Team Collaboration

Enable team collaboration with Meshery workspaces and shared resources

Meshery provides powerful collaboration features through workspaces, enabling teams to work together on infrastructure designs, share resources, and manage access across environments.

Understanding Workspaces

Workspaces are collaborative spaces that group:

• Designs - Infrastructure patterns and configurations
• Environments - Cluster connections and deployment targets
• Team Members - Users with different permission levels
• Resources - Shared components and configurations

Workspaces enable:

• Team collaboration on designs
• Shared access to environments
• Role-based access control
• Organizational separation

Workspace Architecture

Organization
├── Workspace: Platform Team
│   ├── Members: [e-mail] (admin), [e-mail] (editor)
│   ├── Designs: kubernetes-base, monitoring-stack
│   └── Environments: production, staging
│
├── Workspace: Application Team
│   ├── Members: [e-mail] (admin), [e-mail] (viewer)
│   ├── Designs: web-app, api-service
│   └── Environments: development, staging
│
└── Workspace: Security Team
    ├── Members: [e-mail] (admin)
    ├── Designs: network-policies, security-baselines
    └── Environments: all (read-only)

Creating Workspaces

1. Create Organization

   Workspaces belong to organizations:

   1. Navigate to Settings → Organizations
   2. Click Create Organization
   3. Provide:
      • Name: Your organization name
      • Description: Purpose and scope
   4. Save organization
2. Create Workspace

   Via UI:

   1. Navigate to Workspaces
   2. Click Create Workspace
   3. Configure workspace:
      • Name: Descriptive name (e.g., “Platform Engineering”)
      • Description: Team purpose and responsibilities
      • Organization: Select parent organization
   4. Click Create

   Via API:

   curl -X POST http://localhost:9081/api/workspaces \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{
       "name": "Platform Engineering",
       "description": "Infrastructure and platform services",
       "organization_id": "<org-uuid>"
     }'
   
3. Configure Workspace

   Set up workspace resources:

   1. Add Environments - Link deployment targets
   2. Import Designs - Add existing patterns
   3. Invite Members - Add team members
   4. Set Permissions - Configure access control

Managing Team Members

1. Invite Members

   Add users to workspace:

   1. Open workspace settings
   2. Navigate to Members tab
   3. Click Invite Member
   4. Enter email address
   5. Select role (see roles below)
   6. Send invitation

   Invited users receive email with access link.

2. Assign Roles

   Workspace roles:

   Admin

   Full Control

   • Manage workspace settings
   • Invite/remove members
   • Create/delete designs
   • Deploy to all environments
   • Modify environment associations

   Editor

   Read/Write Access

   • Create and modify designs
   • Deploy to assigned environments
   • View workspace resources
   • Cannot manage members
   • Cannot delete workspace

   Viewer

   Read-Only Access

   • View designs and configurations
   • Browse workspace resources
   • Cannot modify anything
   • Cannot deploy
   • Good for auditors, stakeholders
3. Manage Permissions

   Update member permissions:

   1. Open workspace Members
   2. Select member
   3. Change role via dropdown
   4. Save changes

   Permission changes take effect immediately.

Sharing Designs

Creating Shared Designs

1. Create in Workspace Context

   Ensure workspace is active:

   1. Select workspace from dropdown (top navigation)
   2. Navigate to Designs
   3. Click Create Design
   4. Design is automatically associated with workspace
2. Design Collaboration

   Multiple team members can:

   • View the same design simultaneously
   • See real-time updates
   • Make concurrent edits (last write wins)
   • Comment and annotate
3. Import Existing Designs

   Add designs to workspace:

   # Import and associate with workspace
   mesheryctl design import -f infrastructure.yaml \
     --workspace "Platform Engineering"
   

   Or via UI:

   1. Navigate to workspace Designs
   2. Click Import
   3. Upload file or provide URL

Design Access Control

# Design with workspace association
name: shared-infrastructure
metadata:
  workspace_id: "<workspace-uuid>"
  created_by: "[e-mail]"
  visibility: "workspace"  # or "organization", "public"
services:
  # ... design components

Visibility levels:

• workspace - Only workspace members
• organization - All org workspaces
• public - Published to catalog

Environment Collaboration

Associating Environments

1. Link Environments to Workspace

   1. Open workspace settings
   2. Navigate to Environments tab
   3. Click Add Environment
   4. Select from available environments:
      • production
      • staging
      • development
   5. Set access level (read/write)
   6. Save association
2. Configure Environment Access

   Control deployment permissions:

   Role	Production	Staging	Development
   Admin	Deploy	Deploy	Deploy
   Editor	Review	Deploy	Deploy
   Viewer	View	View	View

   Customize per environment as needed.

3. Multi-Environment Deployments

   Teams can deploy across assigned environments:

   # Deploy to staging (editor access)
   mesheryctl design apply -f app.yaml \
     --workspace "Platform Engineering" \
     --environment staging
   
   # Deploy to production (admin only)
   mesheryctl design apply -f app.yaml \
     --workspace "Platform Engineering" \
     --environment production
   

Collaborative Workflows

Design Review Process

1. Create Feature Design

   Developer creates new design:

   1. Select workspace
   2. Create design: “feature-x-infrastructure”
   3. Build design in canvas
   4. Save draft
2. Request Review

   Mark design for review:

   1. Add comment: “@reviewer Ready for review”
   2. Change status to “Review”
   3. Notify team members
3. Review and Approve

   Team reviews design:

   1. Reviewer opens design
   2. Validates against policies
   3. Checks best practices
   4. Adds comments or approves
4. Deploy to Dev

   After approval:

   1. Deploy to development environment
   2. Test functionality
   3. Iterate if needed
5. Promote to Production

   Admin deploys to production:

