Real-time collaboration

Multiple authors can edit the same topic at the same time. Changes appear instantly for all collaborators, with no saving, refreshing, or merging required.

Before you begin #

Sync mechanism #

Real-time collaboration uses a CRDT (Conflict-free Replicated Data Type) to synchronize edits. Each author's changes merge automatically, even if 2 people edit the same paragraph simultaneously.

Changes broadcast through a real-time channel. No central "lock" exists on the document. Everyone edits freely, and the CRDT ensures all editors converge to the same state.

Collaborative cursors #

Each collaborator's cursor appears as a colored line with a label showing the first part of their email address (the portion before the @), so you can see exactly where others are editing. Cursor positions update in real time.

Colors are assigned deterministically from a set of 10 distinct colors, so the same user always gets the same color.

Presence indicators #

The topic editor header shows stacked avatar circles for the collaborators currently viewing the topic, with a "+N" overflow count when there are many.

On the Topics list, presence avatars appear next to any topic that someone is currently editing.

The editor header also shows a connection status indicator (for example, "Collaboration: connected") with a Wi-Fi icon, so you can tell at a glance whether real-time sync is active.

Availability #

Real-time collaboration is designed as a per-project capability on the Team plan. The synchronization engine, cursors, presence, and connection indicator described above are implemented, but the product does not yet expose a way to turn collaboration on for a project. Until that control ships, topics open in single-editor mode: everyone edits normally with autosave, and changes are not synced live between editors.

When collaboration becomes available to enable, opening a topic connects the editor automatically, and the header shows the connection status. Turning collaboration off later will not affect existing content — it only stops real-time sync, and authors will not see each other's changes until the next page load.

Offline resilience #

If your connection drops while editing, your changes are queued locally and automatically synchronized when the connection is restored. If another author edited the same content while you were offline, the CRDT merges both sets of changes without data loss.

Auto-save #

Collaborative sessions auto-save every 30 seconds and perform a final save when you navigate away from the topic or close the browser tab (disconnect).

See also #

• Track changes and suggestions: review-oriented editing where changes are tracked as suggestions

• Topic branches: work on separate versions of a topic without real-time sync

• Manage team members: control who can edit content in your project

• Plans and limits: real-time collaboration requires a Team or Business plan