---
title: "Work together in a group"
description: "Invite people into a conversation, see who's here and typing, choose what each person can do, and leave."
works_on: [phone]
---

# Work together in a group

Invite people into a conversation, see who's here and who's typing, and
choose what each person can do.

**Works on:** the phone app, for following, sending and seeing who's here. On
the desktop, groups need you signed in, and signing in on the desktop isn't
available yet; see [Sign in](sign-in.md). The web: not available yet.

A group conversation runs on a cloud computer. If yours runs on this computer,
inviting says "People can join once this conversation runs on a cloud
computer."

## Find your groups

Conversations you share with other people sit in the sidebar under
**Groups**. An invite sent to your email shows there too, as "Alex invited
you", with **Join**. Nothing about the conversation shows until you join.

## Invite someone

Only the conversation's owner can invite.

1. Press **Invite** at the top of the conversation, or right-click the group
   in the sidebar and choose **Invite people…** (S). The palette (⌘K or
   Ctrl+K) has **Invite people…** too.
2. Type their email address.
3. Choose a role: **Can approve**, **Member** or **Viewer**. The line under
   the choice says what that role does.
4. Press **Invite**.

The sheet then says, for example, "Send this link to sam@example.com." Press
**Copy link** and send it yourself; Codewhale doesn't email invites. When
there's no link to copy, it says "sam@example.com is invited." instead.

**Waiting to join** lists invites nobody has used yet, each with the day it
ends. Invites last seven days. Press **Cancel invite** to turn one off.

With the keyboard: Tab to **Invite** and press Enter. Focus starts in
**Email**; Tab moves to the roles and the arrow keys choose one.

## Join a group

Under **Groups** in the sidebar, press **Join** beside the invite. The
conversation opens with your role, and **People** lists you.

Opening an invite link isn't available yet; the invite waits under **Groups**
once you're signed in with the email it was sent to.

What Codewhale can say about an invite:

| You see | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| This invite has expired. | It's older than seven days, or the owner cancelled it. Ask them for a new one. |
| This invite was already used. | Someone already joined with it. Ask for a new one. |
| This invite is for someone else. | You're signed in with a different email. Press **Switch account**. |
| This invite link doesn't work. | Codewhale can't find this invite. Check the link, or ask for a new one. |

## See who's here

Open **People** in the side panel's Overview. Each person shows their role,
and a dot beside their initials while they have the conversation open. When
someone is writing, "Sam is typing…" shows just above the message box. You
never see yourself typing, and a Viewer never shows as typing.

## What each role can do

| Role | Can do |
| --- | --- |
| Owner | Send messages and answer approvals; invite people, change roles and remove people |
| Can approve | Send messages and answer approvals |
| Member | Send messages |
| Viewer | Read along. A Viewer sees "You can read along here." instead of a message box |

In a group conversation on the desktop, your message is sent as soon as you
press Enter, even while a reply is running; nothing waits in a queue. Nobody
can steer or stop a reply from the desktop yet. On the phone, see
[Stop or add to a reply](#on-your-phone).

## Change someone's role

Owners only. Right-click the person in **People** (or focus them and press
Shift+F10), choose **Change role** (R), then the new role.

## Remove someone, or leave

To remove someone, the owner right-clicks them in **People** and chooses
**Remove from conversation…** (⌘⌫ or Ctrl+Backspace). Codewhale asks once:
"Their waiting messages are dropped. Work they started keeps running." They
leave People, and stop showing as here or typing, right away.

To leave a group yourself, right-click it in the sidebar, or your own row in
**People**, and choose **Leave conversation…** (L). "Your waiting messages are
dropped. Work you started keeps running." The owner can't leave their own
group.

Right-click a person and choose **Mention** (M) to add @their name to your
message.

## On your phone

- Press the "3 people · 1 here" line under the conversation's title to open
  **People**: everyone, their role, and a dot for who's here. It's read-only.
- While a reply is running, **Add to this reply** sends your message into it,
  and **Stop** shows for the owner and for whoever sent the message that
  started it.
- Inviting, joining, changing roles, removing people and leaving: not
  available yet on the phone.

## On the web

Not available yet.

## Not available yet

- **Delete for everyone…**
- **Opening an invite link** in Codewhale.
- **Sending invites by email.** Copy the link and send it yourself.
- **Your own group settings**, such as pinning a group or marking it unread
  just for you.

## Related

- [Approvals and permissions](approvals-and-permissions.md)
- [Codewhale on your phone](phone.md)
- [Choose where the work runs](environments.md)
- [Run your organization](organization.md)

Previous: [Choose where the work runs](environments.md) · Next: [Run your organization](organization.md)