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Collaborate with another lab

Science is rarely done alone.

You may need to:

  • share a strain with another lab
  • let someone analyse or validate results
  • co-develop a construct
  • or simply give visibility to a supervisor or collaborator

CellRepo is designed to support this without losing ownership or traceability.

This guide shows how to safely share your work.

The core idea

Collaboration in CellRepo is based on:

  • controlled access
  • clear roles
  • full history tracking

You don’t send files around manually.

Instead, you give people access to the same source of truth.

Everyone sees:

  • the same repository
  • the same commits
  • the same history

Before you start

Make sure:

  • your strain is inside a repository
  • your repository is inside a project
  • the collaborators have CellRepo accounts

If not, see:

Step 1: Decide what to share

You can share at different levels:

Share a repository (most common)

Best when:

  • collaborating on one strain
  • external validation
  • focused experiments

Share a project

Best when:

  • multiple related strains
  • long-term collaboration
  • full team involvement

In most cases → share the repository only.

This keeps access minimal and safe.

Step 2: Open repository settings

Inside the repository:

Go to:

Settings → People / Access / Share

(Names may vary slightly depending on UI version.)

This is where permissions are managed.

Step 3: Add people or labs

You can add:

Individual users

Specific collaborators by email or username.

Everyone in that lab automatically gets access.

Labs are useful when:

  • multiple students
  • rotating members
  • whole groups working together

Instead of adding people one-by-one, add the lab once.

Step 4: Choose the right permission level

Pick the minimum access they need.

Read

Can:

  • view commits
  • download files
  • inspect history

Cannot:

  • change anything

Good for:

  • supervisors
  • reviewers
  • collaborators analysing results

Write

Can:

  • create commits
  • upload files
  • update records

Cannot:

  • delete repository
  • change critical settings

Good for:

  • active collaborators
  • co-authors
  • team members doing experiments

Admin

Can:

  • manage access
  • change visibility
  • rename or delete

Use carefully.

Good for:

  • project leads
  • lab heads
  • maintainers

Avoid giving this broadly.

Step 5: Start collaborating

Once added:

They can:

  • see the repository
  • view full history
  • create their own commits (if write access)

Every change is automatically:

  • timestamped
  • attributed to the user
  • permanently recorded

So you always know:

  • who did what
  • when
  • why

No confusion. No overwritten files.

Example: real collaboration scenario

Imagine:

Day 1
You create the strain

Day 3
Collaborator adds sequencing results

Day 5
Another student updates protocol

Day 7
Supervisor reviews and comments

Instead of emails like:

“Which file is latest?”
“Who edited this?”
“Did you use the new version?”

You simply check the commit history.

Everything is documented.

Visibility vs sharing

There are two related ideas:

Visibility

Who can see the repository

  • private
  • organisation
  • public

Access

What they can do

  • read
  • write
  • admin

You often use both:

Example:

  • repository visibility → private
  • specific collaborators → write access

This keeps the work controlled but shareable.

(See also: Visibility and access)

Best practices

Good habits:

  • share only what is necessary
  • prefer lab-level sharing for teams
  • avoid giving admin widely
  • keep commit messages clear for others
  • commit often so teammates see progress

Avoid:

  • sending files outside CellRepo
  • keeping “private copies”
  • large untracked changes

Collaboration works best when everyone uses the same system.

Removing access later

When a collaboration ends:

  • remove users or labs from settings

Their history remains preserved, but they lose access.

This keeps data secure and organised.

Result

After following this workflow:

  • everyone works on the same source of truth
  • nothing gets overwritten
  • ownership is clear
  • collaboration is transparent

This is much safer than shared drives or email attachments.

Need to generate reports or share results outside CellRepo?

→ Export records