Invites & access

To add someone, open the invite modal, pick their role, and either enter their email or generate a link. dembrane works out the rest - whether they already have an account, whether they’re already a member, and whether they need an email.

You need member management rights to do this: workspace owner or admin to invite into a workspace, org owner or admin to invite into an organisation. Plain members and the lighter roles can’t invite.

Add someone#

1. Open the invite modal in the workspace (or organisation) you want them in.
2. Pick a role. Which roles you can offer depends on where you are:
   • Workspace - admin, member, billing, external, or observer.
   • Organisation - member, admin, billing, or owner. There’s no external at the org level - external only exists inside a workspace.
3. Invite by email (dembrane sends a secure link that expires after 7 days) or by link (you generate it and share it however you like - handy when you don’t have someone’s exact email, or you’re inviting a group). Either way, the role you chose is baked in.

What happens next#

You don’t manage these outcomes - dembrane picks the right one and you’ll see it in the member list:

• Already a member - nothing to do, they’re in.
• Reactivated - they were a member before and are restored.
• Added - they already have a dembrane account, so they’re in straight away.
• Invited - they’re new, so a pending invite is created and the link is emailed (valid 7 days).

When the recipient opens their link they land on the accept page. If they’re logged out, they sign in or register first and the invite then applies. If they’re signed in as a different account than the invite was for, dembrane tells them so they can switch.

You can’t grant above your own role#

The workspace hierarchy is observer < external < member < billing < admin < owner. You can never grant a role higher than your own - an admin can invite admins, members, billing, externals, and observers, but not an owner. Only an owner can grant owner. This stops anyone escalating access beyond what they hold. (Full hierarchy in roles & permissions.)

Pending invites and access requests#

Two lists keep things tidy:

• Pending invites - people you’ve invited who haven’t accepted. Re-send or cancel as needed; email invites expire after 7 days.
• Access requests - people asking to join on their own, rather than being invited. Anyone who can discover a workspace - an org admin browsing discoverable workspaces, or a member who found an open one - can request access, and a workspace admin approves or denies it.

For organisations, admins get a single matrix bringing members, workspaces, access requests, and pending invites together - see organisations & workspaces.

How invites affect seats#

Inviting touches seats, but gently:

• Never blocked. You can always send an invite - dembrane counts the seat and bills it rather than walling you off because you’re “out of seats.”
• Pending invites count. A billable seat is reserved the moment you invite someone, not just when they accept.
• Observer invites are free. Because observer is free, inviting one doesn’t add to your seat count.

So invite freely and watch the count. If someone only needs to see results, an observer costs nothing.

Related#

• Roles & permissions - the roles you grant, and the hierarchy that limits you.
• Visibility & discovery - what lets people find and request a workspace in the first place.
• Tiers & billing - how seats are counted as you add people.
• Organisations & workspaces - the org vs workspace distinction that decides which roles are available.