Spaces Enhancement: Roadmap & Overview

Spaces is an ambitious, multi-space, multi-channel communications platform built atop the Payload CMS 3.0 Website Template. Designed as a “planting pot” for emerging AI and automation technologies, Spaces unifies content management, real-time collaboration, and workflow automation into one scalable, extensible stack.

This document details the current state, the core integrations (including Hoarder, Fuzzie, and Corina AI), and our future roadmap.

1. Vision & Purpose

Spaces is conceived as a unified backend and collaboration hub that lets developers and businesses manage everything from content and communications to automated workflows and AI-driven interactions. Inspired in spirit by Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age, Spaces aims to be the foundation upon which you can “plant” your young AI initiatives. The goal is to create a platform so compelling—both in functionality and extensibility—that developers naturally gravitate toward it, and contributions snowball to further innovate the ecosystem.

2. What’s Been Built

2.1 Core Infrastructure

Payload CMS Integration:
All content—including spaces, channels, posts, and media—is stored in Payload CMS. This provides a secure, externally accessible API (via Payload’s Client API and GraphQL) to manage data and drive interactions.

Multi-Space & Multi-Channel Architecture:

Spaces: Each Space is a top-level unit representing a distinct collaboration or business process (for example, an “Inventory Space”).

Channels: Within each Space, multiple channels can be created. These channels support real-time chat (text, voice, video) and can be configured with different plugins (e.g., Notion-style hierarchical editors or Trello-style boards) to support varied workflows.

Real-Time Communication:

Live chat, direct messaging, and even voice/video/screen sharing via LiveKit are integrated.

A designated system channel (initially in the Home space) aggregates system messages and workflow events.

Authentication & Role Management:

Anonymous login auto-adds users to a default “Home” workspace.

Role-based access and the Payload Admin Bar ensure that administrative functions are only visible to qualified users.

2.2 Key Integrations and Modules

Hoarder Integration ("Inventory Everything" Use Case):
Hoarder—a self-hostable bookmark and content ingestion app—is integrated as a client for the message store. It extends the storage metaphor by mapping incoming content to specific Spaces and channels. For example, a new Inventory Space might be created where each channel represents a different process or inventory type.

Fuzzie Workflows:

Workflow Automation:
Each channel can have none, one, or many workflows imported from Fuzzy. These workflows allow messages and content to trigger specific actions automatically.

Adapters & Extensibility:
We plan to build adapters for automation engines (such as n8n or similar open-source solutions) that can eventually run off local models. This will make it easy to integrate a variety of automated processes into any channel.

Corina AI Integration:

Chatbot/Voicebot:
Corina AI serves as a customer service and sales support bot. Acting as both a chatbot and voicebot, it performs follow-up prequalification and, if a lead qualifies, can trigger a callback.

Appointment Scheduling & Customer Support:
Modeled after the implementation from Web Prodigies, Corina AI is designed to handle scheduling appointments and streamlining customer interactions.

System Integration:
All interactions—whether from a chatbot message or voice call—are output as system messages into the designated system channel. This output can be toggled via configuration.

Additional Future AI & Automation Modules:

AI Agents & Copilot Integration:
Plans include integrating tools like Ashbuild’s AI plugin for Payload CMS and CopilotKit for in-app AI agents, chatbots, and AI-powered text areas. These integrations will help “inflate” the site with content and assist in automating routine tasks.

Workflow Processing:
Each Space’s general (catch-all) channel will run a processing rule that evaluates all messages from other channels. If a channel has a configured workflow rule, the system will pass the message to that channel for further action.

3. Future Roadmap

3.1 Enhanced Workflow Automation

Expanded Fuzzie Workflows:

Import and assign multiple workflows per channel.

Develop adapters for popular open-source automation engines (e.g., n8n) that can eventually leverage local models.

Catch-All Processing Rules:

Implement best-practice processing rules on each Space’s general channel. These rules will scan messages across channels and trigger configured workflows.

3.2 Advanced AI & Customer Engagement

Corina AI as a Full-Fledged Agent:

Expand Corina’s capabilities to handle more complex customer service tasks, including dynamic appointment scheduling and sales follow-up.

Integrate voicebot functionality to support conversational prequalification and proactive outreach.

