A molecular modeling project rarely stays on one computer. You may need a colleague to inspect a published structure, a project group to access shared materials, or a collaborator to retrieve files from a cloud job. The tricky part is choosing a sharing method that is convenient without making resources more open than intended.
SAMSON Connect lets you manage shared documents and cloud jobs, while groups can help organize access around a project or team. A useful starting point is to decide what collaborators need to do: view or use a document, download job files, or edit details. Then choose the visibility and access rights to match.
Choose visibility before sharing
For documents, SAMSON provides three visibility options:
- Public: everyone can use the document; editing still requires access rights.
- Hidden: anyone with the link can use the document; editing still requires access rights.
- Restricted: using or editing the document requires access rights.
These options answer different questions. Public means discoverable and usable by everyone. Hidden is link-based access—not a substitute for restricting access to a sensitive document. Restricted is the option when access should be granted only to specific users or groups.
Cloud jobs have similar visibility settings: public jobs are visible to everyone, hidden jobs require a link to download files, and restricted jobs require specific access rights to reach files or edit job details. A job’s visibility is Restricted by default, which is a useful starting point when you have not yet decided who should see it.
Use groups for project-based collaboration
If the same people need access to several documents or jobs, a group can make project sharing easier to manage than handling each collaborator individually. You can create public or private groups, invite members, and manage membership as a group owner. Group owners can also change roles and set membership end dates.
To add someone, search by username, full name, or email address. If the invitee does not yet have a SAMSON account, you can still invite them by entering their email address and selecting Add.
Before sharing, consider whether everyone in the group should retain access indefinitely. Membership roles and end dates give group owners a way to manage who belongs and for how long.
Share a document from SAMSON
To publish a document from SAMSON, choose Home > Publish. Enter a name and description, then select the document visibility before publishing. The resulting document appears in SAMSON Connect, where you can manage it later.
On SAMSON Connect, open Documents from your user menu to see documents you published and those shared with you. Owners and editors can edit document settings. Owners can change visibility and grant access to individual users or groups.
Keep cloud-job access intentional
Jobs run in the cloud from SAMSON—including jobs using tools such as AlphaFold, NVIDIA BioNeMo services, or GROMACS—are available through SAMSON Connect. Open Jobs in the user menu to manage jobs you created or ones shared with you. Selecting a job opens its files; the context menu provides options to download them.
Job owners and editors can edit the job name and notes. Owners can grant access to users or groups. If a collaborator only needs files, think carefully about whether they need broader access to the job details as well.
A quick sharing check
- Identify the resource: a document or a cloud job.
- Decide who should use it, download its files, or edit its details.
- Choose Public, Hidden, or Restricted based on that audience.
- Grant rights to the intended users or, when appropriate, a project group.
- Review group membership and end dates when project access changes.
This small check can prevent two common collaboration problems: a colleague being unable to access needed work, or a resource being shared more broadly than intended.
For more details, see the SAMSON collaboration documentation.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON.