Teams

Teams are the organizational foundation of DeployStack, serving as dedicated workspaces where you manage all your MCP server configurations, cloud provider credentials, and environment variables. Think of teams as isolated containers that keep your team resources organized and secure.

Overview

In DeployStack, teams provide:

Isolated Workspaces: Each team maintains its own separate environment for MCP server management
Resource Organization: All your MCP servers, credentials, and settings are organized within teams
Access Control: Team-based permissions ensure secure access to your team resources
Multi-Project Support: Create multiple teams to organize different projects or environments
Team Collaboration: Teams support multiple members with role-based access control
Default Team Protection: Your personal default team cannot have additional members added

Every team acts as a complete team environment, containing everything needed to configure and manage MCP servers through the DeployStack Gateway.

Getting Started with Teams

Automatic Team Creation

When you register for DeployStack, a default team is automatically created for you:

Team Name: Uses your username
Team Slug: A URL-friendly version of your username (e.g., john-doe)
Description: Automatically set as "[username]'s team"
Role: You become the Team Administrator with full control

This default team is immediately ready for use - you can start configuring MCP servers right away.

Additional Teams

You can create additional teams beyond your automatically created default team to organize different projects or environments. The team creation limit can be adjusted by administrators in Global Settings (default: 3 teams maximum).

What Teams Contain

Teams serve as comprehensive containers for all your team resources:

MCP Server Settings

Team MCP Servers: Private MCP servers visible only to your team members
Global MCP Server Access: Browse and use community-wide MCP servers
Server Management: Team administrators can create, edit, and delete team servers
Version Control: Track different versions of your team's MCP servers
GitHub Integration: Automatic synchronization with GitHub repositories (see GitHub App Integration Guide)
Custom Configurations: Team-specific server settings and parameters
Process History: Complete logs and monitoring data for team MCP servers

MCP Server Credentials

API Keys and Tokens: Secure storage for MCP server authentication
Service Credentials: Authentication tokens for various MCP server integrations

Global Environment Variables

Node.js Environment Variables: Custom env vars for Node.js-based MCP servers
Reusable Variables: Environment variables that can be applied across multiple servers
Secure Storage: All environment variables are encrypted and securely stored

These global environment variables allow you to define common settings once and apply them to multiple MCP servers within the same team, streamlining your MCP server management.

Team Management

Managing Your Teams

DeployStack provides an intuitive interface for managing your teams through the Teams dashboard.

Accessing Team Management

Navigate to Teams: Go to the Teams section in your dashboard
View Teams Table: See all your teams with their details
Manage Teams: Click the "Manage" button next to any team you want to edit

The "Manage" button is available for all teams where you have administrative privileges.

Team Management Interface

When you click "Manage" on a team, you'll access a comprehensive management interface that includes:

Team Information: View team ID, creation date, and last update
Team Settings: Edit team name and description
Default Team Protection: Special handling for your default team
Team Deletion: Remove teams you no longer need (with safety protections)

Creating Additional Teams

To create a new team:

Navigate to the Teams section in your dashboard
Click "Create New Team"
Provide a team name and optional description
The system automatically generates a unique URL-friendly slug

Editing Team Details

You can modify your teams through the team management interface:

Team Name Editing

Regular Teams: You can freely change the name of teams you created
Default Teams: Your automatically created default team name cannot be changed
Protection Indicator: Default teams show a lock icon with an explanation
Reason: This prevents confusion since your default team name matches your username

Team Description Editing

All Teams: You can edit descriptions for any team you administer
No Restrictions: This applies to both default and regular teams
Optional Field: Descriptions can be left empty if desired

Visual Indicators

The interface provides clear visual feedback:

Default Team Badge: Shows "Default Team" label for your original team
Lock Icons: Appear next to fields that cannot be edited
Explanatory Text: Describes why certain fields are protected
Form Validation: Prevents invalid changes and provides helpful error messages

