A workspace is the folder on your computer where DataMind Oda saves and changes files, and every chat belongs to one. This page shows how to add a workspace, choose one for a chat, rename, reorder or remove one from the sidebar, and what Oda may do inside it; Choose a workspace folder covers the folder chooser, and Pin, rename, fork or archive a chat covers the chats and their menus.
Add a workspace
In the sidebar, choose Add workspace, in the Workspaces section header; in a collapsed sidebar it is a small button.
The folder chooser opens. Pick the folder you want Oda to work in; Choose a workspace folder covers the chooser itself.
Oda adds the workspace at the top of the list, named after its folder, and opens a new chat in it.
Oda accepts a whole drive or an ordinary folder. A relative path, a folder that is missing, and a file are turned down, and nothing is created for them.
If the folder already has a workspace, Oda selects the one you have instead of adding a second.
If Oda cannot open the folder you picked, the dialog reads Couldn’t open folder with the reason the computer gave; choose Choose again to pick another folder.
The Add workspace control appears only when folder picking is available in your copy of Oda. If folder picking is not available, the control is not shown.
Use a separate folder for each project or kind of work: each chat belongs to one workspace, so Oda's changes stay in that folder.
Choose a workspace for a chat
When a chat has no folder yet, the workspace picker lists what you can choose from, with Loading workspaces… shown until the list is ready.
Choose an existing workspace to use it for this chat.
Choose Add workspace… to open the folder chooser and use the folder you pick. With workspaces listed it sits at the end of the picker; when you have none yet, the same control opens the folder chooser straight away.
Two folders whose names match appear as two workspaces, listed separately; choose the entry you want.
While the folder chooser is open, or while Oda is applying the folder you picked, the other actions in the picker are unavailable until it finishes.
How chats join workspaces
A chat joins the workspace of the folder it runs in, and it can belong to only one workspace.
A chat whose folder cannot be found, for example after the folder is moved or deleted, is shown under Ungrouped and keeps its history.
On a fresh install, Oda sets up a Default workspace by itself only when the list is empty and you have no chats yet, and reuses it on later starts.
A new chat starts in the workspace you used last; if none has been used yet, it takes the most recently updated one.
To start a chat in a particular workspace, point at its row and choose New session in <name>.
The sidebar's sections
New chat at the top starts a chat in the workspace you are in.
Pinned holds the chats you pinned, from every workspace and from Ungrouped. It sits above the workspaces and appears only while something is pinned; a pinned chat shows here and nowhere else.
Sections from other features, such as Scheduled for scheduled tasks, can appear between Pinned and Workspaces.
Workspaces lists your workspaces with their chats. With Group by set to One list it becomes a single Chats list; Group, order and filter chats covers the view options.
Ungrouped collects the chats that belong to no workspace.
Each section header folds, and Oda remembers what you folded. Each workspace and the Pinned section show five idle chats at a time; chats that are running, and the blank New Session row of the chat you are in, stay visible beyond those five. Your chats in the sidebar covers the paging controls, Show N more and Show less. Long chat and workspace names end in an ellipsis.
Move chats and workspaces
Drag a chat to the place it should take, or onto another workspace to move it there.
Drag a workspace row to reorder the workspace groups.
The blank New Session row keeps the first slot and cannot be dragged. Once the chat has its first message, it moves like the others.
While chats arrive or move, the list animates; if your computer is set to reduce motion, it changes without animation.
Rename a workspace
Open the workspace row's ... menu (its name reads Workspace actions for <name>) and choose Rename.
In the Rename workspace dialog, edit the Workspace name field; it opens with the current name filled in.
Choose Rename, or press Enter, to save. Closing the dialog without saving changes nothing.
You cannot save while the name is empty, unchanged from the current one, or already used by another workspace, or while the previous save is still running.
A name another workspace already uses shows A workspace named “Beta” already exists.
If saving fails, the dialog stays open with the message; change the name to clear it and try again.
Delete a workspace
Open the workspace row's ... menu and choose Delete workspace.
The Delete workspace dialog explains what happens: This removes “<name>” from the workspace list. The folder and session logs will be kept. Its sessions will appear under Ungrouped.
Confirm the removal. The dialog shows Deleting workspace… while it is applied, and closes once the workspace has left the list.
Note
Removing a workspace takes off only its entry in Oda's list; the folder, its files and the chat logs stay on your computer. It cannot be undone.
Adding the same folder again starts a new workspace; the chats that belonged to the old one stay under Ungrouped.
If the removal fails, the dialog keeps the message and you can try again. Closing the dialog leaves your list as it is.
Access modes inside a workspace
The access mode of a chat decides where Oda may change files and what it may do without asking you. Reading is not limited: in every mode, Oda can read the files on your computer that your account can open.
