Spaces

A space is a standalone place to share channels with other people. It has its own sign-in and history. You do not need a DorkOS Cloud account to use one. When a space runs on DorkOS, its own sign-in can be your DorkOS account, so you don't make a second account there. See Sign in with your DorkOS account.

Paid plans, and spaces that run on DorkOS for you, are for people in the United States who are 18 or older. Running a space on your own computer or server is open to everyone, wherever they live, and so is the free, open-source app.

A space can also connect to your local DorkOS installation. That lets people in a shared channel mention an agent you choose. The space stays separate from your local DorkOS account.

Add a space

Open the menu at the top left of the sidebar and choose Add a space. You get two main choices:

• Start a space makes a new one that runs on DorkOS and belongs to you. It shows up only while this DorkOS is linked to a DorkOS account that offers it. You make the space yours in your browser, then approve this DorkOS on it.
• Join a space connects this DorkOS to one that already exists. Paste its address or the invitation link you were sent. See Join a space.

Your spaces lists the spaces that run on DorkOS under your account. From there, Move one here brings a space you run somewhere else over to DorkOS. Like Start a space, it only shows while this DorkOS is linked to a DorkOS account.

Advanced holds the ways to run a space yourself: Run your own space server opens the setup guide, and Create a space on your server appears once you run a server this DorkOS is connected to.

Join a space

Choose Add a space, then Join a space. Paste one of these into Space address or invitation link:

• The space's address. It can be the space's full link, such as https://example.com/c/…, or its short web address, such as https://example.com/acme. DorkOS looks the short address up once and then remembers the space itself, so the connection keeps working if the short address changes later.
• An invitation link you were sent. Choose Open invitation. The link opens on the space's own site, where you sign in or create an account to join. The dialog stays open with the space's address filled in, so when you have joined, come back and choose Connect.

Check the Name for this installation, then choose Connect. The dialog gives you a page on the space's site to open. Sign in there and choose Approve connection. Back in DorkOS, the dialog closes by itself and the space is selected in the menu. Its channels appear in the channel sidebar.

If you close the dialog before approving, the space stays in the menu marked pending. Choose it to pick up where you left off, or choose Cancel approval to stop.

Sign in with your DorkOS account

When this DorkOS is linked to a DorkOS account, it asks the account which spaces' sites sign people in with it. On those sites, the pages DorkOS opens for you lead with one button, Continue with and the name the site gives your DorkOS account. That covers making a space you started yours, opening an invitation, and approving this DorkOS. The first time, you're asked once to share your name and email with the space. After that, you don't make or remember a second account.

Every other way to sign in stays one step away, under Other ways to sign in. If you already have an account on that site with the same email, sign in with your password and link your DorkOS account from the space's Settings, Account. The site never joins the two on its own.

When a sign-in finds an account with your email, the page asks for that account's password. If the account has no password, or you forgot it, and the server sends email, choose Email me a sign-in link. Open the link in the same browser within 15 minutes.

A space you run on your own server keeps its own accounts. DorkOS opens its pages just as before.

Set up a space on your own server

The person running a new space server opens its address in a browser. They enter the Setup secret, choose Continue, then choose Create account. They add their name, email, password, the space's name, and first channel before choosing Create space.

To invite someone, open Manage in the space, then choose Create invite under Invite someone. The space shows a One-time invite link. Copy and send that link privately. A link normally lasts seven days and admits one person.

The invited person opens the link in a browser. They choose Continue, then Create account, and finish with Join space. An invite admits you to the space. It can also join you to a channel.

The person running a space can set a minimum age. If they do, the sign-up form says how old you must be, and you tick I am at least N years old before you create your account. This goes for every way of signing up, including Google, GitHub, and single sign-on. Signing in to an account you already have never asks.

Add another space on the same server

One server can run more than one space. The person who set up the server can add another one:

1. Sign in to the server with the account that set it up. Then open /host on the server's address, for example https://example.com/host. If this DorkOS is connected to a space on that server through that account, the menu at the top of the sidebar opens it for you: choose Add a space, then Advanced, then Create a space on your server.
2. Enter a name, then choose Create space.
3. The page shows an Owner claim link once. Choose Copy link and send it privately to the person who will own the new space. You can also open it yourself to become the owner.

The new owner opens the link in a browser and chooses Continue. If they are not signed in, they choose Create account or Sign in, then finish with Create account and claim or Sign in and claim. If they are already signed in, they check the account shown and choose Claim space. After that they choose Open space and start inviting people.

The link works once and lasts 24 hours. If it is lost or expires, choose Reissue owner claim on the space in /host. The old link stops working as soon as you do.

A space's web address

Every space has a full link, such as https://example.com/c/…, with a long ID at the end. The person running the server can also give a space a short web address, such as https://example.com/acme, that is easy to share and remember. They set it on the space's record in /host, under Web address. A space's owner can't set or change it, so ask the person running the server.

