> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getrivet.ca/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Your first session
> End-to-end — sharing your URL, the pre-join screen, in-session controls, ending cleanly.
A Rivet video session has four moments: getting your client to your URL,
the pre-join screen on both sides, the session itself, and ending. Once
you've done one, the muscle memory holds.
## Before the session: share your URL with the client
Your URL — `getrivet.ca/your-name` — is also your session link. Same
address, every session, every client. You don't generate a new link each
time.
The most common ways to share it:
* **In the confirmation email or text** you send a few days before the
appointment. Include the URL where you'd usually write a meeting
location.
* **In your calendar invite** as the "Meeting location" field. Most
clients tap the link straight from the calendar app on the day.
* **In a text** an hour before the session — "Ready when you are.
Here's the link: getrivet.ca/sarah-chen". This works well for new
clients who haven't saved your URL yet.
You can also send the link via the Rivet conversation thread for that
client. Type your URL into the reply input, send, done.
## Ten minutes before: open Rivet on your laptop
Open `next.getrivet.ca` (or the installed app), sign in if you're not
already, and click into the **Video** tab. You'll see a "Start session"
or "Open waiting room" affordance. Click it.
A pre-join screen appears for you:
* A preview of your camera
* A preview of your microphone level (the bar moves when you speak)
* A device picker if you have multiple cameras or mics plugged in
* Background blur and other quality toggles
Use this minute to make sure your camera is showing the angle you want,
your mic is the one you intended, and your background looks
professional. Then click **Join**.
You're now in your session room, with the waiting room visible on the
side so you can see when clients arrive.
## When your client arrives
The client opens your URL on their device — phone, tablet, laptop, any
modern browser. **They don't need an app or an account.** They tap
"Join your session," grant camera and microphone permission, and they're
in the waiting room.
On your side, the waiting-room panel updates to show a row for them:
their name (if they typed it, which most do), the device they're on, and
a green **Let in** button.
Click **Let in** to bring them into the session. Their video and audio
go live; your screen rearranges into the standard side-by-side or
focused view; you start the session the way you always start one.
## During the session: the controls you'll use most
The session room has more affordances than you'll use on any given day.
The ones that matter for a typical session:
Bottom toolbar. Spacebar to toggle on the fly. Standard.
Bottom toolbar. If you need to step away briefly, turn off the camera
rather than ending the call.
A canvas your client sees in real time. Use it to draw a diagram, a
timeline, a thought-record column. Both of you can write on it; the
other watches.
If you do EMDR, the bilateral-stimulation workspace is one click
away. See the EMDR section for the full protocol.
Pull a clinical template (intake, thought record, distortion check,
etc.) into the session. Your client fills it in on their device;
you see a live preview with the score. The results save to the
client's record.
The note-taking surface for this session. The shared part of the note
is what'll go in their chart; the private part stays in your browser
only.
There's a screen-share affordance too, if you want to show a document or
a video. Use it sparingly — most therapy sessions read better with the
whiteboard than a shared screen.
## Ending the session
Click the red **End session** button in the bottom toolbar. Rivet
disconnects both sides cleanly. The client's browser shows a "Session
ended" screen with a friendly note; yours returns to the inbox.
The session note is right there, ready to finish. Type whatever you
didn't capture during the session, hit save, and the note is on the
client's record. If you use Jane, Owl, or another EHR, tap **Copy
for Jane** to copy the note to your clipboard and paste it into the
client's chart.
See [Notes + documentation](/documentation/index) for the full notes
workflow.
## What goes wrong on a first session — and how to recover
A few things commonly trip up a first session:
* **Client grants the wrong permissions.** If they don't grant camera or
mic, the join goes one-way (you see them, they don't see you, or
vice-versa). Ask them to refresh the page; the browser will re-prompt.
* **You forgot which device's camera is selected.** If you're staring at
a black square instead of yourself, open the pre-join controls and
cycle the camera picker.
* **Audio echoes.** Almost always because both sides are on speakers
without headphones. Ask your client to put on headphones and the echo
vanishes.
* **They can't find the URL.** Re-text it. Most clients lose the link
the first time — once it's in their texts, the next session is
effortless.
## Related articles
The wording that works for sharing your URL ahead of a session.
The audio + camera fixes for when something doesn't behave.
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