# Workspace mode and limits Choose one workspace per person or shared team workspaces, who may create and invite, the roles on offer and the caps, in the console without code. Decide whether each of your users gets one workspace of their own or teams share workspaces, who may create workspaces and invite people, and how big a workspace can get. You set it once in the console, on **Workspace configuration**. Your app reads it through the SDK, so a change needs no deploy: the [switcher](/workspaces/workspace-switcher), the [members screen](/workspaces/managing-members) and the server all follow the same settings. This guide sets up Acme Analytics, an app teams share. > **Note:** A console role that can update the organization's settings, for the mode and its overrides, and one that can update workspace settings, for the roles, limits and permissions ([team and roles](/console/team-and-roles)). Platform mode needs a BuildBase plan that includes it, and adding roles needs room in your plan's custom workspace roles. ## Set it up in the console [Open Workspace configuration in the console](https://console.buildbase.app/dashboard/admin/workspaces/settings) 1. Open [https://console.buildbase.app](https://console.buildbase.app). In the left rail choose **Users**, then **Settings** under **Workspaces**. The page is **Workspace configuration**, and **Workspace settings** on it holds every section below. ![The Workspace configuration page, with the Settings menu item under Workspaces highlighted as step 1: Mode with Current Personal, the Personal and Platform cards, Advanced overrides, and Roles and Limits marked Not applicable and Fixed in Personal mode](/images/workspaces/workspace-settings/page.webp) 2. Under **Mode**, choose **Personal** or **Platform** ([which to choose](#personal-or-platform)). A table then shows each setting the switch changes, from the current mode to the new one. ![The Mode section: Current Personal, the Platform card highlighted as step 2, and the table Workspace creation, Invite members, Workspace switcher and Max workspaces/user, each marked changed between Personal and Platform](/images/workspaces/workspace-settings/mode.webp) 3. Press **Switch to Platform** (or **Switch to Personal**). It saves the mode on its own. A switch only affects new users: existing workspaces and their data stay. ![Personal, an arrow and Platform, and the Switch to Platform button highlighted as step 3](/images/workspaces/workspace-settings/switch.webp) 4. Optional: turn on **Advanced overrides** to change the mode's settings one by one ([what each does](#advanced-overrides)). **Can invite members** is the one most apps change, to **Admin only**. Press **Save overrides**. ![Advanced overrides switched on: Can create workspace Everyone, Can invite members Everyone highlighted as step 4, Show workspace switcher and Auto-create first workspace on, Max workspaces per user 0, and the Save overrides button](/images/workspaces/workspace-settings/overrides.webp) 5. Under **Roles**, press **Add role** and type its name, such as `support`. Pick the **Default role**: the one an invite starts with, and the one given to anyone who joins without a role. ![The Roles section: admin, editor and viewer marked System, a new role support, the Add role button highlighted as step 5, and Default role viewer below](/images/workspaces/workspace-settings/roles.webp) 6. Under **Limits**, set **Max workspaces** (per person, 2 to 1,000) and **Max members per workspace** (2 to 10,000). ![The Limits section: Max workspaces 10, and Max members per workspace 25 highlighted as step 6](/images/workspaces/workspace-settings/limits.webp) 7. Press **Save roles & limits**, at the bottom of **Workspace settings**. It saves the roles, the default role and both limits together. ![The Save permissions button, and below it the Save roles & limits button highlighted as step 7](/images/workspaces/workspace-settings/save-roles.webp) 8. Under **Permissions**, switch on what each role may do, and press **Save permissions**. A new role starts with what **editor** may do. The grid and your own permissions are in [permissions and roles](/permissions/overview). ![The Permissions section: Your app's permissions with Add permission, then the grid of permissions under Settings, Members, Features, Billing and Usage for Admin, Editor, Viewer and Support, and the Save permissions button highlighted as step 8](/images/workspaces/workspace-settings/permissions.webp) 9. Read **Change history**, below the card: each save, newest first, with who made it and what it changed. ![Change history: the newest entry, by Alex Morgan just now, highlighted as step 9, with Roles admin, editor, viewer, support, Max workspaces 10 and Max users 25](/images/workspaces/workspace-settings/history.webp) ## Personal or Platform Pick the mode that matches your app. It's a preset: it fills in five settings at once. In Platform mode you can change any of them afterwards. In Personal mode the preset holds, with one exception: invitations for admins only. | Mode | For | Each person | | ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Personal** | Apps one person uses on their own, such as a writing tool or a tracker | Gets exactly one workspace of their own, with no team invites | | **Platform** | Apps teams share, such as a chat tool or a project tracker | Creates and joins any number of workspaces, and invites people | | Setting | Personal | Platform | | ----------------------------- | -------- | --------- | | Users may create workspaces | No | Yes | | Members may invite | No | Everyone | | Show the workspace switcher | No | Yes | | Workspaces one person may own | 1 | Unlimited | | A workspace on first sign-in | Yes | Yes | A new organization