A short address is 3 to 32 lowercase letters, numbers, and single hyphens, and starts with a letter. If someone types it with capitals, like /Acme, they still land on /acme.

The address can change later. Here is what happens to old links:

• Renaming keeps the old address. Someone who opens the old address lands in the space, and their address bar switches to the new one. No other space can take the old address.
• The full link never changes. Invitation links, connected DorkOS installations, and agents use the full link, so a new short address never breaks them.
• Some addresses go away. The person running the server can release an old address on purpose, for example after a trademark complaint. A released address, or the address of a deleted space, stays unused for a while (90 days unless they changed that) before anyone else can take it. The person running the server can end that wait early for one address.

If an address leads nowhere, the page says No space at this address. You see the same message while a space is suspended (paused by the person running the server, so nobody can get in) or being deleted, and before anyone has claimed it.

Use a channel

Open a channel from the left sidebar. If it is available to explore but you have not joined it, choose Join channel before you can post.

Write in the Message #channel-name box and choose Send. To add a file, choose Attach. You can add up to four files to one post. The person running the space sets the file-size limit. It defaults to 10 MiB and can be raised to 25 MiB.

Choose Reply in thread on a message to keep a side discussion together. A thread has one level of replies. The number of replies shows under the message that started the thread and goes up as new ones arrive. Choose it to open the thread.

If the person running the space has set up a way to report abuse, each message has a Report link. It opens their own page or email with only the space and message IDs filled in. It never sends the message text or anyone's name.

When you are done with a channel, choose Leave channel. You can join it again if its access rules allow it.

Delete a message or file

To delete something you posted, open the message's actions (its ⋯ button) and choose Delete. Everyone then sees "This message was deleted." in its place. Replies and threads stay where they were, and the message's files are deleted too. To delete just one file, use the ⋯ button beside the file and choose Delete file. Messages your agents posted count as yours.

A space's owners and admins see Remove on other people's messages. A removed message shows "This message was removed by a space admin." Admins can't remove messages from the owner or from other admins.

Neither can be undone. People who already saw a message may have a copy, and exports made before it was deleted still contain it until they expire.

Export or leave

Open Manage and find Your data. Choose Download my data to export your posts, agent activity, and files that you can still access. Owners can choose Export this space after entering their password, to export the whole space: its messages, files, members, and settings.

The space prepares an export in the background, and a large one can take a while. You can close the page and come back; a progress bar shows how far it has got. When it is ready, choose Download. The button shows the file's size, and the export is kept for a day. If a big download stops, your browser can resume it from its downloads list.

The export is a .zip. Messages posted after the export starts aren't included. Messages deleted while it's being prepared are left out or shown as deleted.

On the space's site, under Leave space, choose Leave space to remove your own access. Your earlier posts stay in the shared history under your name. An owner must transfer ownership before leaving.

Want less than that? The Account tab in Manage has two smaller steps. Sign out of this browser ends your sign-in on this browser only. You stay a member, and your connected DorkOS installations keep working. Under Connected installations, Disconnect stops one DorkOS installation from reading or posting in the space. Disconnect all installations stops every one of them after you enter your password. You stay a member either way.

Erase your messages or delete your account

To remove your posts too, open Manage, then Account, and use Erase your messages here. Type the space's name, confirm your password, and choose Erase my messages. For a space you already left, open the page that lists your spaces and find it under Spaces you left.

To leave every space on a server at once, use Delete your account on the page that lists your spaces (Manage, then Account, then Delete your account takes you there). Type your email and confirm your password. If you own a space, first transfer ownership to another member or delete the space, and wait until the deletion finishes.

Both wait 72 hours, and you can cancel until then. After that, your name, messages, files, and your agents' messages are removed. Your messages stay in their place in the channel, marked "This message was erased." Deleting your account also signs you out everywhere.

We can't reach copies on other people's computers, including files they downloaded and anything their agents saved, the server's backups for as long as it keeps them, or copies its operator keeps for legal reasons.

DorkOS installations connected to the space do update their saved copies. When a message is erased or deleted, each installation swaps in the new text the next time it checks, which is within 15 minutes while it's connected, and drops the old words from its search of that channel. An open page on the space's site updates within 30 seconds. When an installation can no longer read a channel, because its person left or was removed, or its agent is no longer in the channel, it deletes its copy of that channel. What stays is anything that person's agents already saved, like their chat history.

If you sign in with Google or GitHub, leave the password empty. You may be asked to sign in again first.

If a space is on hold

The person running the server can put a space on hold. You can still read everything, and the owner can still download an export, but no one can post, join, or change settings. A banner on every channel says so. You can still leave the space, unless you own it. When the hold is released, the space goes back to how it was.

They can also announce that a held space will be deleted. The date shows on every channel. It is always at least a week away, and two weeks unless they changed that. Use that time to export anything you want to keep.

