2 Get started with Sophea Nous
The hosted Sophea Nous platform is invite-only. You start with one of two invitations:
- A customer setup invitation lets you set up an Organization as its Organization owner and, depending on the invitation, its first Workspace.
- A member invitation grants a role in an existing Organization, Team, or Workspace.
Use the email address shown in the invitation throughout sign-in. Invitations are tied to that address and cannot be accepted from a different account.
2.1 If you received a customer setup invitation
A customer setup invitation is for the person who will create the Organization and become its Organization owner. The email comes from Sophea Nous with the subject Kiefer invites you to set up Sophea Nous for followed by the Organization name, so searching your mailbox for “Kiefer” or “Sophea Nous” finds it. If you cannot find it, check your junk or spam folder. The invitation email names the Organization and its Workspace limit.
- Open the invitation email and click Sign in to set up your organization.
- Sign in with the email address named in the invitation. Complete any identity setup or email verification requested by the sign-in service.
- If you do not belong to any Organization or Workspace yet, Portal sets up the Organization from the invitation as soon as you sign in. There is nothing to click: Portal shows Setting up your workspace (or Setting up your organization when the invitation creates no Workspace) until setup is done. If setup cannot start, the card reads Setup did not start with the reason and a Set up button to try again.
- If you already belong to an Organization or have access to a Workspace, the Welcome to Sophea Nous card lists your invitation first with a Setup label, already selected. Click Set up followed by the Organization name from the invitation, for example Set up Acme.
Portal creates the Organization and makes you its Organization owner. One invitation sets up one Organization: reloading the page, clicking the button twice, or using a second browser tab never creates another one.
If you already have access to Workspaces, the card lists them below the invitation, grouped by account. Selecting a Workspace changes the button to Open followed by the Workspace name. Go to dashboard below the card leaves without choosing. Until you use the invitation, signing in to Portal without a specific destination, or opening Organizations, brings you back to this card.
If the invitation has no usable name, because it is missing or too short, Portal does not set it up by itself. The invitation row reads Your organization and the button reads Set up your organization. The button opens the Set up your organization page, where you enter the Organization name and click Set up organization.
If the name is already used by another Organization, setup opens the same page with the name prefilled and the reason shown. Edit the Organization name and click Set up organization.
The invitation stays unused until the Organization is created. It counts as used from that moment, even if Workspace setup then needs Finish setup or Retry setup.
What setup creates depends on the invitation’s Workspace limit:
| Workspace limit | What setup does |
|---|---|
| 0 | Creates the Organization only. Workspace creation is disabled for it. Contact the Sophea team if you need a Workspace. |
| 1 | Creates the Organization and starts setting up its Workspace, named after the Organization, as described in Automatic Workspace setup. |
| More than 1 | Creates the Organization. You then create up to that many Workspaces yourself, as described in Create the first Workspace. |
With a Workspace limit of 0 or more than 1, Portal opens the Organization page after setup.
Customer setup invitations are valid for 14 days. If the invitation has expired or the invited email is wrong, contact the Sophea team for a replacement.
An invitation always creates a separate Organization. If you already own an Organization, a new invitation does not add Workspaces to it.
In the hosted invite-only platform, only an Organization owner can create a Workspace.
2.1.1 Automatic Workspace setup
When the Workspace limit is 1, Portal opens a setup progress page for the new Organization. Workspace setup continues without you: you can leave the page and return later. When the Workspace is ready, Portal moves you to the Organization page. The setup page never opens Nous by itself.
| The page shows | What to do |
|---|---|
| Setting up your workspace | Wait, or leave and return later. When setup finishes, Portal opens the Organization page. |
| Workspace setup needs attention | Setup failed. Click Retry setup to retry the same Workspace. Do not create another Workspace instead. Without permission to retry, the page asks you to contact an Organization owner or Workspace administrator. |
| Finish setting up your workspace | The Organization exists but its Workspace was never started, for example because setup was interrupted. The Organization owner clicks Finish setup to start it. You do not need to enter a name. |
| Your organization is ready | Workspace creation is not available right now. The notice on the card explains why. |
The Organization page shows the same status. While setup is in progress, the Workspace row reads Setting up. When setup finishes while the setup page is open, Portal opens the Organization page and confirms Your workspace is ready. once. If you left the setup page, the Workspace row changes from Setting up to ready. Manage on the Workspace row opens its Overview in Portal; it shows only to people who can manage that Workspace. Go to Nous on the row opens its chat. Invite people from People & Teams in the Workspace’s sidebar, and connect knowledge from Connectors in the same sidebar. Retry setup appears on the Workspace row, and Finish setup replaces the first-Workspace control.
