Follow work and discuss it in a workstream¶

A workstream keeps conversations beside the business process they concern. Use it to share an official update, coordinate with other participants or discuss a particular step. The work item remains the place where approvals, assignments and completion are recorded. Sending a message does not make those changes.

Availability: This guide follows the intended WorkOS final design. The current app preview uses sample workstreams and a generic start form; connected selection, creation and navigation have not been verified. The current implementation also has limits on eligibility, audience selection and creating separate threads, explained below.

Choose the right kind of conversation¶

Your job title alone does not make every workstream visible. The current eligible-work query includes work you started, work with an active task assigned to you, and work with a pending approval awaiting your decision. Broader follower, team, management or historical participation does not by itself establish inclusion in this list. Access can change as assignments and approvals change.

Being able to open a workstream does not necessarily allow you to start a thread. Completed, closed, cancelled or rejected workflows cannot create new threads through this operation. Creation is also blocked while a workflow is suspended or has a configuration problem. Starting a task-linked discussion additionally depends on an active task and a valid context.

Find and open a workstream¶

1. Open the correct workspace, then HiveComms and Workstreams.
2. Use Search workstreams to find the work by its title, request reference or current step. The intended screen also offers All workstreams, Official updates and Discussion.
3. Select the work item. Check its title, reference and current stage in Work item context.
4. Review Official updates, Discussion or Anchored threads, then select the conversation you need.
5. Use View workflow or View request when you need to inspect or act on the underlying work. Confirm that the destination matches the selected item.

The current list can include work that remains readable but cannot start new threads. Its lane filters do not prove that a matching conversation already exists or that you may create one. The inspected implementation does not return independent totals for the three category buttons. Treat those category counts as unverified until their connected meaning is established.

Unread and thread summaries are useful prompts to inspect the work; they are not authoritative workload totals or proof of a decision. Summary and detail counts can differ because their access filtering and fetched content differ. The detail view currently reads a bounded selection of conversations, so a missing thread does not prove that none exists.

Start an official update or general discussion¶

1. Select the owning workstream and choose Start thread.
2. Confirm the selected work item in Eligible workstreams and in the summary beside the form.
3. Choose Official update or Discussion according to the purpose of the conversation and your access.
4. Enter a clear Thread title.
5. Use Search people and Add to choose people where selection is permitted. Review People to add now; use Remove to correct the selection before submitting.
6. Select Create workstream thread. Check the returned work item, lane, title and people before sending a message.

The intended form creates the conversation context first; compose the message after opening it. It does not ask you to choose a free-form privacy level or enter an opening message. The generic app-preview form is still being reconciled with this design.

A different title does not currently guarantee a separate thread. For the same workstream and lane, creation can return an existing conversation and add the selected people to it. The existing title and audience settings can remain in place. Inspect the resulting conversation before sharing information, especially when you expected a new audience or a separate topic.

The people picker is not proof that every selected person can open the work or use that lane. The creation path verifies that selected user records exist, but complete participant eligibility and source-access checks still need acceptance. Do not treat an “available” label as permission to share restricted material. Ask the work owner or administrator when the intended audience is unclear.

Start a discussion tied to a step¶

Use the related workflow or task as the starting point, as directed by the final screens. A thread linked to a step must retain that exact context; selecting a general workstream and typing a step name is not equivalent.

For an approval-related task, the current creation rule does not allow manually selected people. General workflow discussions and non-approval task discussions use a different audience policy. The reviewed API accepts workflow or task context for explicit creation; a separate approval identifier is not interchangeable with a task identifier.

The inspected workstream screens do not establish the complete launch, confirmation and recovery sequence from the owning task. Those steps remain unfinished documentation work. Do not infer that every person shown on an approval is automatically added by the manual thread-creation operation.

Read and reply in context¶

Before replying, check Workstream context, the lane and the people shown. Use Reply in this thread, Attach file and Send message in the intended thread view. Follow the message and file guide for the one-file composer, limits, receipt meaning and uncertain-send recovery.

A system update and a human message serve different purposes. Use the linked request or workflow to verify the current business state. An older update can remain in the conversation after the work has changed.

The final thread screen shows Add people, Leave and participant removal, but the complete workstream-specific membership rules are still being reconciled. Do not assume that these controls let you override workflow or approval audience restrictions. The screen's “people are included automatically” wording is also not a guarantee that this manual creation operation adds all workflow followers.

Recover from an unexpected result¶

Live updates help a connected view notice changes; they are not a permanent notification subscription, a record of delivery, or a new approval assignment. Reconnecting may require the app to re-establish the live view and read saved history again. An apparently connected page does not prove that it received every update while you were away.

The background connection's follow/unfollow operations are separate from joining or leaving a conversation, changing its participants, marking messages read, and choosing email updates. No additional user-facing Follow control is established by this documentation. If updates stop, reopen the work through the normal navigation and check saved history and current access before repeating a message or business action. The underlying request or workflow remains authoritative.

For support, provide the workspace, work reference, intended lane, approximate time and visible error. Avoid posting private conversation content in a public channel. Managers and executives should use authoritative work records for completion and approval reporting; workstream activity measures communication, not completed outcomes.

Continue with finding conversations and work, your work inbox or messages and files.