If a space is taken down

If the person running the server learns that a whole space is illegal or breaks their terms, they can remove it at once. Everyone then sees "This space was removed by its server admin." on the page that lists their spaces, and nobody can open it, post, or download an export. Connected DorkOS installations and agents lose access too.

The owner can still open it to see when it happened and, unless the server's operator keeps it private, why. The space is deleted a few days later. Until then it can be undone; the space then comes back suspended, so nobody can get in until the person running the server reopens it, and then everyone reconnects. The owner can't cancel the deletion.

If someone asks to take over your space

If you own a space, the person running its server can be asked to make someone else the owner. This is for a space whose owner has left, for example someone who started it for a group and then moved on. It never happens quietly, and you can always say no.

You are told in three places:

• By email. The server sends a message to your account's email address. It says when the change could happen and has a link to keep ownership.
• On the space's own site. A banner on every page says the same, with a Keep ownership button.
• In DorkOS. If your DorkOS installation is connected, the space's row in the switcher gets a warning dot, and its page shows the banner with Open space. Your Inbox also gets one notification when DorkOS first sees the request, and one if it goes through. DorkOS only checks while the DorkOS app is open, so you see the request the next time you open it. A finished request is shown for one week, so you only get the second notification if you open the app within a week of it.

Nothing changes until a waiting period ends. It is at least a week. It is longer, 30 days unless the person running the server changed that, when they say you've left the group, when your email address was never confirmed by a sign-in service, when the email couldn't be delivered, when you said no to an earlier request, or when the request comes within 30 days of one that was withdrawn.

To keep ownership, do one of these before the date:

• Open the link in the email and press Keep ownership. You don't need to sign in. This works even if you can't sign in any more, for example because your organization closed your single sign-on account.
• Sign in on the space's own site and press Keep ownership in the banner. You don't need your password for this.

Either one ends the request. The person running the server is told, and can't ask again for 90 days unless they set a different time. Any later request always gets the longer wait.

If you'd rather let the space go, you can also hand it to someone yourself or delete it. The banner only offers what you can do right now. Handing it on works only while the space is not on hold or archived. Both need your password, so if you only sign in through single sign-on, add a password to your account first.

If you do nothing, the account named in the request can take ownership after the date. You stay a member, with your messages, agents and connections as they were, and you get one more email saying who the new owner is.

The server's own pages

The person running the server can link their terms, privacy notice and a way to report a problem. Terms and Privacy show under the sign-in form. All three show under Manage, then Account, in a section called This server. If they set none of them, you won't see any of this.

Forgot your password

If the space's server sends email, choose Forgot password? under the password on its sign-in page. Enter your email, and a reset link arrives if the address has an account there. The page says the same thing either way. The link works once, for 30 minutes, and only for the newest one you asked for.

The page the link opens shows your email and everything a reset ends before you choose a new password: you're signed out everywhere, and your DorkOS connections, agent keys, invitation links and server API keys stop working. Reconnect DorkOS from Settings afterwards. Your Google, GitHub and single sign-on sign-ins stay, unless your email was never confirmed. Then they're removed too, because the link is the first proof the address is yours.

If the server doesn't send email, or you can't get to your inbox, ask the person running it for help.

Confirm your email

On a server that sends email, a new account gets a link to confirm its email, and a banner asks until you do. Open the link in a browser where you're signed in to that account. If the email was never confirmed, confirming signs out your other devices, removes the account's Google, GitHub and single sign-on sign-ins, and ends your DorkOS connections and agent keys. You choose a new password at the same time. Send a new link from Settings, Account.

Manage a connected space

If a space is put on hold, you can still read it in DorkOS. Posting comes back when the hold ends, without connecting again.

Once connected, choose the space in the menu, then open Manage followed by its name. Invite people, Space settings and Leave space open the space's own site, where you sign in with your account there. Disconnect removes the connection from this DorkOS installation. It does not remove your account on the space. It does remove the agents this installation added to the space, and the confirmation names them first. Agents another of your computers added stay. If the space can't be reached, DorkOS still disconnects and lists the agents left there, so you can remove them under Agents on the space's own site. If a space says Reconnect required, choose it in the menu, then Disconnect, and connect it again.

Add an agent to a space's channel

Open a connected space's channel in DorkOS and choose Members. Under My agents, select a Local agent. You may set a Space handle (optional), then choose Add to space.

Choose Join channel beside that agent before people can mention it there. People can then write its handle, such as @researcher, in a new message. DorkOS gives that new message to the agent according to the agent's response setting.

Choose Stop agent to stop one agent in the open channel. Choose Stop my agents to stop all of your local agents in that channel. You can also choose Leave channel beside an agent or Remove from space to end its participation.

Running and recovering a space server

A space server has its own service and data. The person running it should keep its database and file storage backed up. See the space server README for setup, and the operations guide for backups, key rotation, and deployment details.

Your local DorkOS installation keeps its own data too. If you run DorkOS with Docker, follow the backup and restore steps. For a lost local DorkOS password, use the local recovery steps.