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Overview

Uxie’s collaboration features enable you to share documents with teammates, assign different permission levels, and work together on PDFs and notes. Invite collaborators via email and control exactly what they can do.

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Key Features

Email Invitations

Invite collaborators by email address

Role-Based Access

Assign Viewer, Editor, or Owner permissions

Team Management

View and manage all collaborators in one place

Instant Access

Collaborators get immediate access after invitation

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Collaboration Roles

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Permission Levels

Uxie has three permission levels:
Full control over the documentCan:
  • Read and edit document
  • Create and delete highlights
  • Edit notes
  • Use all features (TTS, AI Chat, Flashcards)
  • Invite collaborators
  • Remove collaborators
  • Change collaborator roles
  • Delete the document
Cannot:
  • Be removed (permanent owner)
  • Transfer ownership (not yet supported)
Read and edit accessCan:
  • Read document
  • Create and delete highlights
  • Edit notes
  • Use all features (TTS, AI Chat, Flashcards)
  • View collaborators list
Cannot:
  • Invite new collaborators
  • Remove other collaborators
  • Change permissions
  • Delete the document
Read-only accessCan:
  • Read document
  • View highlights
  • View notes (read-only)
  • Use text-to-speech
  • Use AI Chat
  • Generate and study flashcards
  • View collaborators list
Cannot:
  • Create or delete highlights
  • Edit notes
  • Invite collaborators
  • Change any settings

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Permission Comparison

FeatureOwnerEditorViewer
Read document✓✓✓
Edit title✓✓✗
Create highlights✓✓✗
Delete highlights✓✓✗
Edit notes✓✓✗
Use TTS✓✓✓
Use AI Chat✓✓✓
Generate flashcards✓✓✓
Study flashcards✓✓✓
Invite collaborators✓✗✗
Remove collaborators✓✗✗
Delete document✓✗✗

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Inviting Collaborators

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How to Invite

1

Open Document

Navigate to the document you want to share
2

Click Team Button

Click the user plus icon in the top toolbar
3

Enter Email

Type the collaborator’s email address
4

Choose Role

Select Viewer or Editor from the dropdown
5

Send Invitation

Click Invite to send the invitation
6

Confirmation

The collaborator appears immediately in the team list
The email address must belong to an existing Uxie user. Users need to create an account before they can be invited.

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Invitation Interface

The team modal includes: 
<Dialog>
  <DialogTrigger>
    <UserPlus />  // Team button
  </DialogTrigger>
  <DialogContent>
    <Input placeholder="Email" />
    <Select>  // Role selector
      <SelectItem value="VIEWER">Viewer</SelectItem>
      <SelectItem value="EDITOR">Editor</SelectItem>
    </Select>
    <Button>Invite</Button>
  </DialogContent>
</Dialog>
Implemented at /src/components/workspace/invite-collab-modal.tsx.

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Managing Collaborators

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Viewing Team Members

1

Open Team Modal

Click the user plus icon in the document toolbar
2

View List

See all collaborators in the “Team members” section
3

Check Roles

Each member shows their email and role badge

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Removing Collaborators

As an owner:
  1. Open the Team modal
  2. Find the collaborator to remove
  3. Click the trash icon next to their name
  4. They immediately lose access to the document
Removing a collaborator is immediate and cannot be undone. They will need to be re-invited to regain access.
The owner cannot be removed. The trash icon is hidden for owner entries.

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Changing Roles

Role changing is not yet supported. To change someone’s role, remove them and re-invite with the new role.

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Access Control

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Permission Checks

Uxie enforces permissions at multiple levels: UI Level:
  • Edit buttons hidden for viewers
  • Highlight popover doesn’t appear for viewers
  • Notes editor shows as read-only
API Level:
  • Server validates permissions before mutations
  • Database queries filter by user access
  • Unauthorized requests return errors

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How Permissions Are Checked

const doc = await prisma.document.findFirst({
  where: {
    id: docId,
    OR: [
      { ownerId: session.user.id },
      {
        collaborators: {
          some: {
            userId: session.user.id,
            role: { in: ['EDITOR', 'VIEWER'] }
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  }
});
From /src/app/api/chat/route.ts:48.

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Real-Time Collaboration

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Current Status

Real-time collaborative editing is currently in development. Changes made by collaborators will appear when you refresh the page.

