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Before you begin

If CellRepo is new to you, start here. The platform is designed to fit existing biological workflows, not replace them. Most labs already manage evolving strains, constructs, and protocols; CellRepo adds a formal, version‑controlled history on top.

Biological work accumulates changes over weeks, months, and years. CellRepo focuses on preserving:

  • The asset’s state at each meaningful point
  • How it changed (design, protocol, conditions, results)
  • Who contributed to those changes and when

This continuity supports reproducibility, tech transfer, IP defence, and regulatory submissions.

Core Mental Model

CellRepo mirrors how lab work is usually organised:

  • A project groups related scientific work (e.g. strain engineering programme, method development).
  • Within a project, repositories represent individual strains, constructs, or experiments.
  • Commits mark meaningful biological updates to those assets.

A repository might represent, for example, one engineered E. coli strain or one mammalian cell line under test. Each time something important changes—a genotype is confirmed, a plasmid is redesigned, a protocol is updated—you record it as a commit. CellRepo simply formalises those checkpoints with a robust, auditable history.

Guiding Principles

Keep these core principles in mind:

  • One asset = one repository
  • Design commit templates with forethought (ideally before starting work)
  • Commit early and at meaningful checkpoints
  • Keep repositories clean and structured—CellRepo is not cloud storage
  • Write clear, informative commit messages

If you follow these, you will avoid 90% of common pitfalls.

Quick start guide

Your first steps typically look like:

  • Decide whether you’re working individually or as part of an organisation.
  • Create a project for the area of work.
  • Create commit templates for the work you want to track (or find a public one in the search feature)
  • Create a repository for a specific asset (e.g. a strain or assay).
  • Add initial data via your first commit.

Personal work and shared work

Choosing individual or team mode affects only ownership and visibility — not how you record science.

If unsure, refer to Using CellRepo Solo or Team.

When something feels unfamiliar

Unfamiliar terms (e.g., project, repository, commit template) are defined in CellRepo concepts > Key terms at a glance.

Reach us at support@cellrepo.com.