Containers

Containers

Containers are collaboration spaces that hold files, messages, and people. While files are the content, containers are the context — the "where" and "with whom" of your work.

Container Types

Workspaces

The top-level boundary. Everything lives inside a workspace.

Types:

• Personal — Just you. Your private files, your personal calendar, your DMs with others.
• Team — Shared workspace for a group. Files, channels, and collaboration.

What a workspace contains:

• Virtual drives with files
• Channels and DMs (team workspaces only)
• Calendar
• Members with roles (owner, admin, member)
• Settings, integrations, billing
• API keys and automations

Switching Workspaces:

• Sidebar workspace switcher
• Each workspace has its own URL (e.g., coline.app/acme)
• Cross-workspace DMs supported (personal network)

Virtual Drives

File storage containers within a workspace.

Common Drives:

• My Drive — Personal files (visible only to you)
• Team Drive — Shared files for the workspace
• Project Drives — Scoped to specific initiatives
• Archive Drive — Old files, retained but out of the way

Drive Properties:

• Name and description
• Icon and color
• Permission defaults
• Storage quota usage

Drive Permissions:

• Full access — Read, write, share, delete
• Edit — Read, write, create
• Comment — Read, add comments
• View — Read only
• No access — Can't see or access

Sharing Models:

• Private drive — Explicit invites required
• Workspace drive — All workspace members get default access
• Public drive — Anyone with link (rare, admin-controlled)

Channels

Persistent collaboration spaces for teams.

Types:

• Public — Open to all workspace members. Anyone can join, read history, and participate.
• Private — Invite-only. Members must be explicitly added. Non-members can't see the channel exists.

Channel Components:

Messages

• Threaded conversations
• Rich text, mentions, attachments
• Reactions and pins
• Voice and video calls

Tabs Every channel has customizable tabs:

• Messages — Default conversation view
• Files — Display any file directly in the channel
• Folders — Browse drive folders without leaving
• Custom — Any file type as a tab

Example channel setup for an engineering team:

• Messages (team chat)
• Sprint Board (taskboard file)
• Bugs (folder of bug reports)
• Runbooks (doc with operational procedures)

Channel Features:

• Slug — Clean URL (e.g., /channels/engineering)
• Topic — Short description shown in header
• Description — Long-form purpose statement
• Archive — Retire inactive channels (recoverable)
• Leave — Exit channel (except last member)

Availability: Channels are team workspaces only. Personal workspaces don't have channels — they use DMs for all messaging.

DMs (Direct Messages)

Private conversations between two or more people.

Types:

• 1:1 — Two people
• Group DM — 3-8 people

DM Properties:

• Private by design — no visibility to workspace admins
• Persistent history
• File sharing
• Voice and video calls
• Cross-workspace supported (personal network)

DM vs. Private Channel:

When to use DMs:

• Personal check-ins
• Sensitive 1:1 feedback
• Quick coordination with a few people
• Cross-workspace communication

When to use private channels:

• Team projects with changing membership
• Sensitive topics that need audit trail
• Long-running confidential work
• HR, legal, executive discussions

Calendar Events

Scheduled containers with date, time, and participants.

Event Components:

• Date/time — Start, end, timezone, recurrence
• Invitees — Required and optional attendees
• Location — Physical place or video call link
• Description — Agenda, context, preparation
• Files — Attachments and pre-reads
• Message thread — Pre/post event discussion
• Voice call — Built-in or external conference

Event Types:

• Meeting — Scheduled discussion
• Focus time — Blocked personal work time
• Reminder — Deadline or notification
• Out of office — Availability indicator

Event Features:

• Availability — See when people are free/busy
• Scheduling — Find mutual availability
• Recurrence — Weekly standups, monthly reviews
• Notifications — Reminders before events
• Join — One-click entry to voice/video

Calendar Views:

• Day, week, month, agenda
• Overlay multiple calendars
• Filter by event type
• Show/hide declined events

Integration:

• Export to external calendars (Google, Outlook)
• Import external events
• Sync availability

Container Relationships

Files Live in Multiple Places

A single file can appear in:

• Drive — Primary storage location
• Channel tabs — Referenced in collaboration spaces
• Calendar attachments — Linked to events
• DM shared files — Referenced in conversations

The file has one canonical location (its drive) but many access points.

Nesting and Hierarchy

Workspace > Drive > Folder > File

Workspaces contain drives. Drives contain folders. Folders contain files.

Workspace > Channel > Messages/Files

Workspaces contain channels. Channels contain messages and references to files.

Workspace > Calendar > Events

Workspaces have calendars. Calendars contain events. Events reference files and people.

Cross-Cutting: DMs

DMs span workspaces in your personal network. A DM with someone from another workspace appears in both your personal workspaces.

Permission Inheritance

Permissions flow downward:

1. Workspace access — Can you access the workspace at all?
2. Container access — Can you see this drive/channel/calendar?
3. File access — Can you read/edit this specific file?

Granular permissions override general ones. If you have workspace access but a file is explicitly restricted, you can't access the file.

Container Discovery

Finding Channels

Public channels:

• Browse channel list
• Search by name or topic
• See member count and recent activity

Private channels:

• Must be invited
• Can see existence (member, not content)
• Request access via channel settings

Finding DMs

• Recent DMs in sidebar
• Search by participant name
• Start new DM from user profile

Finding Files

• Drive browser
• Search (across all accessible files)
• Channel file tabs
• Recent files
• Starred files

Finding Events

• Calendar views
• Upcoming events list
• Search by title or participant
• Availability finder

Container Limits

Container Best Practices

Channels

Do:

• Create channels for topics, not teams ("api-redesign" not "backend-team")
• Set a topic that explains the channel's purpose
• Use threads for side conversations
• Archive channels when the topic concludes

Don't:

• Create too many channels (fragmentation)
• Use private channels for general work
• Leave channels unused (clutter)

DMs

Do:

• Move ongoing team coordination to a channel
• Use group DMs for quick coordination (< 8 people)
• Cross-workspace DMs for external collaborators

Don't:

• Add/remove people from DMs (creates new conversation)
• Use DMs for work that needs audit trail
• Keep sensitive decisions in DMs (no visibility)

Calendar

Do:

• Set agendas in descriptions
• Attach pre-read files
• Mark focus time as "busy"
• Decline events you won't attend

Don't:

• Double-book without notifying
• Create vague titles ("Meeting")
• Forget timezones for remote attendees

Next Steps

• Files — The content inside containers
• Permissions — Access control across containers
• Channels User Guide — How to use channels effectively