Spaces

A Space is a fully isolated workspace inside PrimeTask. Each Space has its own tasks, projects, notes, custom fields, tags, statuses, priorities, and (optionally) CRM data. Spaces never leak into each other unless you explicitly link them. For the broader picture on what Spaces are and how they fit into PrimeTask, read Spaces Overview.

You might keep a Personal Space and a Work Space, one Space per client, a separate Space for a side project, or any combination that fits how you work. The Spaces settings card is where you manage them - create new ones, switch between them, edit their configuration, set up sync (see File Sync and iCloud Sync for the full feature guides), and configure SpacesCare collection sharing between Spaces.

Use Spaces for separation, not for organisation

Tasks within a single Space are organised by projects, tags, statuses, and priorities. Use a separate Space when you want a completely isolated context - different work, different rules, different identity. If you'd just like to group some tasks together, that's what projects and tags are for.

What you can do

See all your Spaces

at a glance, with the active one marked

Switch the active Space

with one click

Create a new Space

start empty, or copy from an existing Space (data + settings)

Edit any Space

name, description, accent colour, templates, sync, collaboration

Set up sync

for any Space - File Sync (cloud folder, network share, USB drive) or iCloud (macOS)

Enable collaboration

on a File Sync Space so teammates can join and work alongside you (Pro feature)

Set a per-Space identity

when collaboration is on - your display name and username inside that Space can differ from your global Profile

Connect Spaces with SpacesCare

share specific collections (tasks, projects, CRM, etc.) between two Spaces so changes in one flow into the other

How to open Spaces

Sidebar (default): Open Settings from the sidebar, then expand the Spaces card.
Settings search: Open Settings and type spaces, workspace, sync, or sharing.
Command palette: Press ⌘+K (or Ctrl+K), type spaces, and pick the entry.

Things worth knowing

Each Space is fully isolated by default

Your tasks, projects, notes, custom fields, tags, statuses, priorities, and CRM records all live inside a single Space. Switching to a different Space loads a completely different set of everything. There is no shared "global tasks" pool - every piece of data lives in exactly one Space.

This is intentional: it means a personal Space and a work Space can use entirely different vocabularies, different statuses, different priorities, and even different CRM data without ever touching each other. If you do want a piece of data to appear in multiple Spaces, that's what SpacesCare is for.

Switching Spaces reloads the app's data

Clicking a Space card switches the active Space. PrimeTask reloads the task list, project list, CRM data, and other Space-scoped state to match the new Space. Anything you had open is closed. Save your work before switching if you have unsaved edits in a modal.

Creating a Space - start empty or copy from another

When you create a new Space, you pick an initialization mode:

Start empty - a brand new Space with no data. You can pre-load templates for tags, statuses, and priorities to give yourself a head start. Custom status and priority templates require Pro.
Copy from space - a clone of an existing Space's data and configuration. Useful when you want to start from your "template Space" and tweak from there.

Tag templates are a quick win

When you create an empty Space, take a moment to pick a tag template that matches the Space's purpose (engineering, marketing, personal, freelance, etc.). Pre-loaded tags save you from typing them one by one and give the Space immediate structure.

Editing a Space - what's in the modal

When you edit an existing Space (or create a new one), the Space modal lets you set:

Name and description - what this Space is for
Accent colour - used for the Space card and indicators throughout the app
Tag, status, and priority templates (during creation only) - pre-loaded vocabularies for the Space
PrimeCRM toggle - turn CRM on or off for this specific Space (Pro feature)
Sync method - None / File Sync / iCloud Sync (covered below)
Collaboration - when sync is set to File Sync, you can enable multi-user collaboration (Pro feature)
Owner profile - when collaboration is on, set a Space-specific display name and username

Collaboration enables a per-Space identity

When you turn on collaboration on a File Sync Space, PrimeTask asks you for a display name and username for that Space. These can differ from your global Profile - useful when you want a different identity in a client-shared Space than the one you use everywhere else. Your global Profile (set in Profile) is the default; the per-Space identity overrides it for that Space only.

