Hierarchy Reference
Lexic organizes knowledge in a hierarchy: Organization → Lexicon → Workspace → Canvas → Notes. Each level serves a specific purpose.
Lexicon
Definition
A self-contained knowledge space with its own AI-powered knowledge graph.
Purpose
Isolate unrelated knowledge domains. The AI only finds connections between notes within the same lexicon.
When to create a new lexicon
- •You have separate life/work domains that shouldn't mix
- •You're managing distinct projects with no conceptual overlap
- •The AI connecting topics between them would create noise
Default behavior: Every user gets a personal lexicon automatically.
For teams: Organizations can create team lexicons that share a word pool. Team members' personal lexicons remain separate.
Workspace
Definition
A folder for grouping related canvases within a lexicon.
Purpose
Visual organization. Workspaces do NOT affect AI connections or sharing permissions.
When to create a workspace
- ✓Your canvas list is long enough that navigation is difficult
- ✓You want to visually group related canvases (e.g., "Q1 Planning," "Customer Research")
When NOT to create a workspace
- ✗You only have a few canvases
- ✗You're trying to control sharing (use canvas-level sharing instead)
- ✗You think it will affect AI behavior (it won't)
Canvas
Definition
A collection of related notes and the sharing boundary in Lexic.
Purpose
- Group related notes together
- Control who can see and edit content (sharing happens here)
When to create a canvas
- •You're starting a new topic or project
- •You need to share some notes but not others
- •You want to collaborate with someone on a specific set of content
Sharing options
- PrivateOnly you can see it (default)
- SharedInvite specific people with viewer, editor, or admin access
Important: If an entity (person, project, concept) appears in multiple canvases, users only see context from canvases they have access to.
Notes
Definition
Individual pieces of content—your thoughts, meeting notes, research, ideas.
AI Processing
When you save a note, Lexic automatically:
Extracts entities
people, orgs, projects, concepts
Generates embeddings
for semantic search
Finds connections
to other notes in the lexicon
Tips
- ✓Write naturally. The AI handles structure.
- ✓Longer notes give the AI more context for better connections.
- ✓Notes are never connected across lexicons.
Organization
Teams OnlyDefinition
A commercial entity that owns team lexicons and manages billing.
Purpose
- •Centralized word pool for team lexicons
- •Shared entities across team lexicons (when marked org-shared)
- •Admin controls for team management
Personal Lexicons
Owned by the individual, never visible to the organization
Team Lexicons
Owned by the organization, shared word pool, org-shared entities
Quick Reference
| Level | Controls | Affects AI? | Affects Sharing? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lexicon | Knowledge boundary | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Workspace | Visual grouping | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Canvas | Note grouping + access | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
Role Permissions
Each level in the hierarchy has its own set of roles with specific permissions. Permissions are explicitly granted—there is no automatic inheritance between levels.
🏢 Organization Level
| Role | Billing | Members | Lexicons |
|---|---|---|---|
| owner | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| admin | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| member | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| viewer | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
🧠 Lexicon Level
| Role | Words | Members | Workspaces |
|---|---|---|---|
| owner | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| admin | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| member | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| viewer | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
📁 Workspace Level
| Role | Canvases | Members |
|---|---|---|
| owner | ✓ | ✓ |
| admin | ✓ | ✓ |
| member | ✓ | ✗ |
| viewer | ✗ | ✗ |
👥 Canvas Level
| Role | Edit | Comment | View |
|---|---|---|---|
| editor | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| commenter | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| viewer | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Key Principles
- •No automatic permission inheritance — roles at one level do not grant access at another level
- •Canvas-level sharing with explicit invitations only — content access is granted per-canvas, not by membership in higher levels
- •RLS-enforced security at database level — Row-Level Security ensures permissions are enforced even if the application layer is bypassed
- •All role changes are audit logged — every permission change is tracked for compliance and security review