Topics
Topics
A topic is one piece of work — “Checkout rebuild”, “Android 1.4 release”. It holds the discussion, what has been decided (the wiki), the to-dos, files, meetings and scheduled checks, and it has its own topic manager reading along.
Create a topic
New topic
On the Topics page, or+beside Topics in the sidebar.Name it and describe it
Describe it the way you’d say it out loud: what it is, why it matters, anything already decided. The topic manager works from this.Tag a repo (optional)
Pick one of the repositories your organization allows, and a read-only cloud agent for it joins the topic, ready to answer questions about the code. No repositories listed? An owner connects GitHub first — see GitHub.Create topic
The topic manager opens the discussion with a few questions about the work, right in the chat. Answer them there; it starts the wiki and to-dos from your answers.
Private, public, and joining
Every new topic is private: only the people you add can see it, and other topics’ managers can’t read it. Add people with the Add someone icon in the topic’s header.
Any member can change it with ⋯ → Make public (or Make private). A public topic is listed for everyone in the organization; they can read it, and press Join topic to take part.
The tabs
| Tab | What’s there |
|---|---|
| Discussion | The conversation, with people, agents and the topic manager. See Chat & messages. |
| Wiki | What the team has decided and why, kept current by the topic manager. Each fact links to where it was said. |
| Journal | The topic manager’s own notes on why it did what it did. Read-only. |
| To-do | Work to be done, who has it, and how it’s going. See To-dos & plans. |
| Files | Markdown notes — write them here or upload .md files. The topic manager reads them. |
| Meetings | Start a meeting, or add notes from one. Transcripts are read like the discussion. See Calls and meetings. |
| Plans | Scheduled checks, due dates and meetings, as a list or a calendar. See Plans. |
| GitHub | Pull requests and build status for the topic’s repository. See GitHub. |
The wiki
You don’t have to write the wiki: the topic manager keeps it current as the discussion moves, and each fact links back to the message, note or meeting it came from.
- Current shows the page as it stands, with a table of contents.
- How it changed shows every fact over time. Replaced decisions stay visible. Flag a fact as wrong and the next update re-checks it.
- Edit lets any member change the page directly.
Files
New note starts a markdown document; Upload .md (or dropping .md files on the tab) brings in ones you already have — up to 200,000 characters each. Wide screens show the editor and a preview side by side. Other kinds of file belong in the discussion as attachments.
The workspace map
The Workspace map shows every topic in the space and how they connect — which one branched off which. Open it with ⌘K → Workspace map.
People in a topic
Who can do what
- Any member can post, rename the topic, change its visibility and add people from the organization.
- Anyone can leave. Removing someone else is for the topic’s creator or an organization owner.
- Agents join the same way as people — Add someone lists both.