Space Exploration Webinar Recording and Q&A Session
Thanks for joining us in the first Space webinar! We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! For those of you who missed it, here is the recording of our live session:
Below is a summary of the Space webinar Q&A session with questions grouped by topic.
Thank you for being so active – we received 100+ questions, and most of them (80) were handled during the webinar. We’ll be contacting authors directly to address the unanswered questions that didn’t make it into this post. Don’t worry, all your questions will be answered.
General Concepts
Q: Can one person try Space to evaluate for our team?
A: Yes, definitely, but you need multiple accounts to see how it really works. So we’d recommend inviting some colleagues.
Q: If the company already has systems that they are using for planning and versioning, it is very hard to switch to Space. To make the process more smooth it is critical to have integrations with top-competitors. Does this fit your product strategy?
A: Yes, definitely. We’re planning to create integrations with the most popular products on our side and we’ll provide a variety of extension points, so our partners/customers can build their own integrations.
Q: Are you planning on expanding the feature set to cater to less technical users?
A: Yes, we are already working on many features for less technical users. Knowledge Base is coming soon, too.
Q: Will teams be able to disable/hide certain components of Space they do not need, to reduce clutter?
A: No, it’s not planned.
Q: The value of Space looks like it would mostly be to encompass an entire business’s infrastructure in one platform. Is that the official Space goal?
A: Yes, Space is an all-in-one solution that provides all the tools needed to work on projects and collaborate effectively.
Q: What are your plans for YouTrack and other team tools in light of Space becoming available?
A: Space is an integrated team environment that includes not only software development-oriented tools, but also a team directory, calendars, HR, a knowledge base, messaging, and many other features for various roles in a company. It is a complete solution that requires little to no integration with other software products that have similar functionality, and yet it does provide support for 3rd party products.
Upsource, YouTrack, and TeamCity, while they can be integrated together, are also standalone products that can be used with many different solutions. We are continuing to develop them as separate products that solve specific problems very well.
Q: Which user groups should use YouTrack and which should use Space?
A: If you are looking for a tool to cover only issue tracking and agile project management, you can use YouTrack. If you are looking for a single solution for software development and collaboration, we recommend using Space.
Q: Is the dark theme planned to actually be dark at some point?
A: Sure, we’re working on the dark theme.
Q: What technologies are used in Space?
A: A lot of Kotlin! Here is a good presentation about Kotlin in Space.
Authentication
Q: Can we get 2FA in the builtin auth? Any idea when this is planned?
A: It’s already been implemented, and we are testing and polishing it. It’ll be available in the cloud soon.
Calendars
Q: Can Calendar be in sync with Google/Apple/Outlook calendars?
A: Google Calendar integration is in progress and will soon be available in the cloud. Outlook Calendar will also be supported on our side, and for other calendars, we’ll provide a variety of extension points for integration.
Q: Is there a way to get notifications from meetings in the calendar?
A: Not at the moment, we’re working on it and will be available very soon.
Chats
Q: Since it seems like everything in Space seems like it becomes a “chat”, are there features for organizing the chats so it’s easier to navigate and parse?
A: Sure, this is one the crucial priority for chats at the moment. We’re now working on reducing the noise and organizing notifications and communication.
Q: How can we search within chats?
A: We’re working on a full-text search now, above all because it’s crucial for the chats. It will be available soon.
Q: Are you going to have anything like VoIP integration?
A: Right now we are working on integrating external video conference providers (Google Meet and Zoom at first). The list of integrations will be quite extensive, and we plan to work with plenty of partners on that.
Automation (CI/CD)
Q: When will CI/CD be available approximately?
A: The first version should be available in 2-3 months, and we’re already using it internally. It’ll be coming soon, after internal testing and bug fixing.
Q: Until automation is implemented in Space, are you planning on being able to see the CI status from another system, like GitHub or GitLab?
A: CI functionality will most likely come earlier than full extensions/applications support. But in the future, it’ll integrate status from other systems.
Q: Is NuGet support available?
A: We’ve recently updated the Space cloud, and NuGet support is now available.
Q: Will you support .Net CI?
A: It should be available along with CI when it’s released. After it’s released we’ll add reporting of tests and dedicated DSL for .Net projects.
Q: What language is the script? Are there options for different scripts like PowerShell?
A: It’s Kotlin-powered DSL (Kotlin Script). Other scripts like PowerShell are not supported (at least for now).
Q: What kind of host machines and OS types will be available for CI?
A: Linux will be supported first, macOS and Windows will be available later.
Q: Will there be a user interface for configuring CI/CD automation?
A: Not at the moment, it’s planned for the future.
Q: Do we have code quality checks as a part of CI/CD?
A: Not yet, but it’s planned. You’ll be able to add it as a part of the pipeline.
Q: Are there any code completion features currently available in the Kotlin job configuration?
A: Yes, the Space IntelliJ plugin provides code completion.
Code Review
Q: Is code review in Space any different than in Upsource?
A: Yes, it’s a different implementation, and some of the concepts are different.
The Space code review model is:
- Integrated (with teams, chats, writing to Git, etc.)
- Instant
- Turn-based
Q: Is it possible to limit the ability to merge until a code review has passed as well as to block people from pushing directly to master?
A: We’re working on this functionality now. It will be available soon.
Q: In some cases, comments in code and chats seem to be interchangeable. When would you use one over another?