If you later delete that Workspace on purpose, Portal does not recreate it from the invitation. Create a replacement with Create Nous Workspace, as described in the next section.
2.2 Create the first Workspace
A Workspace is the boundary for people, data, connectors, settings, and Digital Employees in Nous. Create one yourself when your invitation’s Workspace limit is more than 1, or when you replace a Workspace you deleted.
- Open the Organization in Portal. If you belong to exactly one Organization, Organizations opens it directly. With several, select the Organization’s name in the list. Each entry shows your role when you are not the Organization owner, and the Organization’s Workspace and member counts.
- Select Create Nous Workspace.
- Enter a short, recognizable Workspace name, such as
Acme Legal Operations. - Click Create.
Portal lists the Workspace as a row that reads Setting up while setup is in progress. You can leave the page and return later without creating another Workspace.
Manage on a Workspace row opens its Overview, which shows its People, Connectors, Digital Employees, and Pending approvals at a glance. Manage shows only to people who can manage the Workspace; everyone else sees only Go to Nous on the row. To enter Nous from a Workspace page, select Go to Nous in the sidebar, under the Workspace’s name; it is there on every Workspace page.
Organization owners and admins also see a Get {Workspace} working card at the top of the Workspace’s Overview. It lists three steps you can do in any order: Connect your company knowledge, which opens Connectors in Sophea Nous so you can add a source, Invite your people, and Try it, which opens Sophea Nous chat. Portal marks a step done when it happens: a connected source has searchable documents, at least one person has been invited to the Workspace, or you or another admin selected Try it. Skip takes a step off the card. When no step is left to do, the card folds into a Setup · n of 3 done button beside the page title (First-time setup while nothing is done), and selecting it brings the skipped steps back. The card goes away for good, for every admin, once all three steps are done. To remove it before that, select Hide setup and confirm; Show setup in the Overview actions menu brings it back. Skip, Hide setup and Show setup are saved with your Portal sign-in, so they follow you to another browser or device, and every admin keeps their own. Progress and completion are shared by the Workspace.
The first time you open a Workspace Overview that shows this card, Portal walks you through three short steps: where things are in the sidebar, the card itself, and the first thing to do on it. The first time you open an Organization with two or more Workspaces, a similar three steps show the sidebar, the Workspace list, and Create Nous Workspace (or a Workspace’s Manage when no more Workspaces fit your plan; Manage opens the Workspace in Portal, and Go to Nous on the row opens its chat). Select Next to move on, Skip tour or Esc to stop, and Got it on the last step, or select the highlighted item itself. Either way they do not start on their own again, on any browser or device. To see the Workspace steps again, select Show me around in the card, beside the setup button, or in the Overview actions menu while the card is hidden.
The first time you open People & Teams, Digital Employees, or Connectors, one short note points at the main action on the page: Add people, Hire an employee (Hire a Digital Employee in an Organization with one Workspace), or Add connector. The Digital Employees note appears only once a connected source has searchable documents. Select Got it, the close button, Esc, anywhere else on the page, or the button itself to close the note. It does not come back, on any browser or device.
2.3 Workspace allowance
Each Organization has a Workspace allowance. Deleted Workspaces release their allowance, and a failed setup attempt does not consume it.
Beside the Workspaces title on the account Overview page, people who can create Workspaces see how many Workspaces the plan includes.
When the allowance is used, Portal replaces the Create Nous Workspace control with a Workspace limit reached notice on the account Overview page. Delete a Workspace you no longer need, or contact billing@sophea.ai to raise the allowance.
One exception: an Organization set up from an invitation with a Workspace limit of 1 does not show the notice while its original Workspace is setting up or ready, because that Workspace fills the allowance by design. Other cases follow the normal allowance rules. Failed Workspaces do not count toward the allowance, and Portal always explains disabled or unavailable Workspace creation.
2.4 If you received a member invitation
A member invitation can grant Organization membership, Team membership, or access to one Workspace. In an Organization, accepting a Workspace invitation also makes you an Organization member: the Workspace role in the invitation, Member or Admin, applies only to that Workspace and never makes you an Organization Admin. The invitation email names the scope and role you are being offered.
- Open the invitation link.
