Organizing with collections
Group research threads into collections with colors, descriptions, sharing, and smart filtering.
Organizing with collections
Collections are folders for your research: named groups that hold related threads so your workspace stays scannable as work multiplies. You can give each collection a description, a color, and optional sharing -- and use smart collections that fill themselves from criteria you define.
What collections are
Think of a collection as a labeled bucket for threads -- not a tag on a single message, but a durable home for a line of inquiry, a client, or a project. Threads can be organized without changing how research runs; collections are about finding and presenting work, not altering the underlying jobs.
The collection sidebar
On the threads page, the left sidebar lists your collections. From here you can see what you've grouped, switch context quickly, and open actions like create, edit, or share. The sidebar stays visible alongside the main thread list so you can drag threads into place without losing your place in the list.
Creating a collection
Create a new collection from the sidebar -- use the control provided there to add a collection, then give it a name. You can refine description and color in collection details (see below). Empty collections are fine; you'll add threads next.
Adding threads to collections
From the thread list, drag a thread and drop it onto the target collection in the sidebar (or the area your UI indicates for that collection). This attaches the thread to that group without removing it from the overall list -- think of it as membership in a folder.
Exact drop targets follow what you see on screen; if a thread doesn't land where you expect, scroll the sidebar so the collection is fully visible, then try again.
Collection details: name, description, and color
Open a collection's details to change how it appears:
- Name -- Short label shown in the sidebar and when filtering.
- Description -- Optional context for you or teammates (what belongs here, how it's used).
- Color -- Pick from eight preset colors so collections are recognizable at a glance in the sidebar and filters.
Smart collections
Some collections are marked as smart -- these are auto-populated based on criteria, so their membership updates as new threads match. Smart collections complement manual drag-and-drop by providing live views that stay current without re-filing every time. You'll see a badge on smart collections to distinguish them from regular ones.
Sharing collections
Use the share dialog on a collection to invite others. Shared collections let teammates see the same grouped threads according to your workspace's permissions -- handy for project or team contexts where the folder is the unit of collaboration.
Deleting collections
Removing a collection deletes the collection only: threads stay in your account and remain visible in the main thread list -- they are simply no longer grouped under that collection. Confirm in the UI before you delete, especially if the collection was shared.
Deletion is permanent for the collection record. If you're unsure, export or note important thread links before removing the collection.
Filtering with tags
Below your collections in the sidebar, you'll see a Tags section with colored filter pills. Tags let you cross-cut your thread list by topic or label -- independent of which collection a thread belongs to.
- Filter by clicking one or more tags to narrow the thread list to matching threads.
- Combine tag filters with a collection filter to drill down further.
- Clear all filters with the reset control at the top of the thread list.
Tags complement collections: collections are about grouping threads together, while tags are lightweight labels for quick filtering.
Related reading
- Viewing research results -- what lives inside each thread once it's organized.
- Thread tools -- chat, annotations, sharing, and export at the thread level.