# Workspaces, invitations & joining a firm

A user must belong to a firm to use the app. There are three ways in, presented on the
**"Set up your workspace"** screen ("Create a new firm, or join one that's already on Albatross").

### A. Accept an invitation

If someone invited the user, an invitation appears under **"Your invitations"**:
"*[Inviter]* invited you to join *[Firm]*." Click **"Accept"** to join and enter the app.

### B. Create a new firm

Under **"Create a new firm"**, the field is pre-filled with "*[Your name]*'s Firm" but can be
changed. Click **"Create firm"** to create the workspace and enter the app.

### C. Join an existing firm (request to join)

Under **"Join an existing firm"**, the user types the firm's **exact name** and clicks
**"Find firm."** Help text: "Enter the firm's name exactly as it appears on Albatross — ask a
teammate if you're not sure."

> **Important:** There is deliberately **no search-as-you-type or autocomplete** for firm
> names. This prevents strangers from discovering which firms exist. The user must know and
> type the exact name.

Results:
- No match → "No firm named '*[name]*' is on Albatross. Check the exact name with a teammate,
  ask them for an invitation — or create your firm above."
- A match → shows the firm with a **"Request to join"** button (or a badge reading
  "Already a member" / "Requested" if applicable).

After requesting, the user sees the request under their pending requests with "Awaiting
approval — we'll email you when the firm responds" and a **"Cancel"** button. A firm
owner/admin must approve it (see [Section 21](https://albatross.legal/docs/team-roles-access)).

### Invitation links (`/invite/[id]`)

Email invitations link straight to an accept page:

- **Signed out** → prompts the user to create an account or sign in with the invited email;
  the invitation is then accepted automatically.
- **Wrong account** → if signed in as a different email than the invitation was sent to, the
  user is told to switch accounts.
- **Accepting** → shows "Joining *[Firm]*…" and drops them into the app.
- **Invalid / expired / already used / canceled** → an explanatory message and a link to sign
  up. If an invitation expired or was canceled, the fix is to ask the firm to send a new one.

### Belonging to more than one firm

A user can be in multiple firms. When they are, a firm switcher (dropdown) appears in
**Settings → General**, and they can create additional firms from there. Each firm has its own
cases, members, roles, billing, and settings.