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A Workspace is a custom interface you build inside Forest, tailored to a specific use case. Instead of navigating between multiple collections, operators get a single focused view that shows exactly what they need and lets them take action immediately. Think of a Workspace as the difference between a generic spreadsheet and a purpose-built tool: same data, dramatically better experience.

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Why use workspaces

The default “Data” tab gives operators access to all your collections, but it’s generic. Workspaces let you:
  • Focus - show only the data relevant to a specific task
  • Contextualize - display related information side by side without navigating away
  • Act faster - put action buttons directly next to the data that triggers them
  • Guide - add text, sections, and structure to guide users through a workflow
Workspaces are built with a drag-and-drop editor, no code required for most use cases.

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Building a workspace

Step 1, Create a new workspace Click on + Add New in the left sidebar, select Workspace, and give it a descriptive name that reflects the use case (e.g. “Customer Onboarding”, “KYC Review”). Step 2, Add a Collection component Drag a Collection from the sidebar onto the canvas. Select which collection to display and optionally apply a segment. Set the row click behavior to “Select a record” to enable dynamic updates across all connected components. Step 3, Add context with Field components Drag Field components onto the canvas. Link them to your Collection and select which fields to display. When an operator clicks a row, these fields update to show the selected record’s values. Step 4, Add Actions Drag an Action and link it to your Collection. Now operators can click a row and immediately trigger the right action, no need to open the record detail. Step 5, Exit the builder and test it Click “Exit builder” to switch to the operator view. Test the workflow by clicking rows and triggering actions.

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Components reference

A Workspace is composed of components that you drag onto a canvas and configure. They fall into 5 categories.

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Layout & Guidance

Components to structure your workspace and guide operators through it.

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Source

Source components set the data context for the rest of the workspace. Data & Action components subscribe to a Source to know which record to act on. The Dropdown component has three modes:
  • Static, You hardcode a list of values. Reorder them with drag handles.
  • Dynamic > Simple, Choose a collection and a field; the dropdown is populated from your data, with an optional filter.
  • Dynamic > Smart, Fetches values from an external endpoint. The expected response format is:
Enable the “Search” option on any mode to add a search input, useful when the list is long.

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Date Picker

Set minimum and/or maximum selectable dates, hardcoded or using templating:

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Toggle

Pick a value type (String, Number, Boolean, etc.) and set the value for the “toggled on” state. When toggled off, the component’s value is undefined and any filter using it is ignored. Example: a Boolean toggle with value true filtering on isEmailVerified, combined with a String toggle with value "onboarding" filtering on status.

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Data & Actions

The Field component supports all display widgets. For nested values, use the code input mode:

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Analytics

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Metabase component setup

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Custom

The Custom component lets you write your own component in HTML/JS for advanced display logic not covered by the built-in set.

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Templating

Templating lets components reference values from other components dynamically. Type {{ in any text input, filter, or link field to open the autocomplete.
When you rename a component, all templating references to it update automatically.

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Filtering charts with templating

Charts in a workspace can be filtered using other components’ values. In the chart’s filter configuration, reference a source component:
Templating also works inside SQL Query mode charts. You can use it in the Timeframe property of time-based charts, for example, a Dropdown with values Day, Week, Month, Year can dynamically change a chart’s timeframe.

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Visibility rules

Every component has a Visible option at the bottom of its settings panel. Example: a related Collection filtered on {{collection1.selectedRecord.id}} with visibility set to “Only when dynamic variables are defined” will stay hidden until an operator selects a row in collection1.

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Sharing workspaces

Workspaces are available to all operators in your project by default. Use Roles & Permissions to limit visibility to specific teams. Operators can share a Workspace URL with a pre-applied filter state, letting them hand off specific work items directly. For complete, step-by-step examples, see Example 1: KYC and Example 2: Incident Management.