Context Requests

Context requests let you invite people outside your VSEC workspace to contribute information about an asset — no VSEC account required. When you send a context request, VSEC emails the recipient a magic link that accepts up to 10 submissions within its 14-day validity window. They open it, fill in what they know, and their response is added to the asset’s context automatically.

This is useful when subject-matter experts, vendors, or other stakeholders have information relevant to an asset but are not VSEC users.

How It Works

1. A VSEC user opens an asset, clicks Add context (in the header or the asset’s right-click menu), and switches to the Request from someone tab of the dialog.
2. They fill in the recipient’s email, an optional name, and an optional message explaining what they need.
3. VSEC creates a secure magic link and emails it to the recipient. If email delivery is not configured in your deployment, the link is shown for manual sharing instead.
4. The recipient opens the link, reads the request, and submits text and/or file attachments.
5. Their response appears in the asset’s Context tab with an External badge showing their name and email as the source.
6. Each accepted response schedules a debounced AI curation run, so the asset’s understanding refreshes with the new context.

Sending a Context Request

1. Open the asset in Asset Manager and click Add context in the header (or Add context… from the right-click menu).
2. Switch to the Request from someone tab.
3. Fill in:
   • Recipient email (required)
   • Recipient name (optional) — shown in the email and on the submitted response
   • Message (optional) — explain what information you need
4. Click Send request.

VSEC generates a unique link tied to this asset and this recipient. If email is configured, the recipient receives a branded email. If not, the dialog switches to a copyable-link view so you can share it manually.

What the Recipient Sees

The recipient receives an email with a button linking to a public VSEC page. No login is required. The page shows:

• The asset name
• Your name (the requester)
• Your message
• A text area for their response
• A file upload area

They click Submit and their response is saved. The page confirms receipt. No further information about the asset or your workspace is accessible from the link.

Allowed file types: PDF, TXT, MD, CSV, JSON, XML, LOG, RTF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX, ODT, ODS, ODP, PNG, JPG, JPEG, GIF, WEBP, BMP, TIFF, HEIC.

Per-submission limits: up to 5 files; 25 MB total; 20,000 characters of text.

Managing Pending Requests

The Request from someone tab of the Add context dialog lists all outstanding requests for the asset, under Outstanding requests. For each you can see:

• Recipient email and name
• Status: Awaiting response, Responded, Expired, or Cancelled
• Number of responses received

The same outstanding requests also appear read-only on the Context tab, under Requested from others — so you can see who’s still been asked without opening the dialog.

To revoke a request, open the Add context dialog and click the trash icon next to it. The link is immediately invalidated — any attempt to open it after revocation shows an error — and the cancelled request disappears from the list (responses already submitted are kept).

How External Contributions Appear

Responses submitted via a context request appear in the context entry list with:

• An External badge
• Attribution showing the contributor’s name and email (e.g. “via email from Jane Doe — jane@example.com”)

These entries are treated the same as manually added context for AI curation purposes.

Link Removal Suggestions

When the AI curates an asset, it may also propose removing existing asset links in addition to suggesting new ones. Proposed removals appear in a Suggested removals section on the Context tab, each with a confidence level:

Low-confidence removal suggestions are dropped server-side and never shown.

Removals are opt-in: nothing is detached until you explicitly confirm each one. Accepted removals are recorded in the asset’s Activity log.