# Invite people and join

The invite link is the key to the group. Only people with the link can read the group.

## Share the invite link

1. Open the group, then the settings icon, then **Invite link**. A new group shows the invite screen at once.
2. Tap **Share link** to send it with WhatsApp or another app, or **Copy link**.
3. A person next to you can scan the QR code with the phone camera.

## Invite by email

1. On the invite screen, type the person's Gmail address under **Or invite by email** and tap **Send**.
2. They get an email from hello@rata.fyi with a **Sign in with Google and join** button. The email has your Google first name. It has no group name and no amounts.
3. The button works only when they sign in with that Gmail address, for 14 days.

The email does not hold the group key. Your phone locks the invite with a one-time key that goes in the email link. Our server keeps only the locked invite, and gives it only to the invited Google account. The link works one time. You can send 10 email invites a day, and 1 a week to each address.

## Join a group

1. Open the invite link. Rata opens the group.
2. Sign in if Rata asks.
3. Tap your name in the list. If your name is not there, tap **I'm someone else** and type your name.
4. If you type a name that is in the list, Rata tells you. If that is you, tap your name in the list. If you are a different person with the same name, tap **I'm a different …** and add a letter, like Asha R, so that people can tell you apart.
5. A name that someone joined with shows **Another Google account** under it, and you cannot tap it. If you joined on another phone, your name shows **Your Google account** and Rata picks it for you.
6. Tap **Join**.

You can also paste a link: on Home, tap **Join**, paste the invite link and tap **Join**.

## If the link does not work

- **"This invite link is not complete"**: part of the link is missing. Some apps cut long links. Ask for the link again.
- **"Nothing here yet"**: the person who made the group must open Rata once when online, so that the group goes to the server.
- **"You are offline"**: connect to the internet and open the link again.
- **"This invite is for a different Gmail account"** (email invites): sign in with the Gmail address that got the email. An email invite also stops 14 days after it was sent. Ask for a new one.

## Add a person later

Open the group settings and tap **Add a person**. Then send them the invite link. They pick their name when they join. If the name is already in the group, Rata asks you to tap **Add another**.

## See who joined

On Home, tap your picture, then **People**. The list shows each person in your groups. For each person, it shows **Joined** or **Invite pending**, the number of groups that you share, and who owes whom. Tap a person to see your balance with them in each group.

Rata knows a person by their Google account, not by their name, so two people with one name stay two people. A person shows as joined, and as one person in all your shared groups, after they open each group once. A name that nobody has joined with yet shows on its own. Rata makes this list on your phone. The server has no list of your people.

## Keep the link safe

Share the link only with people in the group. If a wrong person gets the link, make a new group and invite only the people that you trust.