A: Chat is for quick reply/reading without leaving the chat context. The timeline tab in the review is for reading discussions/resolution/reading review description without leaving the review context.
Source Code Management (Git hosting)
Q: Can repositories function like GitHub where they can be viewed and contributed publicly?
A: Space is a closed system, it can’t be accessed publicly. We’re planning to add support for external accounts with a limited set of permissions. Guest access is not planned for now. However, you can mirror a Space repo to GitHub and make it public.
Q: Do you have to use repositories in Space or can you use GitHub or Bitbucket?
A: You can mirror the repo, so all the changes in your Space repo will be mirrored to some external Git repository, which can be public. There are more details here.
Desktop/Mobile Apps
Q: Will Space be available as a desktop app?
A: There is a desktop app available, you can find it in Profile | My profile | Space Client Apps.
Q: Will Space have an app so you get notifications on your phone as well?
A: The Space mobile app is already available in the AppStore and Google Play.
Q: When will the rest of the Space features be added to the mobile app?
A: We’re focused on things that are convenient to do from mobile devices: chats, the ability to comment and read code reviews, the schedule, meetings, etc.
Q: Any plans for a full app for the iPad with all features?
A: We’re planning to redesign the iPhone app for the iPad when it’s ready. It will provide the same functionality with a slightly different presentation. For full functionality, we recommend using the web version. It’s adaptive.
IDE Plugin
Q: Will there be a richer integration with your suite of IDEs?
A: Yes, we’re working on code review support and other things, including:
- Initial project setup
- Search for packages
- Resolve missing Space package references directly in the IDE
- Edit Space automation scripts from the IDE and run them locally
Migration/Integrations
Q: Can we add users using Excel/bulk uploads etc?
A: Not at the moment, but it’s planned. We intend to support several formats for importing users: LDAP, CSV (Excel), etc.
Q: Is there any functionality with extra charge, lik, paid plugins in Jira?
A: Extensions and Applications will be available in our Marketplace. Some of them will be free, some of them will be paid (developed by our partners).
Q: Can chats be exported?
A: Not yet, but we’ll definitely provide an API (without private chats/private messages, as there are security/privacy issues here). We’ll also be working on some compliance exports, but we have no specific plans here yet.
Q: Any plans for integrations with other systems like Jira, Gitlab?
A: Yes, first of all we’re planning to provide a migration path, and the ability to integrate as well. We’ll rely on our partners in building such integrations.
Q: I use Trello, are there tools that I can use to migrate?
A: Not at the moment, we’re working on the migration process now, specifically on issue migration. Trello will be supported for sure.
Q: How can the community help with integrations with other systems like Jira, Gitlab?
A: We are working on the extensions model now. You can use the HTTP API, but we still need more webhooks and a proper applications model. You can start here. If you contact us we’ll send you more information on extensibility when we have it.
Issues/Boards/Planning
Q: Is there any forecast as to when Kanban boards and sprint planning will be implemented?
A: We’re working on Issue boards and other issue tracking features at the moment. Sprint planning is in the backlog.
Q: How do you create and manage backlogs, sprints, and Burndown charts for projects?
A: These aren’t available at the moment, but we have plans to include them in the future.
Q: How do you manage issue tags? Once they’re created I can’t find any way to remove them from the autocomplete list.
A: This is a known issue, and we are going to address it.
Q: Are there plans to add timesheet reports?
A: Yes, time tracking support and time reports are planned for the future.
Knowledge Base
Q: What about knowledge management? Confluence-like functionality?
A: Coming soon, we’re already testing it internally! It’s not yet available in the cloud version.
Q: How can we add documents to a project? Such as the code outline done at the start of a project?
A: You can use .md files inside the projects for now. We’re working on knowledge base functionality that will be available inside projects and on the company level. We plan to share the first prototype within 2-3 months.
Space News
Q; Where can I find the changelog for the cloud version?
A: We’ll be releasing a What’s New channel inside Space very soon, where we’ll share news and product updates. You can also subscribe to our news at the bottom of the Space page and to our blog.
Packages
Q: Will Space packages support things like Conan or generic binaries?
A: We have the following feature requests:
They are outside the scope of the upcoming Space release and are planned for the future.
Pricing
Q: Will testers keep their plan (for free), or do they get ‘demoted’ to the free plan?
A: EAP users will be moved to the free plan by default. Alternatively, they’ll be able to switch to a commercial plan if they need to do so. We’re planning to provide a test run before the release, so you can track your usage parameters and see which plan you’ll need.
Q: How are packages charged? How is storage charged? How are downloads charged?
A: Please see preliminary pricing for the Cloud version: we include some amount of storage/data transfer/CI credits, and we’ll charge on top for additional resources. Pricing for additional resources is not finalized, but it’ll be within market standards.
Q: Will Space have a free plan for small teams?
A: Sure, we’ve introduced a free plan available in the cloud. It’s not limited by the number of users, but it’s suitable for smaller teams. Check more details on our Pricing page.
Q: How long is the EAP?
A: The EAP will be available until the official release which is approximately planned for fall 2020.
On-premises
Q: When will On-Premises be available?
A: On-premises is planned for after the first release, so the current estimation is the beginning of 2021.
Q: Is there any information already available for on-premise hosting?
A: There is no pricing for the on-premise edition of Space yet, but we are working on it. We should cover small teams on-premise, not only Enterprise.
If you haven’t tried Space yet, join our free EAP by requesting your invite today!
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