Onboarding Setup
The onboarding system guides new users through their initial setup in Colabmacs. It is designed to ensure users are placed into the correct teams and projects, while giving administrators control over approval and access policies.
Onboarding behavior is fully controlled through System Options. These options determine whether onboarding runs at all, what steps are shown to users, and when administrative approval is required.
Tips
All onboarding options are part of System Configuration. See: System Configuration
Configuration Overview
The table below summarizes the onboarding-related system options. Detailed explanations follow in the next section.
| Option | Default | Summary |
|---|---|---|
onboarding.enable | true | Enables or disables the onboarding flow entirely |
onboarding.allow_team_creation | true | Allows users to create new teams during onboarding |
onboarding.teams_require_approval | false | Requires admin approval for newly created teams |
onboarding.projects_require_approval | false | Requires admin approval for newly created projects |
onboarding.assign_default_team | null | Automatically assigns new users to a predefined team |
Option Details
onboarding.enable
Controls whether the onboarding flow is shown to new users after registration.
Behavior:
- true – Users are guided through onboarding steps (team and project setup)
- false – Users bypass onboarding and enter the application immediately
When to disable:
- Single-project or tightly managed facilities
- Environments where admins pre-create teams and projects
onboarding.allow_team_creation
Determines whether users can create new teams during onboarding.
Behavior:
- true – Users may create a new team if they are not joining an existing one
- false – Users may only join existing teams
Common use cases:
- Enable for academic or collaborative environments
- Disable for centralized or enterprise-managed facilities
onboarding.teams_require_approval
Controls whether newly created teams require administrative approval.
Behavior:
- true – Teams are created in a Pending state until approved
- false – Teams become active immediately
Important: This option only applies when onboarding.allow_team_creation is enabled.
onboarding.projects_require_approval
Controls whether projects created during onboarding require approval.
Behavior:
- true – Projects are created in a Pending state
- false – Projects become active immediately
Best practice: Enable approval when projects have budget, billing, or compliance implications.
onboarding.assign_default_team
Automatically assigns new users to a predefined team.
Behavior:
- Set to a valid Team – User is added to that team automatically
- null – User is prompted to create or join a team during onboarding
Common patterns:
- Default "General" or "Users" team for shared facilities
- Department-level default teams in enterprise environments
Onboarding Flow (Conceptual)
While the exact steps shown to a user depend on the options above, onboarding generally follows this sequence:
- User registers
- Onboarding enabled?
- No → User enters application
- Yes → Continue
- Assign default team?
- Yes → User is added automatically
- No → User chooses to join or create a team
- Team approval required?
- Yes → Team enters pending state
- Project creation step
- Project approval required?
- Yes → Project enters pending state
- Onboarding complete
Info
Approval states do not block onboarding completion, but may restrict access until approved.
Relationship to Access Control
Onboarding does not grant access to resources on its own.
After onboarding:
- Access Rules determine what users can book or use
- Training Records determine qualification
- Roles (system or provided) determine feature visibility
Onboarding simply establishes the organizational context (teams and projects) required for the rest of the system to function.
Recommended Configurations
Academic / Open Facilities
onboarding.enable→ trueonboarding.allow_team_creation→ trueonboarding.teams_require_approval→ falseonboarding.projects_require_approval→ false
Enterprise / Regulated Facilities
onboarding.enable→ trueonboarding.allow_team_creation→ falseonboarding.assign_default_team→ setonboarding.projects_require_approval→ true
Single-Project Facilities
onboarding.enable→ false- Pre-create teams and projects