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What are Labspaces?

Scientific notebooks built for collaboration and integration

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Written by Satya Singh

Labspace is Scispot's modern Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) — built for scientific teams that need more than a traditional notebook. It combines collaborative experiment documentation, structured protocol execution, embedded data, and a full approval workflow in one connected workspace.

Think of Labspace as "Notion for Science" — a flexible, programmable notebook where wet lab and dry lab teams work together in real time.


What Can You Do in a Labspace?

Organize Your Research

Labspaces act as top-level containers — like project folders — for all your experiments, protocols, and documentation. Within each Labspace you can create:

  • Experiment pages — record and track individual experimental runs

  • Protocol pages — define step-by-step SOPs with embedded inventory automation

  • Documentation pages — store general reference material, notes, and reports

  • Folders — group related pages for a cleaner structure; move content between folders at any time

You can create as many Labspaces as you need — teams typically organize them by project, workflow, or department.


Collaborate in Real Time

Multiple scientists can edit the same page simultaneously — whether at the bench on a tablet or at a desk. All changes are automatically saved to the cloud with no manual saving required.

For situations where connectivity is unreliable, Labspace pages support offline editing: any changes made while offline are stored locally and synced automatically once the connection is restored.

Pages are collaborative by default. If you need tighter control, you can make any page private and invite only specific team members as editors or viewers.


Embed Data Directly in Your Pages

Labspace pages support a rich set of embeds. Type / on any page to insert:

Embed

What it does

Labsheet

Embed a live database — samples, inventory, results — directly in your page. You can embed the full Labsheet or a specific saved view to keep the page focused on relevant data only.

Protocol

Embed an existing protocol (from the Template Library) as an executable copy within an experiment page

Protocol Steps

Embed individual protocol steps inside any page

Sheet

Add a spreadsheet with formula support

Manifest

Embed a plate or box manifest for spatial sample tracking

DNA / Chem Editor

Create and edit molecular biology and chemistry files inline

Google Drive / External

Embed any shareable link (Google Docs, Slides, PDFs, etc.)

Section

A draggable content block for flexible page layouts


Execute Protocols with Inventory Automation

Every protocol page in Scispot can automate your inventory. When a protocol step is completed, Scispot prompts you to confirm the consumption of inventory items tracked in a Labsheet. This keeps your stock levels accurate without manual updates.


Templatize Your Workflows

Use the Template Library to turn your most common experiments and protocols into reusable templates. Templates can be:

  • Protocol templates — reusable step-by-step procedures

  • Experiment templates — bundled collections of protocol templates for full experiment runs

When starting a new experiment or protocol run, pull a template with \protocols inside an experiment page to create an independent copy. Each run is its own record while the original template stays intact.

Templates themselves can go through a sign-off process — once approved, they are locked and cannot be edited, ensuring SOPs remain controlled.


Version Control

Every Labspace page supports version control. You can create a new version of any page or template, give it an alias, and switch between versions at any time. This lets teams safely iterate on experiments and protocols without losing prior work — all versions remain accessible and timestamped.


Sign-off Flows and MFA

When a page is ready for review, Scispot's Sign-off Flows provide a structured approval process:

  • Self-approve a page with your signature, or

  • Assign one or more reviewers and choose between:

    • Sequential review — reviewers sign off one at a time in a defined order

    • Non-sequential review — all reviewers sign off in parallel

Once a page is submitted for review it is locked, preventing edits while approvals are in progress. Reviewers can sign off or reject with mandatory comments. Every action is logged in the activity history.

For teams with compliance requirements, sign-off supports Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). When MFA is enabled, signers must verify their identity via an authenticator app before completing any approval — ensuring the right person is behind every sign-off.

When a page is fully signed off, a snapshot of all embedded Labsheets and Manifests is captured at that moment. The signed-off version reflects the data as it was at time of approval, even if the underlying Labsheet changes later.


Archive Completed Work

When a project or experiment is complete, you can archive it to keep your active workspace clean:

  • Archive entire Labspaces, individual pages, or folders

  • Archived items are moved to an Archived tab and locked from editing

  • All archived content remains fully accessible and searchable

  • Restore any item by selecting Unarchive at any time


Programmatic Access

Labspace is the only scientific notebook that supports full programmatic access. Computational biologists can push and pull data within experiment and protocol pages using the Scispot API, making it easy to automate data entry, trigger workflows from instrument results, or integrate with external systems.


How Labspaces Connects to the Rest of Scispot

Labspaces is one part of a connected platform:

Module

How it connects

Labsheets

Embed live databases in your pages; inventory automation pulls from Labsheets

Labflows

Link sample intake and processing workflows to Labspace protocol execution

AI Agents (Plato / Scibot)

Get AI-generated recommendations, protocol drafts, and contextual assistance inside Labspace pages

Template Library

Source of all reusable experiment and protocol templates

JupyterHub

Run Python/R notebooks alongside your ELN pages; push results back via API

Developer Toolkit

Instrument integrations push result data directly into embedded Labsheets

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