Sharing and Collaboration

This page covers common questions regarding read-only share links, branching editable copies, team collaboration workflows, and schema persistence.

1. Why is a shared schema page read-only?

Read-Only Protection: Shared links render immutable snapshots to prevent collaborators from inadvertently modifying or corrupting the author's active design.
Branching an Editable Copy:
1. Collaborators can click Save as Copy and Start Editing in the banner at the top of the shared page.
2. The system clones the schema directly into the recipient's personal workspace.
3. The recipient now has a completely independent replica that can be modified, saved, and reviewed without affecting the original share URL.

Expired Link: Share links are valid for 7 days by default. Expired links are decommissioned automatically.
Truncated URL: Chat tools may truncate long URLs or line-wrap parameters. Ensure the full URL is copied into the browser address bar.
Remediation: Request the author to reopen the table and click Share Link to issue an active URL.

Content Hashing & Idempotency: DDLBuilder computes content hashes based on table metadata, columns, constraints, and indexes. When sharing an unchanged schema, the system reuses the existing active link to avoid duplicating identical cloud snapshots.
Generating a New Link: Apply an observable change (e.g., add a column or update a comment) and click Share Link again to generate a new URL.

Aspect	Drafts	Saved Tables
Role	Scratchpads for rapid, informal prototyping	Named, formalized architectural assets
History & Diff	Maintains latest transient state only	Records version snapshots with rollback and timeline replay
Organization	Listed in the workspace sidebar	Grouped into hierarchical domain folders
Sharing	Best converted to a saved table before sharing	Instantly shareable as immutable read-only URLs