Sync methods - what each one is for

Spaces can use one of three sync configurations:

None (default for new Spaces) - the Space is local to this computer. No sync, no cloud, no other devices.
File Sync - the Space syncs through a folder on disk. The folder can be a cloud-synced folder (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, iCloud Drive), a network share (NFS, SMB, Synology), or even a USB drive. Works on macOS and Windows.
iCloud Sync - the Space syncs through Apple's iCloud service. Available on macOS only. Single-user, multi-device - your own Macs signed into the same Apple ID will see the Space.

You pick a sync method per Space, not for the whole app. You can run an iCloud Space and a File Sync Space side by side, with a few private Spaces that don't sync at all.

iCloud is single-user only

iCloud syncs your Space data between your own Apple devices through your private iCloud account. It does not support multi-user collaboration - you cannot share an iCloud Space with a teammate. For collaboration with other people, you need File Sync with the Collaboration option turned on (Pro feature).

File Sync personal vs collaborative

A File Sync Space starts as personal - the shared folder is just for your own devices. Turn on Collaboration in the Space modal (Pro feature) to make it multi-user, so other people can join the Space and work alongside you. The Space has the same data either way; collaboration adds member management, permission rules, and the per-Space owner identity.

Spaces are not the only things that sync

The Space's data - tasks, projects, CRM, attachments, custom fields, etc. - syncs via whatever sync method the Space uses. But your local app preferences (theme, notification settings, keyboard shortcuts, PIN, profile) live on each computer separately. They're not part of any Space and don't roam between devices automatically.

If you install PrimeTask on a second computer, your Spaces will appear once you join the same sync, but your theme and other local preferences need to be set on the new computer separately.

Collaboration changes are protected by confirmations

Several Space-level changes open a confirmation dialog before they commit, because their blast radius is larger than a typical setting:

Disabling File Sync on a Space - warns you about deletions made offline reappearing if you re-enable later
Stopping iCloud Sync on a Space - clarifies that other devices on the same Apple ID continue syncing with each other; this only affects this device
Enabling or disabling Collaboration - explains what it means for the Space's members
Reconnecting iCloud to a previously disconnected Space - confirms before re-attaching

These exist on purpose. Read them when they appear, and back up if you're not sure.

Smart Protection on the Space card

When a Space contains data, the Spaces grid shows whether the Space has data and whether it can be safely hidden or removed. PrimeTask uses these signals to prevent destructive operations from being a single click - for example, certain destructive actions (like deleting a Space outright) live in the Danger Zone card, not in the Spaces card itself.

SpacesCare - sharing collections between Spaces

SpacesCare lets you create sharing links between two Spaces so that selected collections (tasks, projects, CRM data, etc.) flow from one to the other. This is different from File Sync (which syncs a Space across devices) - SpacesCare connects two distinct Spaces on the same device or across devices, optionally pushing data between them.

SpacesCare requires Pro

The SpacesCare section, the Flow Editor, and the sharing wizard are part of the Pro tier. See License Settings and the full guide at Space Sharing Between Spaces.

A common use:

You have a personal Space with your own tasks
You have a work Space shared with teammates
You want certain personal tasks (a tag, a project) to also appear in the work Space
You set up a SpacesCare link from Personal → Work, choose the Tasks collection, and PrimeTask keeps the linked tasks in sync between the two Spaces

The SpacesCare wizard - what it asks

Setting up a sharing link runs through a guided wizard:

Welcome

an overview of what you're about to set up

Choose Spaces

pick the source Space and the target Space, and the direction (outbound only, or bidirectional)

Select Collections

pick which collections to share (Core: tasks, projects, tags, custom fields; Productivity: Kanban boards, Quick Notes; CRM: contacts, companies, CRM tasks, activities, relationships, message templates, outreach sequences)

Configure Permissions

decide whether the target Space accepts inbound data

Review & Apply

confirm the link and save

Bidirectional SpacesCare is currently disabled for File Sync Spaces

As an interim safety guard, two-way sharing through SpacesCare is blocked for Spaces using File Sync. You can still use one-way (outbound) sharing in File Sync Spaces. This restriction prevents a class of edge-case data loss while a deeper fix is in progress. Personal (non-synced) Spaces can use both directions normally.

