# How to send a proposal as a link instead of a PDF

What a proposal page does that a PDF can’t, what the PDF still does better, and how to brief your agent, share the link and revise it.

By artifact.guru team. Published 2026-10-05, updated 2026-10-05.

**Short answer:** Publish the proposal as a web page and send its link. The client picks a package, sees the total and launch date update, and approves it on the page. You can see when they opened it. A PDF is still better for the signed contract, the archive copy and portals that want a file. So use both, the page to decide and a PDF of the final terms for the record. On artifact.guru, your agent publishes the page, and you choose whether it opens with a secret code or by Email invitation.

## The question, in four parts

- **Can the client open it?** Yes, in any browser, phone included, behind a code or an email sign-in if you choose.
- **Can it replace the PDF?** For deciding, yes. For the record, no.
- **What happens when they say yes?** The page shows a confirmation. You hear about it through an email link or a form service, because the page has no server.
- **What if they want changes?** You publish version 2 to the same link.

Ostra Studio’s proposal below offers Saltmarsh Inns one booking website for all three of its inns. Choose a package or add an extra, and the total and launch date update.

## What a page can do that a PDF can’t

Sample proposal: [Saltmarsh Inns proposal](https://artifact.guru/examples/saltmarsh-proposal). Ostra Studio’s pitch for a new booking website.

It’s a single HTML file, and four parts of it would be dead text in a PDF:

| In the page | What the client does | In a PDF |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Packages they choose | Picks Essentials (£38,000, 12 weeks), Signature (£56,000, 16 weeks) or Signature Plus (£74,000, 20 weeks), plus any of four extras | Three columns, and sums in the margin |
| A total that follows | Sees the total, launch date and 30/40/30 payments change. Signature goes live by Friday, March 5, 2027, with a first invoice of £16,800. | One total, for the option you guessed |
| Their own payback | Drags a slider for the share of bookings moving from agencies to direct. At 16 points, Signature pays back in 19 months. | One forecast |
| An approval step | Types a name, ticks the terms and presses **Approve proposal**. The page says “Approved. Thank you, Mara.” and shows a summary with the reference OST-2026-114 | Print, sign, scan, reply |

## A range instead of one number

An honest estimate gives a range. Copperline Labs’ estimate below prices the Plumbline inspection app at $148k to $226k, most likely $179k.

Sample estimate: [Plumbline MVP estimate](https://artifact.guru/examples/plumbline-estimate). What the inspection app would cost to build, and how long it would take.

The team and the payments follow the modules you switch on. Choose **Lean MVP**, and the range and timeline shrink. A PDF would show only one scope.

## What a PDF still does better

- **The signed contract.** E-signature tools work with a fixed document. Sign there, not in the page.
- **The archive copy.** A link shows whichever version is live. In a year you’ll want the terms as agreed, in a file nobody can change.
- **Procurement portals.** If the client’s purchasing team wants documents uploaded to a supplier portal, upload a file.
- **Offline reading.** A PDF opens on a plane. A page needs a connection.

If the client asked for a PDF, or it’s a small fixed quote, just send the PDF.

## Use both: the page to decide, a PDF to keep

1. **Send the page** The client explores packages and brings questions to the call.
2. **Get the yes** They approve in the page and send you the email it prepares.
3. **Send the contract** Put the agreed package, total and payments into your contract tool.
4. **Keep the record** File the signed PDF with your contracts, or upload it to the proposal’s project and leave it **Private**.

> **Make the PDF from the page.** The Saltmarsh proposal’s **Save as PDF** button prints the client’s own selection, so the PDF matches what they chose.

## Brief your agent, then check the page

Attach your discovery-call notes, packages and prices, one or two past projects you can name, and your terms. Then say:

Say to your agent:

```
Write a proposal for [client] as one self-contained HTML page that
works on a phone. Use only the facts in my notes; if something is
missing, ask me.

Sections: what we heard, goals with targets, phases with weeks, two
past projects, the team, investment, approve.

In Investment, the client chooses a package and extras, and the total,
launch date and a 30/40/30 payment schedule follow. In Approve, they
type their name and tick the terms, and the page shows a summary. Say
there that the page doesn’t send anything on its own, and add a button
that opens an email to me with the summary filled in. Add a Save as
PDF button with a print stylesheet.

Publish it privately to artifact.guru and give me the link.
```

Before the client sees it:

- Open the link on your phone. It starts **Private**, so only your workspace can open it.
- Try every package and extra, and check each total against your own sums.
- Approve it yourself, and check that the email it opens is addressed to you.
- Remove anything the client shouldn’t read. Anyone who can open a page can read its source, including parts hidden on screen.

