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Share a Project

Sharing a project is the simplest way to ensure your development team can get to work and avoid sorting out dependencies or worrying about security or stability issues.

note

This will share the project in your ActiveState organization. If you want to add automated processes to a project for development purposes, learn more in this article.

Benefits of Sharing Projects​

Sharing a project is the simplest way to ensure your development team can get to work and avoid sorting out dependencies or worrying about security or stability issues.

Benefits of Sharing Projects​

Sharing projects provides several advantages:

  • Save time and effort - Fellow developers don't need to set up stable development environments from scratch
  • Accelerate onboarding - New team members get the correct, specific dependencies immediately
  • Standardize environments - Everyone works with the same tools and versions
  • Improve security - Control which tools developers use and track usage for patches and updates
  • Educational benefits - Educators can standardize student environments and simplify learning

Project Visibility Types​

Public Projects​

  • Visible to all ActiveState Platform users
  • Anyone can install the runtime, including anonymous users
  • Project details (language & packages) are publicly visible
  • Available on all tiers

Private Projects​

  • Restricted to your organization members only
  • Hidden details from non-members
  • Only organization members can install the runtime
  • Available on paid tiers only

How to Share a Project​

  1. Go to your project page
  2. Click the Share button
  3. Copy the link shown
  4. Send the link to collaborators via email, Slack, Teams, etc.

Recipients can access the project if:

  • The project is public, OR
  • The recipient is a member of the same organization (for private projects)

Share via Command Line Installation​

  1. On the project page, click on the in the Overview tab
  2. Click the Install button to generate a “Download and Install” message.
  3. In the Install via Command Prompt section, copy and send the command shown to collaborators (via email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, etc.) to install via their own command line.

An example is shown below using a generic “defaultuser-activestate” organization and “example_project” project name:

powershell -Command "&$([scriptblock]::Create((New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://platform.activestate.com/dl/cli/1522266277.9999999999_pdli01/install.ps1'))) -c'state activate --defaultuser-activestate/example_project'"

Share via Fork​

Forking creates a copy of a project that others can modify:

  1. On any project page, click the Fork button
  2. Choose the destination organization
  3. Optionally rename the forked project
  4. Click Fork Project

The fork maintains a connection to the original project and can track updates.

Use Projects Created by Others​

After receiving a first-time install command or a link to the project page, enter the install command into your local command line to access the project.

For Public projects, the command you received will install the project runtime on your machine whether you have the State Tool installed or not. However, without the State Tool, users of that public project cannot configure the project and will be restricted to using the latest version of the build (i.e. the version received).

Users of public projects with the State Tool installed (and who are signed in to the Platform using the state auth command) are able to configure the public project, save any changes, and create new versions that can be shared.

For Private projects, the recipient must have the State Tool installed and be signed in to the Platform using the state auth command. Users of private projects who are signed in to the Platform can configure the project and view the project's history using the History tab.

In the History tab, previous versions of the project can be accessed by clicking the View to this Commit link and can be installed by clicking the Revert to this Commit link.

Use Shared Projects​

For Public Projects​

Without State Tool:

  • Run the provided installation command
  • Get a working runtime environment
  • Limited to using the latest version only
  • Cannot make configuration changes

With State Tool (and authenticated):

  • Full access to configure the project
  • Can save changes and create new versions
  • Can view and access project history
  • Can share updated versions

For Private Projects​

Requirements:

  • Must have State Tool installed
  • Must be authenticated (state auth)
  • Must be a member of the project's organization

Capabilities:

  • Configure and modify the project
  • Access project history via History tab
  • Revert to previous versions
  • Create and share updates

Organization Management​

Moving Projects Between Organizations​

You can move a project to a new organization:

Prerequisites:

  • Admin permissions in both source and destination organizations

Steps:

  1. Go to your project's Project Settings tab
  2. Scroll to the Move to Organization dropdown
  3. Select the destination organization
  4. Click Move Project
caution

Once moved, the project will no longer be available in the original organization. To create a copy instead, use the Fork feature.

Managing Organization Permissions​

For details about setting permissions in your organization, see Manage permissions.

Collaboration Workflows​

Basic Team Workflow​

  1. Project Owner:

    • Creates the initial project
    • Sets up core packages and configuration
    • Shares project with team members

  2. Team Members:

    • Install State Tool and authenticate
    • Check out the shared project
    • Work in their local environments

  3. Updates and Changes:

    • Team members propose changes
    • Project owner reviews and merges
    • Updated project shared with team

Branch-based Collaboration​

  1. Main Branch:

    • Keep stable for production use
    • Only merge tested changes

  2. Feature Branches:

    • Create branches for experiments
    • Test changes thoroughly
    • Share branch-specific links for review

  3. Integration:

    • Merge successful features to main
    • Communicate changes to team

Troubleshooting​

Cannot Access Shared Project​

For Private Projects:

  1. Verify you're a member of the correct organization
  2. Check that you're authenticated (state auth --show)
  3. Confirm the project owner has given you access

For All Projects:

  1. Verify the project link is correct
  2. Check your internet connection
  3. Try refreshing your browser or re-running commands

Installation Command Fails​

  1. Check network connectivity - Ensure you can reach ActiveState servers
  2. Verify command syntax - Ensure the command wasn't modified during copy/paste
  3. Check permissions - Ensure you have permission to install software
  4. Review firewall settings - Corporate firewalls may block downloads

Project Changes Not Visible​

  1. Refresh the web interface - Browser cache may show old information
  2. Run state pull - Sync local project with remote changes
  3. Check branch - Ensure you're viewing the correct branch
  4. Verify permissions - Confirm you have access to see changes