# Private Topics

## **What are Private Topics?**

**Private Topics** are gated discussion spaces inside a Common community. They enable project teams, contributor pods, community inner circles, and all forms of working groups to collaborate privately in the same forum infrastructure used for public coordination.

This feature allows for private onchain communication with access managed by Common [**Groups**](https://docs.common.xyz/commonwealth/community-overview/capabilities/members-and-groups/creating-groups-and-gating/manging-groups) that can be created with NFTs, tokens, allowlists, and base chain tokens. 

## **Why Private Topics?**

While public threads foster community transparency, sometimes teams need discretion for early-stage ideas, sensitive coordination, or contributor alignment.

Private Topics enable:

{% columns %}
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* **DAO working group discussions**
* **Stealth project coordination**
* **Token holder exclusive conversations**
  {% endcolumn %}

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* **Pre-launch partner collaborations**
* **Alpha sharing or NFT-holder exclusives**
* **Gaming Guilds**
  {% endcolumn %}
  {% endcolumns %}

All of this happens *on Common*, without needing to jump to Telegram, Notion, or gated Discords.

### **How to Create a Private Topic**

#### Prerequisites

* You must be a **community admin**.
* At least one **Group** must exist in your community.

#### Setup Steps

1. Navigate to the **Topics** in the community's sidebar
2. Enter basic topic information in **Create Topic** drawer or an existing one in the **Manage Topics** drawer
3. Click the **Private Topic** checkbox
4. Select a **Group** that will gate access
5. Click **Next**

> 📝 All group members (plus admins/mods) will be able to participate within this topic and access the topic's content through search. Non-members will see nothing.

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### **Permissions Overview**

| User Type       | View Threads | Create Threads | See in Search | See on Profile |
| --------------- | ------------ | -------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| Group Member    | ✅            | ✅              | ✅             | ✅              |
| Admin/Mod       | ✅            | ✅              | ✅             | ✅              |
| Rejected Member | ❌            | ❌              | ❌             | ❌              |
| Non-Member      | ❌            | ❌              | ❌             | ❌              |

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#### **Platform Behavior**

#### ✅ **Members**

* Approved group members can:
  * View, post, and search for content in private topics
  * See private content on their profile and others’
  * Participate fully just like in public threads
* Admins automatically retain access even if not part of the group

#### 🛑 **Non-Members**

* Topic pages are hibben
* Threads are **not** visible in global search or profile pages
* Cannot interact, react, or view private content
* Receive error when topic is selected in thread creation page

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### **Other Product Behaviors**

#### 🗣️ Mentions & Reactions

* Private topic threads show up in mentions *only* for members
* Non-members cannot participate via API

***

### **Edge Cases & Notes**

* Threads posted before a topic is made private are **still publicly visible in members' profile pages**, but gated based on the new setting
* If you’re using multiple wallets or SSO identities, ensure you're signing in with the address that’s in the group gating the private topic

***

### 🔄 Removing Privacy

You can change privacy settings by:

1. Navigating to the **Group** gating the topic
2. Removing the topic from the **Gated Topics** list
3. Saving changes

> ⚠️ This will make previously private threads publicly accessible — use with care.