## Choose who can open it

Proposals usually go out with one of two modes. Pick one in the **Share** panel, or tell your agent.

| Situation | Mode | What the client does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| One decision-maker; forwarding to a colleague is fine | **Secret code**, lasting 7 or 30 days | Types the code you sent separately |
| Named people, and you want to know which of them read it | **Email**, up to 50 addresses | Signs in with the invited address |
| The deadline has passed | Let the code expire, or choose **Private** | Sees “This link is private” |
| The code spread too far | **New code** | The old code stops working |

Inviting someone doesn’t email them, so add the address and send the link yourself. Send a code separately from the link, so a single forwarded email doesn’t carry both. Your agent can set it up too: “Share the Saltmarsh proposal with a secret code that expires in 30 days, and give me the link and the code.” Changing the mode never changes the link, and on a Individual or Team plan, code links can also open on [your own domain](https://artifact.guru/blog/html-page-on-your-domain).

## What the client sees on a phone

With a code, the link opens on a screen titled “Enter the code”, which tells the client the code was sent separately. They type the eight characters, such as `KM7Q-4XPA`, and tap **Open**. Our server checks the code before it sends any of the proposal.

With an Email invite, the screen says “Sign in to open”. They tap **Continue**, type the invited address and get a one-time code by email. Someone new creates an account in the same step, with no password and no plan. Any other address sees “You don’t have access”.

Then the proposal fills the screen under a slim bar with its title, **Copy link** and **Download**. Pasted into a chat, the link’s preview says “Protected link” or “Invite-only link”, without the title.

## Know when they opened it

Open the proposal and switch from **Versions** to **Views**. On an Email link you see who opened it, when and how often, and who hasn’t yet. On a code link you see counts instead, such as views and where the link was clicked. The counts cover the last 30 days; the list of names isn’t limited to that window. Opens of a code link by your own workspace, while signed in, don’t count.

> **No alerts.** You aren’t alerted when it’s opened, and there’s no reading time. Your agent can’t read views either, so check **Views** yourself before you call.

## Revise after the call

Ask for the change, and say what must stay:

- “In the Saltmarsh proposal, remove the French and German translation from the extras and move the valid-until date to November 14. Change nothing else.”

The agent changes only those parts and publishes version 2 at the same link. The client sees it next time they open the link, or when they reload an open page. If a colleague edited the proposal after your agent read it, the agent’s edit is refused so it can’t overwrite theirs. **Versions** shows who published each version, and **Roll back** restores version 1. Nothing tells the client it changed, so say so when you follow up.

## Limits

- **The page has no server.** The approval lives only in the client’s browser tab, and a reload or **Undo approval** clears it. You hear about it only when they press **Email Tomás your approval** and send the email it fills in. That email carries their package, total, timeline and first invoice. The Plumbline estimate puts it plainly: “this page doesn’t send anything on its own.”
- **Forms need a service.** Point an approval form at a form service by its full address; artifact.guru stores no form entries.
- **An approval isn’t a signature.** There’s no e-signature or signed record.
- **No comments.** The client replies by email or on a call.
- **No watermarks or download blocking.** Switch off **Show controls** to hide **Download**, but the client can still print what they see.

## Questions

### Does the client need an account?

Not with a secret code. With an Email invite they sign in with the invited address; someone new gets an account in the same step, with no password.

### Is pressing Approve the same as signing?

No. The page stores and sends nothing on its own. Treat the approval email as the client’s choice of scope, then sign the contract in your usual tool.

### Can I stop the proposal working after the deadline?

Give the code an expiry of 7 or 30 days, or switch the link to Private, which stops outside access at once. The link and its versions stay.

### What if the client forwards the link?

Anyone with the link and the code can open a code link, and you see counts, not names. On an Email link, people you didn’t invite see “You don’t have access” until you add them, up to 50 addresses.

Source: https://artifact.guru/blog/proposal-as-a-link