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Overview

Teams are the foundation of collaboration in Lawn. Each team has its own projects, videos, and members with specific roles that control what they can do.

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Creating a Team

1

Create your team

When you create a team, you automatically become the owner. Each team gets a unique slug based on the team name for easy sharing.
// Team is created with these default settings
{
  plan: "basic",
  billingStatus: "not_subscribed",
  role: "owner"
}
2

Set up your team name

Choose a descriptive name for your team. The system automatically generates a URL-friendly slug. If the slug is taken, a counter is added (e.g., my-team-1).
3

Start inviting members

Once created, you can immediately start inviting team members and creating projects.
Team slugs are permanent identifiers. Choose a name that represents your team well since the slug is used in URLs throughout the platform.

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Understanding Roles

Lawn has four role levels with different permissions:

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Owner

  • Full control over the team
  • Can delete the team
  • Can manage billing and subscriptions
  • Cannot leave the team (must transfer ownership first)
  • Cannot be removed by other admins
  • All admin permissions included

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Admin

  • Invite and remove members
  • Update member roles
  • Manage team settings
  • Create and delete projects
  • Delete videos
  • Cannot remove the owner or other admins

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Member

  • Create and upload videos
  • Update video details and workflow status
  • Create share links
  • Comment on videos
  • Cannot manage team members or settings

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Viewer

  • View videos and comments
  • Read-only access
  • Cannot upload or modify content
  • Cannot create share links
Use the “viewer” role for stakeholders who need to review work but shouldn’t make changes. This keeps your review process clean and organized.

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Inviting Team Members

1

Generate an invite

Admins and owners can invite new members by email. The system generates a unique invite token that expires in 7 days.
// Each invite includes
{
  email: "member@example.com",
  role: "member", // or "admin" or "viewer"
  expiresAt: Date.now() + 7 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000
}
2

Send the invite link

Share the generated invite link with the new member. They must accept the invite while logged in with the matching email address.
3

Track pending invites

View all active invites in your team settings. Expired invites are automatically filtered out.

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Invite Validation

When a user accepts an invite, Lawn verifies:
  • The invite token is valid and not expired
  • The user’s email matches the invite email (case-insensitive)
  • The user isn’t already a team member
If someone doesn’t receive the invite, you can delete the old invite and create a new one. Old invites for the same email are automatically replaced.

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Managing Member Roles

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Updating Roles

Admins can change member roles at any time: 
// Example: Promoting a member to admin
updateMemberRole({
  membershipId: "...",
  role: "admin"
})
Restrictions:
  • Cannot change the owner’s role
  • Must be an admin or owner to update roles
  • Role changes take effect immediately

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Removing Members

Admins can remove members from the team:
1

Verify permissions

Only admins and owners can remove members. You cannot remove yourself (use the “leave” function instead).
2

Remove the member

The member loses access to all team projects, videos, and content immediately.
3

Content preservation

Videos and comments created by the removed member remain in the team. Their name stays associated with their contributions.
Before removing a member who owns important projects, consider reassigning ownership of their work or documenting their contributions.

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Leaving a Team

Members can leave teams they’re part of: 
// Members can leave unless they're the owner
leave({ teamId: "..." })
Important: The team owner cannot leave. They must:
  1. Transfer ownership to another member first
  2. Or delete the team entirely (if they’re done with it)

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Real-World Scenarios

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Scenario: Agency with Multiple Clients

Structure:
  • Owner: Agency principal
  • Admins: Project managers
  • Members: Designers and video editors
  • Viewers: Client stakeholders
Workflow:
  1. Project manager creates projects for each client
  2. Team members upload review videos
  3. Clients (as viewers) review and comment
  4. Members update workflow status based on feedback

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Scenario: In-House Marketing Team

Structure:
  • Owner: Marketing director
  • Admins: Team leads
  • Members: All marketing team members
  • Viewers: Executives and department heads
Workflow:
  1. All members can upload campaign videos
  2. Team leads manage projects and workflows
  3. Executives review as viewers
  4. Director manages billing and team settings

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Scenario: Freelancer with Clients

Structure:
  • Owner: Freelancer (you)
  • Admins: None needed
  • Members: None
  • Viewers: All clients
Workflow:
  1. You upload videos for client review
  2. Clients join as viewers to review work
  3. You manage all projects and settings
  4. Keep clean separation between client projects

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Team Deletion

Only the owner can delete a team. Before deletion:
1

Cancel billing

Teams with active subscriptions cannot be deleted. Cancel billing first in team settings.
2

Understand data loss

Deletion is permanent and removes:
  • All team members and invites
  • All projects in the team
  • All videos and their comments
  • All share links and access grants
3

Confirm deletion

Once deleted, the team slug becomes available for reuse, but all data is permanently lost.
Team deletion cannot be undone. Export any important videos or data before deleting a team.

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Best Practices

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Start Small

Begin with a minimal team structure. Add admins only when needed. Most teams work well with one or two admins and everyone else as members.

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Use Viewers Liberally

Give stakeholders viewer access instead of member access. This prevents accidental changes while keeping everyone informed.

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Regular Audit

Periodically review your team members. Remove inactive members and ensure roles match current responsibilities.

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Clear Naming

Use clear team names that indicate purpose or client. This helps when managing multiple teams.

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Document Roles

For larger teams, document who has what role and why. This helps when onboarding new admins or transferring responsibilities.

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