- On the invitation page, click Sign in. For an Organization, the page is titled Join followed by the Workspace’s name when you are invited to one Workspace as a member, or the Organization’s name otherwise.
- Sign in with the exact email address shown on the invitation.
- Review the invitation and click Accept invitation.
- Portal applies your access and takes you to your destination. If it shows Finishing workspace access, wait a moment: the page moves on by itself, and you can retry from it.
If you are signed in with another account, Portal shows Switch account. Switch to the invited address instead of asking the sender to add the wrong account.
As a member, you open the Workspace the Organization gave you in Sophea Nous. If you have several, Portal asks which one to open. If you have none yet, you land on the Organization’s overview. An Organization admin invitation opens Portal: the Workspace’s Overview when the Organization has one Workspace, otherwise the Organization’s overview. While the invitation link is still valid, reopening it after acceptance shows Continue, which takes you to the same place. Access shared from someone’s personal account still appears under Shared with me.
If an invitation is expired, revoked, or was accepted by another user, Portal shows that it is unavailable. Ask an Organization owner, Organization admin, or Workspace admin with the relevant authority for a replacement. An expired invitation is resent from the list it still appears on; a revoked one needs a new invitation.
For the differences between Organization membership, Teams, and direct Workspace access, see Organizations and Workspace access.
2.5 Where you land after signing in
When you sign in without following a specific link, Sophea Nous takes you to the place you work in:
- Organization owners and admins, and Workspace admins, land in Portal. With one Workspace you see its Overview, where Go to Nous in the sidebar takes you into Sophea Nous. With several Workspaces you see the Organization’s overview, and with several Organizations you see the Organizations list.
- Members open their Workspace in Sophea Nous. If you have several, Portal asks which one to open.
A link to a Workspace always brings you back to that Workspace after you sign in. If your access to a Workspace is still being set up, Portal shows Setting up your access and continues on its own; Check again retries. If you finished setting your password from an email opened in another browser and your member invitation was not accepted yet, open the invitation email again and click Accept invitation.
2.6 Reset or add a password
On the Portal sign-in page, select Forgot password and enter the email address for your account. Portal shows a neutral confirmation whether or not an account exists for that address. This confirmation does not verify that the account exists.
If the account uses only a passkey, the link in the email lets you add a password without deleting the passkey. If the link has expired or has already been used, return to Forgot password and request a new one.
2.7 Open Nous and send a first message
In Portal, select Go to Nous on the Workspace row. Portal signs you into the selected Workspace and opens Nous. Every Workspace row has it, and it stays unavailable until the Workspace is set up. Inside a Workspace, Go to Nous is also in the sidebar, under the Workspace’s name. Manage on the row opens the Workspace’s Overview in Portal and shows only to people who can manage that Workspace.
When you have access to several Workspaces, Portal may ask you to choose one on the Welcome to Sophea Nous card. Select the Workspace and click Open followed by its name.
The first visit may ask for your display name in a small card. Answer it or ignore it (it never blocks chat), then send a harmless test message such as:
Reply with the single word "ready" so I can confirm chat works.A new Workspace has no connected company data yet. The first response confirms that sign-in, Workspace access, and chat are working. It does not confirm connector or search setup.
If Nous does not open:
- Return to Portal and confirm the Workspace no longer reads Setting up (setup finished).
- Open the Workspace again from Portal.
- Confirm that your invitation was accepted and that the Workspace appears on the expected Organization’s overview, or under Shared with me for a personal-account share.
- If access still fails, ask a Workspace admin to check the Workspace People page. In an Organization with one Workspace, ask an Organization owner or admin to check People & Teams instead.
2.8 Know where to manage each setting
Portal and Nous have different responsibilities:
| Task | Where to do it |
|---|---|
| Create Organizations and Workspaces | Portal |
| Manage Organization people and Teams | Portal |
| Invite people to a Workspace and review effective access | Portal |
| Review plans, usage, and billing details | Portal |
| Create and manage Digital Employees | Portal |
| Chat with Digital Employees | Nous |
| Configure connectors, document access, and search | Nous |
| Chat with Workspace knowledge | Nous |
2.9 Next steps
After the Workspace opens successfully:
- Review Organizations and Workspace access and add another administrator if needed.
- Check Plans and billing for the Workspace plan and current usage.
- Configure a small data source in Connectors.
- Test the indexed content in Knowledge Search.
- If the product is enabled for the Workspace, configure a Digital Employee.