich text) so clients can update Notion directly from the portal. Client editing needs Starter or above - see Editable Fields.
Save the view. With Visible to clients left on, clients can see it as soon as you save, so check the scoping before you save. Turn that toggle off to keep working on the view without exposing it, and turn it back on when you are ready. Clients can search and filter records on each view page.
Preview the portal as a client from Settings (available on every plan, including Free). See Portal Settings.
4. Brand and share
Customize your portal URL, colors, and branding under Settings. Share your portal link (portalize.app/p/your-slug) with clients - they sign in via magic link and land on their dashboard.