## 1. Sign in

Open CoLab from the [daemn front page](/) and sign in. If you belong to more than one tenant, choose the one you want to talk in. If your account has no access to CoLab yet, the page says so, and **Ask for access** sends the request to your tenant's Owners.

## 2. Find your conversations

**Home** shows your conversations in two groups, **Channels** and **Direct messages**. A channel you join, or a message someone starts with you, appears here. **DMs** lists every direct and group message, newest first, and can show only the unread ones.

## 3. Join a team channel

Open **Browse channels** to see every team channel in your tenant. Press **Join** on one to start reading and writing in it, or **Open** on one you already belong to.

## 4. Start a conversation

Press **New conversation**.

1. For a direct or group message, pick one or more people and open the conversation.
2. For a private channel, name it and add the people. Only the people you add can read it.

To answer one message without filling the channel, open its thread and reply there.

## 5. Keep up with what needs you

**Activity** lists the mentions and replies you have not read yet. Once you have read one, it leaves the list. Use **Search** to find a person or a conversation by name.