A mode bundles two settings: how far Oda may change files, and whether steps that go wider ask you first. Change it in the message box: click the button that shows the current mode, for example Workspace Write, and choose another. You can also switch by typing /permission, or set the mode new chats start in under Settings > General > Permission. Permission presets covers what each mode bundles, the confirmations, and how your choice is remembered.
Mode
What Oda may do
Read Only
Read files and look things up. It asks before any change, and nothing is written, not even temporary files.
Workspace Write
Create and change files in the workspace, and use the temporary areas the system gives the chat. It asks before changing anything outside. This is the default.
Full access
Act without asking, including changes outside the workspace and commands with more rights.
The mode belongs to a chat: a change applies from the next step that touches files, and that chat keeps the mode, including after you restart Oda. Your other chats keep their own modes, a chat with no choice of its own uses the mode set as the default, and if your company narrows the modes you may pick, chats fall back to the widest mode still allowed.
Full access appears in the list only while your DataMind OS account holds the Use DataMind Oda Full Access Mode permission, and it asks you to acknowledge the risks before it turns on. Use it only for work you trust. If the permission is removed, Full access leaves the list and chats that used it return to the default. Manage DataMind Oda for your company shows where that permission is given. Where your Oda offers it, the experimental Auto review mode also runs without the file limits, while a model checks each step before it runs.
Steps that go wider than the mode ask you first; Your first task shows the choices on the approval card.
When Oda cannot limit a step at all, it does not run it without limits quietly: it asks you to allow that one step, or the step stays undone. Oda also reports how completely a step could be limited, and some protections on Windows are partial. When Oda needs more access covers the prompts.
To see the workspace files, open the side panel and choose Workspace files; Browse workspace files covers the tree and the previews, and The side panel covers the panel itself.
After a turn that changed files, the chat shows the changed-files card, headed Edited {count} files, with the list of files. Choose Review this turn's changes in the sidebar to open the comparison beside the chat and see what changed in each file, line by line. Review changed files covers the comparison view and what Oda keeps.
Questions, answered
Why can't I see Add workspace?
If the control is not shown at all, folder picking is not available in your copy of Oda, so there is no folder chooser to open. Separately, while a chooser is open or Oda is applying the folder you picked, the other actions are unavailable until it finishes. Choose a workspace folder covers how picking works.
Can the same folder be a workspace twice?
No. When you choose a folder that already has a workspace, Oda selects the one you have instead of adding a second. Two different folders whose names match do become two workspaces with the same title, and the picker lists them as separate entries.
Does the workspace name follow the folder on disk?
No. The name in Oda's list is kept separately from the folder on your computer, so renaming the folder does not rename the workspace. Use Rename in the workspace's ... menu to change the name shown in Oda.
Why can't I save my new workspace name?
The Rename workspace dialog refuses a name that is empty, unchanged from the current one, or already used by another workspace (A workspace named “Beta” already exists.), and it locks the field while the rename is being saved. If the save fails, the dialog stays open with the message; change the name to clear it and try again.
The pick failed with Couldn’t open folder. What now?
Oda could not open the folder you picked, and the dialog shows the reason the computer gave. Choose Choose again to pick another folder, or close the dialog to stop; nothing changes until a folder is picked successfully. Cancelling the chooser itself is silent: no dialog appears and nothing happens.
Does removing a workspace delete the folder or my chats?
No. Removing a workspace takes off only its entry in Oda's list. The folder and its files stay where they are, the chat logs are kept, and the workspace's chats move under Ungrouped. The removal cannot be undone: adding the same folder again starts a new workspace, and the earlier chats stay under Ungrouped. How Oda stores workspaces describes how the list is kept.
The folder behind my workspace was moved. What happens to its chats?
A chat whose folder cannot be found is shown under Ungrouped, and the chat and its history are kept. If you add the folder back as a workspace, it starts fresh, without those earlier chats.
Which workspace does a new chat start in?
The workspace you used last; if none has been used yet, the most recently updated one. To start a chat in a particular workspace, point at its row and choose New session in <name>.
How do I reorder my workspaces or my chats?
Drag a chat to the place it should take, or drag a workspace row to reorder the workspace groups. The first drag switches the list to Manual order; Group, order and filter chats covers the order options and what Oda keeps.
Why does a workspace show only five chats?
To keep the list short, each workspace shows five idle chats at a time, and running chats stay visible beyond those five; Pinned keeps its own five the same way. Your chats in the sidebar covers the paging controls.
Which access mode should I use?
Workspace Write for everyday work: Oda changes only the folder you gave it and asks about anything else. Choose Read Only when Oda should only look, for example to review documents.
Is Workspace Write a complete limit on what Oda can do?
No. It limits file changes to the workspace and the temporary areas Oda needs, while reading is not limited, and on Windows some of the protections are partial. When Oda cannot limit a step at all, it asks you before running it without limits, or the step stays undone. When Oda needs more access covers those prompts.