Workspace
A modern, collaborative workspace built with Django and Svelte. Real-time editing, AI-powered search, and a clean API.
What is Workspace?
Workspace is the complete Hyperclast platform — a full-stack SaaS application for creating, organizing, and collaborating on text documents. Think of it as a self-hostable alternative to note-taking apps, built with developer ergonomics in mind.
📝 Rich Text Editor
Built on CodeMirror 6 with custom extensions for sections, dates, formatting, and more.
👥 Real-Time Collaboration
Multiple users can edit the same page simultaneously using Yjs CRDTs over WebSockets.
🤖 AI-Powered Answers
RAG-based Q&A that searches your pages and generates answers using embeddings.
🔌 REST API
Full API access for automation, integrations, and building your own clients.
🏢 Multi-tenant
Organizations, projects, and fine-grained sharing at every level.
🚀 Production Ready
Not a demo — this is the actual codebase running Hyperclast in production.
Quick Start
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/hyperclast/workspace.git
cd workspace
# Copy env template and start everything
cp backend/.env-template backend/.env-docker
./run-stack.shThat's it. The script spins up PostgreSQL, Redis, the Django backend, and the Vite frontend via Docker Compose. See the README for manual setup or production deployment.
Architecture
FAQ
Why Elastic License 2.0?
Let's address this directly: Workspace is licensed under ELv2, not MIT or Apache 2.0. We know this invites criticism from some purists, and we've thought hard about it.
We're a tiny team building something we're proud of. ELv2 lets individuals do almost everything: self-host, modify, contribute, build on top of it, learn from it. What you can't do is take our code, wrap it in a managed service, and compete directly with us.
This isn't hypothetical. We've watched AWS and others strip-mine open source projects — taking years of work from small teams, offering it as a service, contributing nothing back, and sometimes even undermining the original creators. We're not interested in subsidizing that.
But is it really "open source"?
By the OSI definition? No. By the spirit of what most people mean when they say open source — code you can read, run, modify, and learn from — yes. We could call it "source available" to be pedantically correct, but that term confuses more than it clarifies.
Our standalone libraries like Firebreak are Apache 2.0 with no restrictions at all. We're not allergic to permissive licenses. We just think the core platform, the thing that pays our rent, deserves some protection from players who won't think twice about out-resourcing us.
Can I self-host this?
Individuals and small teams: Yes, absolutely. Deploy it on your own infrastructure, run it on a VPS, spin it up locally. The code is all there — no artificial limits, no phone-home, no "enterprise features" held hostage.
Businesses: If you're a company using this beyond evaluation, you need a commercial license. This applies whether you self-host or use our hosted version. We're optimizing for sustainability, not maximizing free usage.
What's the difference between this and the hosted version?
Same codebase. The hosted version on Hyperclast gives you managed infrastructure, automatic backups, and support — so you don't have to think about ops. Self-hosting means you're responsible for all of that, but you own your data and infrastructure completely.
Either way, businesses need a commercial license. The choice is just about who runs the servers.
Do I need Redis and PostgreSQL?
For kicking the tires, SQLite works fine. For production or real-time collaboration, you'll want PostgreSQL and Redis. The README walks through the setup.
How does the AI Ask feature work?
Pages are chunked and embedded using OpenAI's embedding API. When you ask a question, we find relevant chunks via vector similarity, then generate an answer using the LLM with those chunks as context (RAG pattern). Bring your own API key.
Can I contribute?
Please do. Bug fixes, features, documentation — all welcome. Check the issues for good starting points. We review PRs promptly.
By submitting a PR, you agree to our Contributor License Agreement.
Get Started
Ready to dive in? Clone the repo and start building.