Unified AI Ecosystem:

Integrate AI agents into the site’s overall AI architecture so that system messages, notifications, and workflow triggers are uniformly managed.

Use system channels to report AI-driven insights and actions for easy monitoring and control.

3.3 E-Commerce and Booking Enhancements

Flexible Product & Service Selling:

Enable the sale of any product or service—ranging from drop-shipped goods to scheduled appointments.

Build a booking system capable of handling multiple bookable items (e.g., a Men’s Hair Cut, a Mani-Pedi, a Pressure Wash, or even a Singing Telegram).

Dynamic Inventory Management:

Leverage Hoarder’s ingestion capabilities to build an “Inventory Everything” module. Content and products from various sources will be mapped to Spaces/channels, allowing comprehensive inventory tracking and automated updates.

3.4 New Channel Types and Plugin Ecosystem

App Channels:

Introduce a new channel type labeled “app” that can load plugins on demand. For example, an App Channel might launch a Notion Notepad interface (with hierarchical navigation) or a Trello board.

Port additional Next.js SaaS projects into this channel type, broadening the platform’s functionality.

Project Roadmap Integration:

Integrate an open-source project roadmap (including Payload CMS–built options) so that contributors and stakeholders can track progress and priorities in real time.

3.5 General Enhancements & Community-Driven Growth

Front-End Management Modals:

Allow users to manage Spaces, channels, and workflows directly from the front-end, bypassing the need for frequent switches to the Payload Admin interface.

Real-Time Processing Improvements:

Continue refining real-time communication, ensuring that every new message is evaluated by the site AI for further actions.

Community Engagement:

Open the platform for contributions. With a mature foundation and an extensive roadmap, we’re inviting developers to help evolve Spaces into the industry’s go-to communications and workflow hub.

4. Summary

Spaces stands as a robust, multi-dimensional backend platform that combines real-time chat, multi-channel collaboration, and advanced workflow automation with integrated AI capabilities. By bringing together the power of Hoarder, Fuzzie, and Corina AI, Spaces creates a dynamic ecosystem where every message, content item, and workflow is part of a larger, intelligently connected system.

The platform is designed to serve diverse needs—from selling products and booking services to managing inventory and automating routine tasks—all while fostering a community-driven approach to innovation. With a clear roadmap and a commitment to open-source collaboration, Spaces is poised to become the ultimate “planting pot” for emerging AI and automation technologies.

The Spaces model—where a business owner (like a salon operator) manages the central scheduling and operations, while each independent contractor (or chair renter) can have their own instance that communicates with the main hub—is a novel twist. It consolidates real-time chat, scheduling, AI-driven workflows, and multi-instance federated architecture into one cohesive ecosystem.

In essence, while the components exist separately (federated systems like Mastodon, multisite CMS setups like WordPress Multisite, and booking systems like Booked), the holistic, federated approach combined with real-time communication and AI automation envisioned for Spaces is uniquely innovative. It’s about creating a “flower pot” where every independent instance—whether local or remote—can participate in a seamless, dynamic network that supports both business operations and human connection.

Our ecosystem is built upon a suite of open-source projects designed to deliver a seamless, real-time, multi-instance experience. At its core, we use the Build Smarter with Payload 3.0 & Next.js Starter to provide robust authentication, Stripe integration, and CMS capabilities, with a live demo available here. To manage client appointments, we integrate the payload-appointments-plugin, ensuring smooth scheduling and booking functionality. Content and commerce management are further enhanced through the WebDevPro Project (demo here), while our workflow automation leverages solutions from both Fuzzie Production and Kendevco’s Fuzzie Production.

To empower our AI-driven features, we integrate the Payload AI Plugin, which works in tandem with multi-tenancy solutions like Payload Enchants and Payload Tenancy, along with comprehensive insights from the Payload Dashboard Analytics Plugin. Our content ingestion and organizational strategy are powered by Hoarder, and we’re exploring the integration of in-app AI agents and chatbots through CopilotKit. Together, these projects form a cohesive, federated architecture—a true “flower pot” for AIs and a scalable platform for any business looking to connect, communicate, and thrive in a modern digital landscape.

We welcome feedback, contributions, and ideas from the community. Together, let’s shape the future of Spaces.

For more details, check out our GitHub repository and join our discussions on Discord. Let’s build something extraordinary.