Client work deserves its own locked room.
Sidebar gives every client matter a private, invite-only space — real-time chat, files, and a full audit trail — without retrofitting a generic chat tool's permission model onto work that can't afford a leak.
The demo drops you straight into a real account with sample matters, people, and message history already loaded — no form, no sign-up. Real customer access is invite-only, by design.
Slack and Teams were built for everyone. Your clients aren't everyone.
Access control and audit trails exist in general-purpose chat tools — as an enterprise-tier afterthought, bolted on after the fact. For firms whose client communication has to be provably restricted, that's backwards.
- Anyone with a workspace invite can find and join a "private" channel someone forgot to lock down
- No record of who could see a file, only who downloaded it — if that
- Client access means creating a guest account with its own quirks and limits
- Audit logging is a paid add-on, if it exists at all
- Every matter is its own access boundary, enforced at the infrastructure level — not a channel toggle
- Every login, 2FA challenge, and file access is logged from day one
- Clients are a first-class account type, invited the same one-time way as staff
- There is no public sign-up surface anywhere in the product
Four mechanisms, not forty settings.
Sidebar's access model isn't a checkbox you have to remember to flip. It's how the product works.
Invite-only, always
There is no registration page. An authorized team member generates a one-time link for each person — staff or client — and that's the only way in.
Per-matter sensitivity tiers
Every matter carries a tier — General, Sensitive, Restricted, Privileged — and access is enforced against it automatically, not by remembering to configure a permission.
Audit trail by default
Logins, failed 2FA attempts, and every invite issued, used, or revoked are recorded automatically. Nothing about who-saw-what requires an enterprise upsell.
2FA that adapts to real usage
Two-factor authentication with a step-up re-check whenever a session resumes on a new device — security that scales with how people actually work, not a one-time gate.
Any firm where "who has access to this" is a real question.
Case matters, kept privileged
Give each case its own room, restrict it to the assigned team and the client, and keep a defensible record of who discussed what and when.
Engagements, not open channels
Tax season doesn't need every client's financials visible to every associate. Scope each engagement to the people actually staffed on it.
One client, one workspace
Run concurrent client engagements without cross-contamination — each project gets its own invite-only space, closed out when the work ends.
Built for firms that can't afford a leak.
Sidebar is in early access. Leave your email and we'll set up your first matter.