Match access requirements to file or platform work
SFTP can provide access to application files, while platform roles can expose a different set of hosting controls. Neither should be treated as a generic synonym for full website ownership. A developer updating files may not require billing or server-transfer authority. Review the current Cloudways credential and role documentation for the exact boundary, and choose access based on the work rather than whichever login is easiest to share.
Consider what file access can still change
A narrower interface is not automatically harmless. Application files can contain configuration or affect the live site, so file access still deserves a defined scope and change procedure. A fictional contractor adjusting a theme should work from an identifiable version with a recovery path rather than editing production blindly. Keep sensitive configuration and credentials out of screenshots, public issue reports and handoff documents used to explain the task.
Use platform access when the job requires it
Some work involves logs, service configuration, backups or other controls not covered by a file-transfer connection. Determine the supported role for that work and verify the selected application or server. Do not ask a collaborator to perform an operation through an improvised path because their assigned access cannot do it. A precise missing capability is more useful than a vague complaint that the account does not work.
Verify a clean offboarding boundary
Record which access method was granted and who can revoke it after the work is accepted. Ensure the client retains the files, configuration knowledge and supported administration path needed to continue. A successful file upload is not a complete handoff, and revoking one platform invitation may not describe every credential involved. Review the actual documented access arrangement before claiming a departed operator can no longer reach the application.
Sources used for this page
These records support the facts and comparisons above. Merchant-controlled records are labelled so you can separate product claims from independent evidence.
- Cloudways collaboration and separate application credentials — Merchant documentation · support.cloudways.com · Merchant-controlled · checked 2026-09-21
- Cloudways team-member permissions — Merchant documentation · support.cloudways.com · Merchant-controlled · checked 2026-09-21