Discover spaces

Browse public spaces, find nearby spaces on your network, and revisit recent ones.

You don’t need an invite to find a space. webAI gives you several ways to discover what’s available — whether it’s a public space across the internet, something on your local network, or a space you’ve visited before.

Ways to discover spaces

Public directory

Spaces that have been listed publicly appear in a browsable grid. Each space card shows the space name, participant count, avatars, and whether a password is required. Spaces with the most participants appear first, and stale or empty spaces are automatically hidden.

Nearby spaces

On the desktop app, spaces hosted on your local network can be discovered automatically — no internet required. These show up with a Nearby badge and can be joined directly. Useful for working with people in the same office or on the same Wi-Fi network.

Recent spaces

Spaces you’ve been in before are saved to your history. If a recent space is still active, it appears with a Recent Space badge so you can rejoin with one click. Inactive or expired spaces are cleaned up automatically.

Space code

If someone gives you a space code, type it in and join. This is the fastest path when you already know where you’re going.

What you see before joining

Every space card gives you enough context to decide whether to join:

• The space name and code
• How many people are inside
• Avatars of who’s there (hover to see names)
• Whether a password is required
• The space type — public, private, nearby, or recent

How spaces become discoverable

When someone creates a space, they choose how it can be found:

Visibility	Description
Public	Listed in the public directory for anyone to browse
Local network	Discoverable on the local network via mDNS
Private	Only accessible by sharing the space code directly

A space can use any combination of these — or all of them at once.

How the public directory works

The public directory is peer-to-peer — there is no central server listing rooms. Here’s how it works:

• When a host enables “List publicly,” their space is announced to a well-known directory peer.
• The directory peer collects announcements and serves the list to anyone browsing.
• Listings include the room name, user count, and password requirement.
• Spaces send a heartbeat every few seconds. If no heartbeat is received for 20 seconds, the listing is removed automatically.
• When a host leaves and a relay takes over, the room is re-announced with the new host’s identity — so the listing stays active.

Private spaces never appear in the directory. They can only be joined by someone who has the room code (and password, if set).