Real-Time Editing
Build, review, and debug automations simultaneously with teammates on a shared live canvas. Live cursors, presence avatars, and instant canvas updates show who is editing each Step.
- Use it to
- Edit, review, and follow teammates in real time on a shared multiplayer canvas
- Find it
- Top-right canvas header → Presence avatars (click an avatar to Follow their camera view)
- Limits
- Admin, Manager, and Member roles can edit · Viewers and Public Link Guests (up to 50 concurrent guests) open a live read-only canvas
- Instead
- Save a version and switch to Draft before restructuring a Live automation
This page covers what you see when a colleague is on the canvas with you. It also covers what happens when two edits land on the same step, and who is allowed to edit.
Collaboration you can see
When two people open the same automation, each sees the other’s cursor move. You can watch what a colleague is clicking, dragging, or configuring as they do it.
The canvas works as a shared room. Build a branch together, look at an API response side by side, or walk a client through a process without screen-sharing.
- Avatars in the top-right show each person currently online (one avatar per person across their open tabs, with profile photos for members and animal avatars for anonymous visitors).
- Click any collaborator’s avatar to Follow their active tab’s camera view in real time. Manual panning or zooming hands control back to you.
- Cursors are color-coded and labeled with your teammates’ names (or
(Guest)for visitors on a Public link). - Changes appear on everyone’s screen as they are made.
Editing the Same Automation at Once
Presence indicators highlight which Step each teammate has open so you can work on different Steps in parallel and coordinate structural changes. If your network connection drops temporarily, Glow syncs pending changes automatically when you reconnect.
Automatic real-time synchronization
Glow synchronizes shared canvas changes across connected collaborators. Your selection and interaction state remain local, so a colleague’s selection does not replace yours. Check synchronization status before running or leaving an automation after a connection interruption.
Tip: Before a large structural change, like reorganizing the layout of the entire canvas, leave a Sticky Note or coordinate it with your team.
Collaborating with the Workflow Assistant: The assistant appears as Glow AI in the presence bar with a building badge on the canvas while it works. You can pan, inspect, and edit other Steps while it builds. Wait for it to finish updating a target Step or sticky note before editing that same item.
Editing an automation that is Live
A Live automation remains enabled while you edit it, and new runs use the updated configuration immediately. Before restructuring an active automation, save a version for rollback, switch to Draft to pause incoming triggers, and review any runs already in progress. A saved version is a restore point, not a barrier that keeps live runs on the old configuration.
Who is doing what
Each person on the canvas has a colour, shown on their cursor and on the step they have open. A step someone else is configuring carries their colour, which helps keep two people out of the same field.
Versions record saved automation states, and Activity records workspace-level events. Neither is a field-by-field history of every collaborator’s edits.
Start collaborating with one click
Before sharing the URL, check that your colleague has an Admin, Manager, or Member role in the workspace and that the automation is visible to them in Share (Automation Visibility & Sharing). Copying a link does not grant editing rights or make a Private automation accessible.
Permissions overview
Canvas access depends on a person’s workspace role and how the automation is shared:
| Role / Audience | Canvas capabilities |
|---|---|
| Admin, Manager, Member | Open, edit, test, and run visible automations in real time. Permanent deletion from Archive, trigger API key rotation, and Marketplace publishing are restricted to Admins, Managers, and the automation’s owner. |
| Viewer | Opens shared automations on a live read-only canvas (View only) with collaborator cursors, Follow mode, canvas comments, and Run metadata, without access to Step configurations or execution payloads. |
| Public Link Guest | Views Public automations on the read-only guest canvas (up to 50 concurrent guests) and can add comments or guest sticky notes when enabled in Share. |
For workspace administration, billing permissions, and role assignment, see Permissions and Access and Members & Invitations.
- Run
- Open an automation in two tabs (or with a teammate) and click a collaborator's avatar in the top right
- You should see
- Follow mode locks your viewport to their active tab's camera view as they pan, zoom, and select Steps.
What’s Next?
-
Leave a note for whoever opens the canvas next with Comments.
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Read how local edits and shared Assistant changes are handled in Undo & Redo.
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Work across several live automations at once with Canvas Tabs.