Layr DocsKey concepts
Sources, evidence, product memory, opportunities, and workspace roles explained.
Layr uses a few terms repeatedly across the app and these docs. This page defines them in customer language — no internal jargon required.
Account vs. workspace
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Account | Your personal Layr identity (email, password). One person, one account. |
| Workspace | A product team's shared environment — connected tools, evidence, opportunities, and members. You can belong to more than one workspace with the same account. |
Creating an account does not create a workspace. See Getting started.
Integration vs. source
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Integration | A workspace-level OAuth connection to an external tool (Slack, Jira, Linear, Notion, or Intercom). |
| Source | A specific scope inside that integration you choose to include — a Slack channel, Jira project, Linear team, Notion page or database, or Intercom inbox. |
Connecting ≠ ingesting. Layr discovers sources after connect, but nothing is read until an admin enables specific sources and confirms the first sync.
→ Integrations overview · Permissions and access
Evidence
Evidence is normalized product signal Layr ingested from an included source — a Slack message, Jira comment, Notion paragraph, support conversation, and so on.
Evidence is the atomic unit behind Ask Layr citations, opportunity detail, and spec quotes. Layr enriches evidence with classification metadata (product area, intent, sentiment) as it enters the system.
Product memory
Product memory is the structured graph Layr builds over time from evidence:
- recurring problems customers and teams describe
- features and areas those problems touch
- decisions your team has recorded
- relationships between signals, problems, and outcomes
Ask Layr retrieves from this memory. Opportunities surface the problems your team has promoted as worth prioritizing.
Candidates, review, and opportunities
| Stage | What it is |
|---|---|
| Candidate | A proposed problem Layr detected from new evidence but your team has not confirmed yet. |
| Review | The inbox where product-action roles promote, reject, snooze, merge, or split candidates. |
| Opportunity | A promoted, evidence-backed problem ranked for prioritization and planning. |
Layr automates detection; humans stay in control of what becomes official product memory.
Ask Layr
Ask Layr is natural-language Q&A over your workspace memory. Answers include recommendations, reasoning, and links to supporting evidence.
It is available in the app (and can be used from Slack where configured). Viewer roles cannot run Ask Layr.
Specs and write-back
A spec is a structured draft generated from an opportunity plus retrieved memory. Product-action roles edit and export it.
Write-back means creating one Jira issue, Linear issue, or Notion page from an approved spec through an explicit action — never silent automation into your tools.
Workspace roles (summary)
| Role | Setup & integrations | Curate & draft | Ask Layr | Read context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Workspace admin | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Product manager | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Project manager | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Engineering lead | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Engineer | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Viewer | No | No | No | Yes (read-only) |
Exact labels and permission previews appear in Team settings. The authoritative role matrix is in Permissions and access.
Freshness and sync
Sync is Layr pulling new content from included sources. Source freshness on Home tells you whether evidence is current or stale.
Admins manage sync from Integrations. Failed syncs and re-authorization needs appear on provider cards and in sync history.