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Planned Features

Upcoming real-time features:
  • Live cursor positions
  • Real-time note editing
  • Instant highlight sync
  • Presence indicators (who’s viewing)
  • Activity feed
  • Comment threads
  • Version history

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Technical Foundation

Collaboration infrastructure is being built with:
  • Liveblocks: Real-time sync platform
  • Y.js: Conflict-free collaborative data structures
  • WebSockets: Live updates
Foundation code at /src/components/editor/collaboration-client.tsx.

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Team Workflow

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Typical Collaboration Patterns

  • Owner uploads paper
  • Invites team as Editors
  • Everyone highlights key sections
  • Notes are collaboratively built
  • AI Chat used for clarifications
  • One member uploads textbook chapter
  • Invites group as Editors
  • Each person highlights their sections
  • Shared flashcards generated
  • Group studies together
  • Owner uploads document for review
  • Invites reviewers as Editors
  • Reviewers add highlights and notes
  • Owner consolidates feedback
  • Document revised based on notes
  • Teacher uploads course material
  • Students invited as Viewers
  • Students can read and use TTS
  • Students generate their own flashcards
  • Cannot modify teacher’s annotations

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Best Practices

Choose roles carefully: Give Editor access only to those who need to annotate. Use Viewer for broader sharing.
Communicate expectations: Let collaborators know what you need from them (e.g., “Please highlight key findings”).
Review changes regularly: As owner, periodically review highlights and notes added by editors.
Use AI Chat for questions: Instead of cluttering notes with questions, use the AI Chat feature.
Separate personal notes: Create a personal copy if you want private notes alongside shared collaboration.

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Security & Privacy

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Document Privacy

  • Documents are private by default
  • Only owner and invited collaborators have access
  • No public sharing links (not yet supported)
  • Collaborator list only visible to existing collaborators

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Data Access

  • The PDF document
  • All highlights (from any collaborator)
  • All notes (shared note space)
  • AI Chat history (shared)
  • Flashcards (shared)
  • Collaborator list (emails and roles)
  • Other documents you own
  • Your workspace
  • Your personal information beyond email
  • Documents you don’t share with them

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Removing Access

When you remove a collaborator: ✓ They immediately lose access ✓ Can no longer view the document ✓ Cannot access shared notes or chat history ✓ Their previous contributions remain (highlights, notes) ✗ Cannot revoke already-downloaded PDF files

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Technical Implementation

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Database Schema

model Collaborator {
  id         String   @id @default(cuid())
  userId     String
  documentId String
  role       CollaboratorRole
  
  user       User     @relation(...)
  document   Document @relation(...)
}

enum CollaboratorRole {
  OWNER
  EDITOR
  VIEWER
}

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API Mutations

Add Collaborator: 
api.document.addCollaborator.useMutation({
  documentId: string,
  data: { email: string, role: string }
})
Remove Collaborator: 
api.document.removeCollaboratorById.useMutation({
  documentId: string,
  userId: string
})
Get Collaborators: 
api.document.getCollaborators.useQuery({
  documentId: string
})

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Optimistic Updates

Collaborator changes use optimistic UI updates:
  1. UI updates immediately (instant feedback)
  2. Request sent to server
  3. If error, UI rolls back to previous state
  4. If success, UI stays updated
This provides a snappy user experience even with network latency.

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Troubleshooting

  • Ensure the email is correct
  • User must have an Uxie account
  • Check if they’re already a collaborator
  • Try refreshing the page
  • Ensure you’re the document owner
  • Verify they received the invitation
  • Check they’re logged into Uxie
  • Confirm they’re using the correct email
  • Try removing and re-inviting them
  • Only owners can remove collaborators
  • Cannot remove the owner (yourself)
  • Try refreshing the page
  • Check your internet connection
  • Refresh the page to see updates
  • Real-time sync is not yet available
  • Check if you have edit permissions
  • Verify you’re viewing the same document

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Future Features

Planned collaboration enhancements:
  • Real-time editing with live cursors
  • Public sharing links
  • Role change without re-inviting
  • Comment threads on highlights
  • @mentions in notes
  • Activity feed showing all changes
  • Version history and restore
  • Team workspaces
  • Organization-level sharing

Note Taking

Collaborate on shared notes

Annotations

Share highlights with team

AI Chat

Shared chat history

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