Guide · View tracking

How to tell if someone opened the report you shared

You sent the link. Now you're wondering: did they actually open it before the meeting, or are you about to present to someone who's seeing it for the first time? Here's how to know — without pinging them to ask.

When you publish a document with freo.cloud, each one keeps its own view count, so you can see whether a shared link has actually been opened. A plain unique link gives you the number of views; an email-protected or allowlist document — where each viewer confirms an email — shows which named people opened it. Tracking is on by default and visible from your dashboard, and you can toggle a notification for the first open. It answers "did the client read it yet?" without you having to chase them.

On a chat app like Claude.ai or ChatGPT instead of a coding agent? Connect the MCP server with one-click OAuth (no token) — then the same "just ask it to publish" flow applies.

The problem: a link is a black box

Email an attachment or drop a gist link and you've thrown the file over a wall. There's no signal back. Did it arrive? Did they open it? Did the right person open it, or did it get forwarded? For a freelancer sending a deliverable, a consultant prepping a review, or anyone who needs the other side to have actually read something, that silence is the worst part — you either assume (and risk presenting to a cold room) or you send the slightly awkward "did you get a chance to look?" message.

How view tracking works on freo

Every document you publish records when it's opened. From your dashboard you can see each document's view activity, and the detail depends on the access level you chose:

• →Unique link: you see that it's been opened and how many times — enough to know it landed.
• →Email-protected & allowlist: because each viewer confirms an email, you can see which people have opened it — so "has the client seen it?" becomes a yes/no per person, not a guess.

You can also switch on a notification for a document, so the first time someone opens it you're told — handy for a proposal where the open is the moment that matters.

Where this actually helps

• →Before a meeting: confirm the deck or report was opened, so you know whether to recap or dive in.
• →Client deliverables: see that the person you sent it to opened it — useful before a follow-up or an invoice.
• →Proposals: a notification on first open tells you when to follow up, while it's top of mind.

Tracking that respects people

This is deliberately modest. You see opens, not keystrokes — there's no heatmap of how long someone lingered or where their mouse went. It pairs with access control: name your viewers with an allowlist and the view log is meaningful (real people, confirmed by email) rather than a raw hit counter. The goal is the one honest signal you actually need — did the right person open this? — not surveillance.

Questions