> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tightknit.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Where to Install Tightknit

> Install Tightknit in the Slack workspace your community lives in, not your internal employee workspace.

Install Tightknit in your **customer community workspace**: the one customers, partners, and users join. Not the internal workspace your employees work in.

## Why

Tightknit treats the workspace it is installed in as the community:

* **The workspace roster is the member roster.** Every user who joins gets a member profile, and community site sign-in is matched against those profiles. Install internally and your member directory is your staff directory, while customers outside that workspace cannot sign in until an admin adds them as members. See [Who can sign in](/community-site/authentication#who-can-sign-in).
* **Channels are wired for publishing.** [Activating a channel](/channels-and-feeds/activate-channel) and connecting a [Feed](/channels-and-feeds/create-feed) puts its messages on your community site, which can be public and indexed. Internally, `#revenue` sits in the same channel picker as everything else.
* **Member count sets your pricing tier.** Tightknit meters the workspace's active member count, so an internal install bills against your headcount.
* **Analytics stop working.** [Studio analytics](/studio/analytics) separate staff from members using the [team filter](/studio/settings#team-filter). Internally, everyone is a teammate.

## How to tell which is which

|                       | Community workspace                                 | Internal employee workspace        |
| :-------------------- | :-------------------------------------------------- | :--------------------------------- |
| Who is in it          | Customers, partners, developers. Staff participate. | Employees and contractors.         |
| How people join       | Signup, invite link, or approved request.           | HR or IT provisioning, often SSO.  |
| What channels are for | Conversation the whole community can see.           | Roadmaps, deals, incidents, staff. |
| What the data is      | Publishable.                                        | Confidential by default.           |
| Who administers it    | Community, developer relations, or support.         | IT or workplace operations.        |

A workspace that scores in both columns is an internal workspace with a few customers in it. Create a separate one.

## Enterprise Grid

Both workspaces usually sit under one organization. Install per workspace: an org-wide install does not create a community.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Install into the community workspace">
    Go to [slackapp.tightknit.ai/slack/install](https://slackapp.tightknit.ai/slack/install), select your community workspace in the top-right dropdown, and select **Allow**. Do not select the organization.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Approve the request if your org requires it">
    An Org Owner or Org Admin approves it under **Integrations > Requests**. Approve Tightknit for the community workspace, not for all workspaces.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Verify">
    Open the Tightknit App Home in that workspace. Setup modules mean it worked. "Tightknit isn't set up for this workspace" means the install landed elsewhere.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  An org-wide install makes Tightknit available across your workspaces but creates no community: feeds, posts, events, and member management stay unavailable. If no workspace in your organization has Tightknit yet, the installing admin should also receive a DM with a link to the workspace-level install. Either way, the steps above are what create the community.
</Warning>

<Note>
  The [Tightknit Enterprise Slack app](/slack/tightknit-enterprise-slack-app) is a separate, org-level app for Slack admin operations. It does not replace the workspace install.
</Note>

## Installed in the wrong workspace

A community is bound to one Slack workspace and cannot be repointed. Installing elsewhere creates a second, separate community.

| Item                                           | Carries over                                                      |
| :--------------------------------------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Posts, comments, reactions, member profiles    | No. Synced content is tied to the original workspace's Slack IDs. |
| Branding, pages, feeds, journeys, awards, tags | Not automatically. Ask us before rebuilding by hand.              |
| Your subscription                              | No. [Contact us](/support/contact) so you are not billed for two. |
| The original community's data                  | Stays. Removing the Slack app does not delete it.                 |

<Steps>
  <Step title="Contact us before you change anything">
    [Tell us](/support/contact) which workspace you installed into, which you meant, and what you configured. That is what lets us say which parts can be moved.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Install into the right workspace">
    This creates a new community. The original is untouched.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set up the new community">
    Work through [Quickstart](/getting-started).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Remove the app from the wrong workspace">
    **Tools & settings > Manage apps > Tightknit > Remove App**. Do this last.
  </Step>
</Steps>

If you caught it immediately and configured nothing, skip step one: install into the right workspace and remove the app from the wrong one.

## Internal pilots

Pilot in the community workspace with the doors closed, not in your internal workspace. Then there is nothing to migrate at launch.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create the community workspace">
    [Create Your Slack Workspace](/guides/create-your-slack-workspace). Name and URL as though you were launching today: avoid `pilot` or `test`, since the URL becomes part of your invite link.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Restrict invitations to admins">
    **Tools & settings > Workspace settings > Invitations**. This keeps the pilot closed.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Install Tightknit and set it up">
    Work through [Quickstart](/getting-started). What you configure now is what members see at launch.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Mark your team as teammates">
    Add your company email domains under [Settings > Team filter](/studio/settings#team-filter). Not retroactive, so add anyone already in the workspace by hand.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the doors">
    Keep the site on **Restricted Access** while testing, then switch to **Public Access**, relax invitations, and [invite members](/guides/invite-and-activate-members).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## No community workspace yet

Create it first with [Create Your Slack Workspace](/guides/create-your-slack-workspace). Settle these before inviting anyone, because each is awkward to change later:

* **Workspace name and URL** — it becomes part of your invite link.
* **Who can invite members** — admins only, or all members for an open community.
* **Default channels** — new members join these automatically.
* **Three to seven starter channels** — including an admin-only `#announcements`. Some Slack plans cap admin-only channels, so set it early.
* **Message retention** — Tightknit makes synced conversation searchable, so longer retention keeps more of it useful.

## Related pages

* [Quickstart](/getting-started) - install Tightknit and publish your site.
* [Slack sync guide](/slack/sync-guide) - what syncs from Slack, and when.
* [Tightknit Enterprise Slack app](/slack/tightknit-enterprise-slack-app) - the org-level admin-operations app.


## Related topics

- [Quickstart](/getting-started.md)
- [Guides](/guides/index.md)
- [Create Your Slack Workspace](/guides/create-your-slack-workspace.md)
- [Tightknit Enterprise Slack App](/slack/tightknit-enterprise-slack-app.md)
- [Troubleshooting](/support/troubleshooting.md)