Team Naming and Slugs

Team Names: Can contain spaces, special characters, and any readable text
Team Slugs: Automatically generated URL-friendly identifiers
Unique Slugs: If a slug already exists, the system adds a number (e.g., my-team-2)
Permanent Slugs: Once created, team slugs cannot be changed

Team Ownership

Team Owner: The user who created the team has full administrative control
Owner Privileges: Can modify all team settings, manage resources, and delete the team
Single Owner: Each team has exactly one owner (currently you)

Team Features

Current Structure

DeployStack teams support multi-user collaboration with role-based access control:

Each team has one owner who created the team
Team members can have different roles with specific permissions
Default teams are personal - no additional members can be added to your default team

Team Roles

Teams support two distinct roles with different capabilities:

Team Administrator

Full team management: Can add/remove members, change roles, transfer ownership
Resource access: Full access to all team resources and MCP servers
Team settings: Can modify team name, description, and all configurations
Member management: Can promote team users to admins or demote admins to users

Team User

Basic access: Can view team information and see team members
Limited permissions: Cannot add members, change roles, or modify team settings
Resource viewing: Can see team resources but with restricted management capabilities

Important: Your default team (created automatically with your username) is protected - you cannot add other members to it. This keeps your personal workspace private.

Team Member Management

Adding Team Members

Team administrators can add new members to their teams (except default teams):

Navigate to Team Management: Go to your team's management page
Find Members Section: Look for the team members management area
Add Member: Click "Add Member" and enter the user's email or username
Assign Role: Choose either "Team Administrator" or "Team User"
Send Invitation: The user will be notified and added to the team

Limitations:

Default teams: Cannot add members to your personal default team
Existing users only: Can only add users who already have DeployStack accounts
Member limits: Non-default teams have a configurable member limit (adjustable in Global Settings, default: 3 members)

Managing Member Roles

Team administrators and owners can change member roles:

Promoting Team Users to Administrators

Who can do this: Team administrators and team owners
Process: Select the member and change their role to "Team Administrator"
Result: User gains full team management capabilities

Demoting Team Administrators to Users

Who can do this: Team owners (and other team administrators)
Restriction: Must maintain at least one team administrator
Process: Change the administrator's role to "Team User"

Removing Team Members

Team administrators can remove members from teams:

Who can remove: Team administrators and owners
Cannot remove: Team owners (must transfer ownership first)
Default teams: No members to remove (single-user only)
Process: Select member and click "Remove from Team"

Transferring Team Ownership

Team owners can transfer ownership to another team member:

Requirement: Target user must already be a team member
Process: Go to team settings and select "Transfer Ownership"
Choose New Owner: Select from existing team administrators
Confirm Transfer: Confirm the ownership change
Result: New owner gains full control, previous owner becomes team administrator

Important:

Cannot transfer default team ownership - default teams always belong to the original user
Irreversible action - ownership transfers cannot be undone
New owner requirements - Target user must be a team administrator

Default Team Restrictions

Your automatically created default team has special protections:

No Additional Members: Cannot add other users to your default team
Cannot Transfer Ownership: Default team ownership cannot be changed
Cannot Leave: You cannot leave your own default team
Personal Workspace: Designed to remain your private workspace

These restrictions ensure that every user always has a personal, private team for their individual work.

Resource Isolation

Each team maintains complete isolation:

Separate Credentials: MCP server credentials are team-specific
Independent Servers: MCP servers in one team don't affect others
Isolated Variables: Environment variables are scoped to individual teams
Secure Boundaries: No cross-team access to resources

Working with Teams

Step-by-Step Team Management

Editing a Team

Navigate to Teams: Go to your Teams dashboard
Find Your Team: Locate the team you want to edit in the table
Click Manage: Click the "Manage" button in the Actions column
Edit Details:
- Modify the team name (if not a default team)
- Update the team description
- Save your changes
Confirmation: You'll see a success message when changes are saved

Deleting a Team (Non-Default Only)

