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Collaboration

Trace collaboration with lightweight version control across users and projects

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Written by Flakron Bajrami
Updated this week

Usetrace Collaboration and Version Control Features Guide
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This guide explains how to use the project collaboration and trace control features in Usetrace to share, synchronize, and manage traces between projects and team members.
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Overview

The Collaboration page allows you to:

  • Share your project traces with other Usetrace users

  • Pull (copy & merge) traces from other projects

  • Link projects together for ongoing synchronization

  • Manage who has access to your project

Each project keeps its own copy of traces. When you pull traces from Project A into Project B:

  • Traces are copied and merged into Project B

  • Project A remains unchanged

  • Project B receives the latest changes from Project A

Accessing the Collaboration Page

  1. Open Usetrace

  2. Navigate to users menu

  3. Click the Collaboration menu under the Settings
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You’ll see multiple sections for managing sharing and linked projects.
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Section 1: Project Sharing

Enable Pull (Share Your Project)

What it does:
Allows other users to pull traces from your project using a secure pull URL.

How to enable sharing:

  1. Go to the Collaboration menu

  2. Click or check Enable pull

  3. A unique pull URL is generated automatically

You can now share this URL with team members.
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Pull URL Details

  • Format:

    https://[your-domain]/pull-project/[project-id]/[secret]/

  • Each time you enable pull, a new URL is generated

  • Disabling pull immediately invalidates the current URL

  • Re-enabling pull creates a new secure link

Important

  • Treat the pull URL like a secret

  • Anyone with the link can pull your traces

  • They cannot directly edit your project
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Section 2: Pulling & Merging Projects

How to Pull Traces from Another Project

Option 1: Open a Pull URL

  1. Open the pull URL shared by your teammate

  2. You will be redirected to the Merge Confirmation Page

  3. Review changes and confirm the merge

This also automatically links the project under your Collaboration tab.

Option 2: Pull from Linked Projects

If a project is already linked:

  1. Go to Your Linked Projects

  2. Click the Pull button

  3. Review the merge page

  4. Confirm the merge
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The Merge Confirmation Page

The merge page shows exactly how the two projects differ.

New Traces

  • Exist in the source project but not in yours

  • Will be added to your project

  • You can select/deselect using checkboxes

  • “Select all” is available for convenience

Changed Traces

  • Exist in both projects but have been modified

  • System compares folder path and trace name

  • Shows who modified each version (“modified by you”, “modified by them”)

Backup Behavior

If a trace conflict exists:

  • Your version is copied

  • It is renamed with the prefix:

Backup: [Trace Name]

This ensures no work is lost.

Backups are created when:

  • Your friend changed a trace you also have

  • Both of you modified the same trace since the last merge
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Unchanged Traces

  • Identical in both projects

  • No changes will be made

Completing the Merge

  1. Review all three sections

  2. Select the traces you want to merge

  3. Click Merge Selected

  4. A confirmation modal will be shown with some warnings. Please make sure to read them carefully.

  5. If you click 'Yes, Merge' your project is updated

Section 3: Your Linked Projects

This section lists projects that:

  • You have pulled from

  • Have been linked via pull URL

Available Actions

  • Pull – Sync latest traces

  • Forget – Remove project link

Forgetting a project only removes the link.
It does NOT delete previously pulled traces.
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Section 4: Pulling Between Your Own Projects

If you have multiple projects under the same account:

  • You can pull traces between them

  • The same merge confirmation process applies

Use Cases

  • Copying traces from a small project to a big one

  • Organizing traces into a central project​

Section 5: My Project Is Linked By

This section shows:

  • Users who have linked to your project

  • Their email addresses

  • Their project names

Important Note

Currently, individual access revocation is not available.

If you want to remove access:

  • Disable Enable pull

  • This invalidates the URL for everyone

Best Practices

For Project Owners

  • Enable pull only when needed

  • Share URLs securely

  • Disable pull if no longer required

  • Regularly review linked users

Security Notes

  • Pull URLs contain secret tokens

  • Anyone with the URL can pull your traces

  • They cannot directly modify your project

  • Rotate URLs by disabling and re-enabling pull if needed

  • Monitor the “My Project Is Linked By” section regularly

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