starts in **Personal**. **Platform** needs a BuildBase plan that includes it, and switching to it is refused on a plan without it. Two rules make sure a switch never loses anyone's data: - An organization already in Platform stays there, and can still edit its own settings, if its plan later drops it. - Switching to Personal is refused while anyone owns more than one workspace. The console says how many people do. A Personal workspace still has a plan, but in a consumer app you usually sell the plan to the person instead: see [users and workspaces](/billing/users-and-workspaces). ## Advanced overrides Turn on **Advanced overrides** to change the preset's settings one by one. Turning it off puts the mode's preset back. | Setting | Choices | What it does | | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Can create workspace** | Everyone, or Disabled | Whether users may create workspaces themselves. The first one, made for them when they first sign in, is not affected | | **Can invite members** | Everyone, Admin only, Disabled | Whether members may send [invitations](/workspaces/invitations). With Admin only, each member's role decides | | **Show workspace switcher** | On or off | Whether the switcher shows in your app | | **Auto-create first workspace** | On or off | Whether a new user lands in a workspace of their own on their first sign-in. Turn it off for an invite-only app, where a new user starts with their pending invitations | | **Max workspaces per user** | 0 to 100, 0 for no cap | How many workspaces one person may own | In Personal mode, letting users create workspaces, showing the switcher, more than one workspace per person, turning off the first workspace and invitations for Everyone are all refused. Invitations for admins only need a plan that includes Platform, because invitations are what make a workspace shared. If your invitations are already on, you keep the control. ## Roles and limits Roles decide what each member can do inside a workspace. They're not used in Personal mode, where each person is alone in their workspace. **Roles** lists the roles a member can hold. `admin`, `editor` and `viewer` are built in, and you can add your own. **Default role** is the one an invite starts with and the one given to someone who joins without a role chosen: `viewer`, unless you pick another. It is never `admin`: choose admin on the invite itself. Below it, the permission grid sets what each role may do, with your own permissions beside BuildBase's: see [permissions and roles](/permissions/overview). Two limits stop workspaces growing past what you allow: | Limit | What it caps | Range | | ----------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- | | **Max workspaces** | How many workspaces a user may belong to and still create another | 2 to 1,000 | | **Max members per workspace** | How many people one workspace may hold | 2 to 10,000 | In Personal mode both are fixed at one. A workspace at its member limit turns away one more member, whether they come by invitation, a direct add or a company's [single sign-on](/authentication/enterprise-sso). Your BuildBase plan has limits of its own too, and whichever is tighter wins. Paid seats are a separate limit again, set by the workspace's plan: see [managing members](/workspaces/managing-members#checking-seat-availability). ## Change history The bottom of the page lists every save: who changed what, and when. An entry names the roles, the default role, the two limits, and down to which role gained or lost which permission. A mode switch shows as the limits it changed. Changes to one workspace's permissions, and to a member's role, are logged against that workspace. ## One workspace at a time **Workspaces** in the console lists every workspace in your app. Open one to see its members, invitations, features, quotas, credits and plan: see [looking up a customer's workspace](/workspaces/console-workspaces). ## Check it works Sign in to your app as a test user. In Platform mode with the preset, the [switcher](/workspaces/workspace-switcher) shows with a way to create a workspace, and the [members screen](/workspaces/managing-members) has an invite form. Switch **Can invite members** to **Disabled**, save, and reload your app: the invite form is gone. ## Things to watch out for - **Three buttons save three things.** **Switch to ...** or **Save overrides** saves the mode, **Save roles & limits** the roles and limits, and **Save permissions** the grid. A change in one section is not saved by another's button. - **Switching to Personal is refused while anyone owns more than one workspace.** The console says how many people do. - **A role cannot be removed while anything depends on it.** The built-in roles stay; the default role is refused with "Choose another default role before removing it."; a role members hold is refused with how many still have it, "Give them another role before removing it." - **Invitations off stops role changes too.** With **Can invite members** on **Disabled**, members stay listed and can be removed, but no one can be added or given a new role ([invitations](/workspaces/invitations#modes)). - **Invitations in Personal mode.** Turning them on for everyone is refused with "Cannot enable invites in Personal mode. Use Platform mode for team features."; for admins only, it needs a plan that includes Platform. ## Next Steps - [Looking up a workspace](/workspaces/console-workspaces) - one customer's workspace, members and plan. - [Invitations](/workspaces/invitations) - how invitations behave in each mode. - [Managing members](/workspaces/managing-members) - roles, seats and the members screen. - [Permissions and roles](/permissions/overview) - the permission matrix and your own permissions.