Collaborators
Let other people deploy and operate your app.
On this page
Collaborators are DeepSpace users the app owner authorizes to work on the app. Ownership never moves: the deployed worker keeps the owner's identity and billing. Authorization keys to the app's immutable DEEPSPACE_APP_ID, so there is no per-resource grant and no link step.
Managing collaborators#
All four subcommands are owner-only. Run them from the app checkout, or pass --app <id or name>.
npx deepspace app collaborators list
npx deepspace app collaborators add teammate@example.com
npx deepspace app collaborators cancel teammate@example.com
npx deepspace app collaborators remove teammate@example.com
list prints two sections - current collaborators, and any live invites with their expiry. With --json you get { collaborators, pending }.
Adding someone#
add has two paths, depending on whether the email already belongs to a DeepSpace user.
The email is an existing DeepSpace user
They become a collaborator immediately. The command prints ✓ <email> can now deploy <app>.
The email has no DeepSpace account yet
The server creates a pending invite and emails the person a /join/<token> link. The invite is billed to you as a transactional email, and expires after 7 days.
They must open that link, sign in with the invited address, and explicitly accept. Signing in to DeepSpace some other way does not grant access.
Re-running add while an invite is still live returns already_invited: no second email is sent and you are not charged again. To reset an invite, cancel it and then add again.
Failures you may see#
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
test_account_cannot_be_collaborator | @deepspace.test accounts can never be collaborators. Use a real account. |
insufficient_credits | Inviting a brand-new email sends a billed transactional email. Top up and retry. |
invite_email_failed | Transient - the invite email could not be sent. You were not charged; the pending row is rolled back. Retry in a moment. |
no_pending_invite | cancel was given an email with no live invite. |
not_a_collaborator | remove was given an email that isn't on the app. |
What a collaborator can and can't do#
| Action | Allowed |
|---|---|
deploy (including --env) | Yes - on-behalf. Billing stays with the owner. |
dev start / test run | Yes |
secrets list / get / download / pull | Yes - every config in the app's store |
secrets set / upload / delete, configs create / delete | Yes - writes are audited under the collaborator's own id |
app undeploy | No - owner (or platform admin) only |
app transfer offer | No - owner only |
app collaborators add / remove / cancel | No - owner only |
app source (change source authority) | No - owner only |
A collaborator who is the named recipient of an ownership transfer may accept it - but as that recipient, not through the collaborator role.
On-behalf deploys#
When a collaborator deploys, the CLI prints Deployed on behalf of owner <id>. The release ships their code plus the store's secrets, and is attributed to the owner for billing. Nothing about ownership changes.
Getting started as a collaborator#
You don't need to link or claim anything. The app's wrangler.toml already carries its DEEPSPACE_APP_ID, which is the whole authorization key.
Get the code
npx deepspace clone <app-name>
cd <app-name>
npm install
Or clone the GitHub repo if the app uses GitHub source.
Sign in
npx deepspace auth login
Work normally
npx deepspace dev start
npx deepspace test run
npx deepspace deploy
No linking step. Access is resolved from the app id on every request.
If you actually wanted your own separate copy rather than to collaborate, run npx deepspace app init --new-id to fork the checkout into a distinct app with fresh data and a fresh secrets store.
Revoking access#
npx deepspace app collaborators remove teammate@example.com
Removal takes effect immediately for authorization: the next deploy, secrets, or dev call from that user is refused with a 403 Not the app owner or a collaborator.
To rescind an invite that was never accepted, use cancel rather than remove - the person is not a collaborator yet, so remove refuses with not_a_collaborator.
Troubleshooting#
403 Not the app owner or a collaborator on deploy or secrets. Either you were never added, your access was revoked, or you are signed in as a different account than the one that was invited. Check with npx deepspace auth whoami.
The invitee never got the email. Confirm the invite is live with collaborators list. If a pending row exists but no email arrived, cancel <email> and then add again - a re-add against a live row short-circuits without sending.
See also#
- Command reference:
app collaborators - Deployment - what a release actually contains
- Permissions - in-app roles, which are a separate system