When I create an invite link and choose to add to a specific private group arrive at a topic that is in a category that only that private group can access Then, the member gets an access denied screen when clicking the invite link. However, if they then click the invite link again, it will bring them to the right topic. [image]

This should work smoothly, and unfortunately I can’t reproduce the error on a test site… does it happen consistently on your site? Does your site use SSO? Which version of Discourse are you on?

are there any errors in the browser console throughout the process of accepting an invite?

Just the 404 for the the topic that it’s trying to redirect to.

What happens if they just refresh the page instead of clicking the link again? My thought is that the group add doesn’t take place before the page loads.

When I refreshed it was still giving me the error. If I clicked “Take me home”, I was able to see the group was added and category was visible. When I put the invite back in the browser and clicked through on “___ is inviting you”, I ended up on the right topic.

I have a fix on the way from another topic that should solve this one too "Arrive at topic" invite permissions issue

Invite link to private group, arrive at topic (private category) not working

Product Support

akjgklajg July 6, 2026, 2:33pm 3

Yes it happens consistently. We do use SSO. currently on 2026.5.0

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Invite link to private group, arrive at topic (private category) not working

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