Allow inbound - controls whether other Spaces can push to this one

Each Space has an Allow Inbound toggle that decides whether other Spaces can push data into it via SpacesCare. By default, allowing inbound is on (a Space can receive incoming links). Turn it off if you want the Space to be a strict source-only - push to others, but never accept pushes from anyone.

When you turn allow-inbound on for the first time, PrimeTask shows a confirmation explaining what it means.

Editing or removing a sharing link

The SpacesCare panel shows your active links visually. Each link displays the source Space, the target Space, the direction (outbound or bidirectional), the collections being shared, and whether the link is incoming or outgoing from the current Space's perspective. Click a link to edit it; click the remove control to delete it.

Common questions

"I want to keep work and personal life separated. How?"

Create two Spaces - one for personal, one for work. Add personal tasks/projects to the personal Space, work to the work Space. Switch between them via the Space switcher in the sidebar. Each Space is fully isolated; neither can see the other's data unless you explicitly link them with SpacesCare.

"I want to share a Space with my team."

Create or edit the Space, set the sync method to File Sync, choose a shared folder (something on Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, or a network share that everyone has access to), and turn on Collaboration. Set a strong password if the folder isn't otherwise protected. Pick a Space-specific display name and username for the owner profile, then save.

"Can I collaborate with someone via iCloud Sync?"

No. iCloud Sync is single-user - your own Apple devices signed into the same Apple ID. For multi-user collaboration with other people, you need a File Sync Space with collaboration enabled.

"Why do I need a separate display name when collaboration is on?"

Because collaborative Spaces let you present a different identity per Space. Your global Profile (the one in the Profile card) is your default. When you turn on collaboration on a Space, you can override it with a display name and username that's specific to that Space - useful when you want to use a different name in a client-shared Space than the one you use in your personal Space.

"I want to clone an existing Space to use as a starting point for a new one."

When you click Create Space, switch the initialization mode to Copy from space and pick the source. PrimeTask duplicates all the data and configuration from the source Space into the new one. After creation, the two Spaces are completely independent - edits in one don't affect the other.

"Some of my projects in the Personal Space need to also show up in my Work Space."

Set up a SpacesCare link from Personal → Work, choose the Projects collection (and Tasks if you want the tasks inside those projects to flow too), and apply. PrimeTask will keep those collections in sync between the two Spaces from then on.

"I want to disable sync for a Space without losing my data."

Open the Space's edit modal and switch the sync method to None. PrimeTask shows a confirmation explaining what's about to happen (including the warning about deletions made while sync is off). Confirm and save. Your data stays exactly where it is on this computer; it just stops syncing.

"I want to turn iCloud Sync off on this Mac but keep it running on my other devices."

Open the Space, switch to None as the sync method, and confirm. PrimeTask explains that this only affects this device - your other Macs signed into the same Apple ID will continue syncing with each other.

"I joined a shared Space and I can't edit the Space settings."

That's expected. Only the owner of a shared Space can edit Space-level settings (name, color, sync configuration, collaboration options). You'll see a banner in the Space modal explaining your role. You can still work inside the Space normally - the lock is only on the Space's own settings.

"I want to delete a Space entirely."

Deleting a Space outright is a destructive action and lives in the Danger Zone card, not in the Spaces card. Open Danger Zone and use the Delete Space option there. Always create a backup first (see Data Management).

Where to go next

If you want to…	Read this
Understand Spaces at a feature level	Spaces Overview
Go deeper on File Sync as a feature	File Sync
Go deeper on iCloud Sync as a feature	iCloud Sync
Manage device name, sync status, and encryption	File Sync Settings
Customise your global identity	Profile
Configure PrimeCRM per Space	CRM Settings
Customise tags, statuses, priorities, and fields	Category Management Settings
Back up before making major changes	Data Management
Delete a Space safely	Danger Zone Settings
Upgrade to Pro to unlock collaboration	License Settings
Browse all settings cards	Settings Overview