   1. Verify successful dev deployment
   2. Run final validation
   3. Deploy to production environment
   4. Monitor rollout

Version Control Integration

Integrate with Git workflows:

1. Export Workspace Designs

   # Export all workspace designs
   mkdir -p designs/
   mesheryctl design list --workspace "Platform Engineering" | \
     while read design; do
       mesheryctl design view "$design" > "designs/${design}.yaml"
     done
   
2. Commit to Git

   git add designs/
   git commit -m "Update infrastructure designs"
   git push origin feature/new-infrastructure
   
3. Create Pull Request

   1. Open PR for team review
   2. Team reviews changes in Git
   3. Merge after approval
4. Sync Back to Meshery

   # Import updated designs
   git pull
   for file in designs/*.yaml; do
     mesheryctl design import -f "$file" \
       --workspace "Platform Engineering"
   done
   

Managing Workspace Resources

Workspace Dashboard

View workspace activity:

1. Recent Designs - Latest created/modified designs
2. Active Deployments - Current deployments across environments
3. Team Activity - Member actions and changes
4. Resource Usage - Cluster resource consumption
5. Policy Violations - Design validation issues

Resource Quotas

Control workspace resource usage:

# Workspace resource limits
resource_quotas:
  max_designs: 100
  max_environments: 10
  max_members: 50
  max_deployments_per_day: 20

Communication and Notifications

Activity Feed

Workspace activity feed shows:

• Design creation and modifications
• Deployments and rollbacks
• Member additions and removals
• Policy violations
• Environment changes

Notification Settings

Configure notifications:

1. User Preferences

   Set personal notification preferences:

   1. Navigate to Settings → Notifications
   2. Configure:
      • Email notifications (on/off)
      • In-app notifications (on/off)
      • Notification frequency (real-time, digest)
2. Workspace Alerts

   Subscribe to workspace events:

   • ✅ Design deployments
   • ✅ Policy violations
   • ✅ Environment changes
   • ❌ Every design edit (too noisy)
3. Integration Webhooks

   Send notifications to external systems:

   # Configure Slack webhook
   curl -X POST http://localhost:9081/api/workspaces/<id>/webhooks \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{
       "url": "https://hooks.slack.com/services/xxx",
       "events": ["deployment.success", "deployment.failure", "policy.violation"]
     }'
   

Workspace Administration

Workspace Settings

General

Basic workspace configuration:

• Name: Update workspace name
• Description: Edit description
• Organization: Change parent org
• Visibility: Public/private

Members

Team management:

• Invite new members
• Change member roles
• Remove members
• View member activity

Environments

Environment associations:

• Add/remove environments
• Set environment permissions
• Configure deployment policies

Policies

Workspace-specific policies:

• Enable/disable policies
• Set enforcement levels
• Create custom policies
• View policy results

Transferring Ownership

1. Promote New Admin

   1. Current admin opens workspace Members
   2. Select new owner
   3. Change role to Admin
2. Transfer Resources

   Move designs and configurations:

   # Export from old workspace
   mesheryctl design export --workspace "Old Workspace" > designs.yaml
   
   # Import to new workspace
   mesheryctl design import -f designs.yaml --workspace "New Workspace"
   
3. Update Member Access

   Adjust permissions in new workspace:

   1. Review member list
   2. Update roles as needed
   3. Remove departing members

Archiving Workspaces

Archiving a workspace:

• Removes member access
• Preserves designs (read-only)
• Stops deployments
• Can be restored by admins

# Archive workspace
curl -X POST http://localhost:9081/api/workspaces/<id>/archive

# Restore archived workspace
curl -X POST http://localhost:9081/api/workspaces/<id>/restore

Best Practices

Workspace Organization

Team-Based Structure:

Organization: Acme Corp
├── Platform Team Workspace
│   └── Base infrastructure, shared services
├── Frontend Team Workspace
│   └── UI applications, CDN configs
├── Backend Team Workspace
│   └── APIs, databases, message queues
└── Security Team Workspace
    └── Policies, compliance, monitoring

Environment-Based Structure:

Organization: Acme Corp
├── Production Workspace
│   └── Admin-only, strict policies
├── Staging Workspace
│   └── Team leads, mirrors production
└── Development Workspace
    └── All developers, experimental

Access Control

• Principle of Least Privilege: Grant minimum required access
• Regular Audits: Review member access quarterly
• Offboarding: Remove access immediately when members leave
• Service Accounts: Use dedicated accounts for automation

Design Management

• Naming Conventions: Use clear, consistent names
• Documentation: Add descriptions to all designs
• Version Control: Commit designs to Git
• Cleanup: Archive unused designs

Communication

• Clear Descriptions: Document workspace purpose
• Onboarding Docs: Create workspace guides for new members
• Change Notifications: Announce major changes
• Regular Syncs: Hold team meetings to review workspace activity

Troubleshooting

Access Issues

Symptom: User cannot access workspace

Solutions:

1. Verify user is invited and accepted invitation
2. Check user role has required permissions
3. Ensure workspace is not archived
4. Verify organization membership

Design Not Visible

Symptom: Design doesn’t appear in workspace

Solutions:

1. Check design workspace association
2. Verify user has viewer or higher role
3. Ensure design is not deleted
4. Refresh UI

Deployment Failures

Symptom: Cannot deploy to environment

Solutions:

1. Verify environment is associated with workspace
2. Check user role has deployment permissions
3. Validate design against policies
4. Ensure cluster connection is active

Next Steps

• Set up Multi-Cluster Management for team
• Enforce team standards with OPA Policies
• Build shared Design Patterns
• Integrate Infrastructure Management workflows