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A workspace is the top-level container where your team runs AI coding tasks. Each workspace is linked to one or more GitHub repositories and provides shared configuration, environment variables, and custom images for every task inside it.

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Prerequisites

Before creating a workspace, you need:
  • A Whim account (sign up with GitHub OAuth)
  • A GitHub account with access to the repositories you want to connect
  • Admin or owner role on your Whim team

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Create a workspace

1

Open the dashboard

From the Whim dashboard, click New Workspace. If this is your first time, you’ll be guided through the full onboarding flow automatically.
2

Install the GitHub App

Whim needs the Whim Orchestrator GitHub App installed on your GitHub account or organization to access your repositories.If the app isn’t installed yet, you’ll see a prompt to install it. Click Install GitHub App — this redirects you to GitHub where you can choose which account or organization to install it on, and which repositories to grant access to.
You can grant access to all repositories or select specific ones. You can always change this later in your GitHub settings.
After installation, you’ll be redirected back to Whim automatically.
3

Select a repository

Once the GitHub App is connected, Whim displays your accessible repositories. You have two options:Import an existing repository — Browse or search your repositories and select one or more to connect. Repositories already connected to another workspace show a “Connected” badge and can’t be selected again.Create a new repository — Switch to the Create New tab to create a fresh GitHub repository directly from Whim. Provide a name, optional description, and choose between public or private visibility. The repository is created under your connected GitHub account.
You can connect multiple repositories to a single workspace using multi-select mode.
4

Workspace creation

After selecting your repository, Whim automatically:
  1. Creates the workspace — generates a name and URL slug from your repository name
  2. Syncs the repository — sets up a Git mirror so tasks can clone and push code
  3. Adds you as admin — you’re added as the first workspace member with admin privileges
A progress indicator shows each stage. Once syncing completes, your workspace is ready.
5

Configure your AI provider

After creation, you’re prompted to set up your AI provider. Choose from Claude, Codex, or OpenRouter and provide the required API key. You can also import your existing local configuration — see Configuration Import for details.
6

Enable notifications (optional)

Whim can send browser notifications when your tasks need attention — for example, when an AI agent goes idle or when someone comments on your task. You can enable this during onboarding or configure it later in your account settings.

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What happens behind the scenes

When you create a workspace, Whim:
  • Generates a unique slug for your workspace URL (e.g., my-repo). If the slug is taken within your team, a numeric suffix is appended automatically.
  • Links your repositories and triggers an initial Git mirror sync so the codebase is available for tasks.
  • Sets up defaults — the workspace inherits your team’s default AI provider and model settings, which you can customize in Workspace Settings.

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Next steps

Workspace Settings

Configure your workspace name, members, AI defaults, and more.

Environment Variables

Add API keys and secrets that get injected into every task.

Workspace Images

Build custom Docker images with your project’s dependencies pre-installed.

Creating Tasks

Launch your first AI coding task in the workspace.