Prepare the Team: Remove all MCP server configurations
Access Management: Click "Manage" on the team you want to delete
Find Danger Zone: Scroll down to the "Danger Zone" section
Click Delete: Click the "Delete Team" button
Confirm Action: In the popup dialog, confirm you want to delete the team
Final Warning: Read the warning about permanent data loss
Complete Deletion: Click "Delete" in the confirmation dialog

Understanding Team Status

Default Team Badge: Your original team shows a "Default Team" badge
Lock Icons: Indicate fields that cannot be edited
Member Count: Shows how many users are in each team
Last Updated: Displays when the team was last modified

Switching Between Teams

If you have multiple teams, you can switch between them to:

Access different sets of MCP servers
Use different cloud provider credentials
Apply different environment variable sets
Organize projects or environments separately

Managing Team Settings

For each team, you can:

Update Team Name: Modify the display name
Edit Description: Change or add team descriptions
Manage Credentials: Add, update, or remove MCP server credentials
Configure Variables: Set up global environment variables
Monitor MCP Servers: View all MCP servers and their status

Understanding Team Slugs

Team slugs serve as unique identifiers:

URL Component: Used in dashboard URLs and API endpoints
Permanent Identifier: Cannot be changed after team creation
Conflict Resolution: System automatically handles naming conflicts
Case Insensitive: Converted to lowercase with hyphens

Team Deletion and Consequences

⚠️ Critical Warning: Team deletion is permanent and irreversible.

Default Team Protection

Your default team cannot be deleted - this is a permanent protection:

No Delete Option: The deletion section won't appear for default teams
Safety Measure: Prevents accidental loss of your primary workspace
Alternative: You can still edit the description and manage all resources

Protection Mechanisms

For non-default teams, multiple safety measures protect against accidental deletion:

Active Server Check: Teams with configured MCP servers cannot be deleted
Confirmation Dialog: A modal dialog requires explicit confirmation
Clear Warning: The interface clearly explains the consequences
Two-Step Process: You must first remove all servers, then confirm deletion

Required Steps Before Deletion

To delete a non-default team, you must:

Stop All Running MCP Servers: Ensure no servers are currently configured or running
Remove All Server Configurations: Delete all MCP server settings and configurations
Access Danger Zone: Navigate to the "Danger Zone" section in team management
Confirm Deletion: Click delete and confirm in the popup dialog

What Gets Permanently Deleted

When you delete a team, you lose everything associated with it:

All MCP Server Settings: Complete server configurations and process history
All MCP Server Credentials: Stored API keys, tokens, and authentication data
All Global Environment Variables: Custom environment settings and variables
Complete Process History: Logs, monitoring data, and historical information

No Recovery Options

Team deletion is permanent - there are no backups, recovery options, or ways to restore deleted teams. Once deleted, all data is gone forever.

Team Permissions

Your team permissions determine what actions you can perform:

Global Administrator Access

Global administrators have enhanced visibility into all teams across the system:

Can view all teams created by any user through the admin user management interface
Have read-only access to team information for administrative oversight and support purposes

Global vs Team Permissions

Global Permissions: Control system-wide access (user management, global settings)
Team Permissions: Control what you can do within your teams

teams.create: Create new teams (up to your limit)
teams.view: View team details and resources
teams.edit: Modify team settings and configurations
teams.delete: Delete teams (after removing all servers)
teams.manage: Full team management capabilities

MCP Server Management Capabilities

Your team role affects your ability to:

Configure new MCP servers
Modify server configurations
Manage MCP server credentials
Set up environment variables
Monitor MCP server status
Access process logs

Getting the Most from Teams

Organization Strategies

Consider creating separate teams for:

Different Projects: Organize MCP servers by project or client

Resource Management

Within each team:

Group Related Servers: Configure related MCP servers in the same team
Shared Credentials: Use the same MCP server credentials across servers
Common Variables: Leverage global environment variables for consistency
Logical Organization: Use descriptive names and descriptions

Teams provide the foundation for organized, secure, and efficient MCP server management in DeployStack. By understanding how teams work, you can effectively manage your team resources and maintain clean separation between different projects and environments.

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