Development Workspaces

When users first sign in to a new Coalesce account, they will start on the Development Workspaces Dashboard, with only a single DEV workspace. Users can create their own additional development workspaces, do their work, and merge their work later into different git branches.

Workspaces vs Environments

A Workspace is similar to an Environment, but it cannot be deployed. Users can choose a Workspace, create additional ones, and move between them if desired. Each Workspace is essentially its own world - it will have its own graph, storage locations, macros, node types, Snowflake connection configuration, and git branch.

Environments are similar, but are only meant for Deployment and Refresh of data. They are visible to all users, regardless of Workspace.

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Storage Location Mappings

Storage location mapping definitions are committed in git for Environments, not for Workspaces.

Benefits of Workspaces

Users can stay in their own workspace without impacting each other. They can work on macros, make git commits, and edit the graph without getting in each other's way, as each user can have their own Workspace. They can also work together on one workspace if they’d like.

For example, a data engineer may be tasked with creating a new data mart. They could create a new workspace with its own git branch, separate from the main workspace. Once the feature is done, its code can be merged back into the main branch.

Creating Workspaces

To create a new empty workspace, click Create Workspace from the Workspaces Dashboard and follow the on-screen prompts. Make sure you’ve connected a git repository to your Coalesce account first, since new workspaces need a starting git branch.

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About Git Merging

Watch out when merging from one git branch to another, as all committed changes will be merged. For example, if a node is deleted in a workspace and committed to the git branch, and then merged to main, main will also have that node deleted.

Editing Workspaces

To edit an existing workspace, click on the pencil icon for that workspace from the Workspaces Dashboard and you'll see a window with options for configuring it. You can also edit them by going to Build Settings → Development Workspace and clicking the pencil icon there.

Tag colors will show up on git windows and on Activity Feed runs and are there as a convenience for distinguishing workspaces. This same feature is also available on environments.

Duplicating Workspaces

To duplicate an existing workspace, click on the Duplicate Settings button on the desired Workspace on the Workspaces Dashboard and then follow the on-screen prompts. This duplicate carries over your storage mappings from the original Workspace you're duplicating.

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Settings Duplication

One notable exception to settings duplication is Snowflake passwords, which will not be copied.

Deleting Workspaces

To delete a Workspace, click on the pencil icon from the Workspaces Dashboard to edit it and you’ll see the option to delete.

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Deleting the Last Workspace

If a user deletes all workspaces, a new blank workspace named DEV will be automatically created, as there must always be at least one development workspace.