> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.emergedata.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Link Overview

> Collect user consent with Emerge Link

Emerge Link is a hosted consent flow that handles user authentication, consent collection, and data portability compliance. Users authenticate with their data provider (Google) and grant your application access to their data.

## How Link works

```mermaid theme={null}
sequenceDiagram
    participant User
    participant Your App
    participant Emerge Link
    participant Google

    Your App->>User: Show "Connect Data" button
    User->>Emerge Link: Click signed link
    Emerge Link->>Google: OAuth redirect
    Google->>User: Authenticate & consent
    User->>Emerge Link: Grant permissions
    Emerge Link->>Your App: Redirect with status
    Emerge Link-->>Your App: Webhook: consent/data lifecycle event
```

## Flow states

When a user completes (or exits) the consent flow, they're redirected to your `redirect_uri` with a `status` parameter:

| Status         | Description                              |
| -------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| `success`      | First-time consent granted for this user |
| `reauthorized` | User re-linked an existing consent       |
| `failure`      | User cancelled or an error occurred      |

## Try the demo

Preview the latest single-checkbox demo flow:

<Card title="Wonderful AI" icon="play">
  Endpoint coming next. This demo is configured for a single consent checkbox.
</Card>

## Integration steps

<Steps>
  <Step title="Get credentials">
    Sign up for [The Control Room](https://dashboard.emergedata.ai) and create your client credentials.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure your flow">
    Set your company name, logo, and redirect URIs via the API or The Control Room.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Generate signed links">
    Create HMAC-signed URLs server-side to initiate the consent flow.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Handle callbacks">
    Process the redirect callback and verify the state parameter.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set up webhooks">
    Receive consent and data export lifecycle events (for example revocations and `data.ready` updates).
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  If you update branding in The Control Room and want to remove a logo, clear the logo field. That sets `logo_url` to `null` and removes the stored logo.
</Note>

## What users see

The consent flow presents users with:

1. **Partner context** - Your company name and logo
2. **Data explanation** - What data will be shared and why
3. **Google OAuth** - Standard Google authentication
4. **Consent confirmation** - Explicit consent checkbox

The flow is designed for compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and Google's data portability requirements.

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Authentication" icon="key" href="/link/authentication">
    Learn about API credentials and HMAC signing
  </Card>

  <Card title="Create Links" icon="link" href="/link/create-link">
    Generate signed consent URLs
  </Card>
</CardGroup>