Invite teammates
A workspace gets dramatically more useful with two people in it, and more useful still with five. This recipe covers exactly how to bring someone in.
The scene
You've been using thola alone for a week. You want your sales lead, accountant, or co-founder in. You don't want to spend an afternoon explaining roles, permissions, and how to log in.
The steps
1. Open the invite screen
Settings → Members → + Invite, or from Home, tap the "Invite teammates" quick action.
2. Fill in the form
For each invitee:
| Field | What to put |
|---|---|
| Name | Helpful but optional |
| Email or WhatsApp number | Pick whichever channel they use most |
| Role | See the next section |
| Scope | Which modules they see — usually leave as default |
Then tap Send invite.
3. Pick the right role
| Role | What it grants |
|---|---|
| Owner | Everything, including billing. Only one owner. |
| Admin | Everything except billing. For a co-founder or operations lead. |
| Co-founder | All read; write on Founder + chosen modules. For a literal co-founder. |
| Staff | Module-specific access (e.g. Sales-only for a sales rep). |
| Viewer | Read-only across all modules. For an accountant who shouldn't change anything. |
For non-defaults — a "Branch Manager" who needs sales + process for one branch, or a "Cashier" who needs POS but not Finance — create a Custom role under Settings → Roles and assign it.
4. Tell them to expect the invite
The invitee gets a link via the channel you picked (email or WhatsApp). Tell them, in your channel of choice:
"I added you to our thola workspace. The link will arrive on WhatsApp / email — open it on your phone, sign in (or sign up if you're new), and you'll land in our workspace."
Most people accept within an hour.
5. Watch them appear
When they accept, you get a notification. Their name shows up under Settings → Members with status "Active." They have their own version of the 5-minute Quickstart and the relevant by-role page.
The gotchas
Invites expire after 14 days
If someone doesn't accept within 14 days, the link stops working. Resend from Settings → Members → Pending.
One person, one role
Even if Priya is both your sales lead and an admin, she gets one role in your workspace. Create a custom role that combines what you need.
Removing is fine
If you need to remove someone (left the company, joined the wrong workspace), Settings → Members → [name] → Remove from workspace. Immediate. They can no longer log in. Their existing chats and tasks stay in the workspace, ownerless — you can reassign.
If you want to soft-remove (revoke access but keep their identity in case they come back), Suspend instead.
External sharing of chats
By default, anyone you invite can see chats that are explicitly shared with them but not your private chats. Be aware: if you invite an investor as a Viewer, they see the Health Score, the dashboards, and any chat marked Shared with workspace.
The Founder dashboard and your weekly check-ins are private by default — only the Owner sees them. That's intentional.
Bulk invites
For larger teams, Settings → Members → Bulk invite. Paste rows in the format:
Priya, priya@example.com, Sales Lead, Staff
Karthik, +91 98765 43210, Cashier (Custom), Custom-Cashier
Ananya, ananya@example.com, Accountant, Viewerthola validates, shows a preview, you confirm. There's no hard limit on bulk invites, but we throttle outbound at 20/minute to avoid spam-filter trouble.
What's next
- Roles & permissions — full permission grid
- Co-founder setup — for the special case of bringing in your co-founder
- Onboard a new hire — for new employees (different from teammates)
If you're inviting an accountant or external consultant, check that Settings → Workspace → External chat sharing is set as you want — by default it's off for Free / Starter and confirmation-required on Growth+.