What is a DataWorks workspace-DataWorks(DataWorks)-阿里云帮助中心

A DataWorks workspace is an isolated environment for organizing development tasks, assigning member roles, and associating compute engines. It is the basic unit for task development and permission management.

Workspace overview

A workspace is the basic unit for task development and permission management in DataWorks. Within a workspace, you add data sources, associate compute resources, and run scheduled jobs. A workspace administrator adds members and assigns roles—such as developer, deployer, data analyst, and O&M—to enable collaboration.

Workspace modes

DataWorks offers two workspace modes: basic mode and standard mode, with different development workflows and security controls. Use standard mode for production. For more information, see Differences between basic and standard modes and Upgrade a workspace mode.

Core workspace operations

Actions		Description	References
Lifecycle management	Create a workspace	Create workspaces to isolate services by business scenario. DataWorks provides a default workspace for exploration only—do not use it for production. Compare default and custom workspaces in Default system workspace.	Plan workspaces Create a workspace
	Delete a workspace	Delete a workspace to permanently remove all its resources and avoid residual billing charges or data.	Configure a workspace Upgrade a workspace mode
	Disable a workspace	Disable a workspace to pause task scheduling while preserving its code and configurations for later reactivation.
	Configure workspace settings	View and modify workspace settings, such as the workspace mode.
Resource configuration	Associate compute resources	Associate compute resources such as MaxCompute, EMR Serverless Spark, and Hologres for task development and scheduling. When you associate a compute resource, the system automatically creates a corresponding data source.	Manage compute resources
	Add a data source	Add data sources such as MaxCompute, E-MapReduce, and ClickHouse to connect to external storage services for data synchronization and analysis. Important Your development workflow and permissions depend on the workspace mode. Review the differences between basic and standard modes before adding data sources.	Manage data sources
	Associate a resource group	A resource group provides the computing power to run tasks. Associate one with your workspace to allocate capacity.	Manage resource groups
Team and permissions	Plan and assign member roles	Add RAM users to the workspace for collaborative development. Assign workspace-level roles to control feature access. Important Review the DataWorks workspace-level permission model before assigning permissions.	Add members to a workspace and manage their roles

Production guidelines

Follow these guidelines when planning workspaces:

Plan ahead: Before creating a workspace, see Plan workspaces. Organize by business line, project, or data domain.
Use descriptive names: Reflect the business purpose, such as finance_tax_report.

For cross-workspace node references, include a workspace abbreviation in the node name.
Choose the right mode: Standard mode physically isolates development from production. Use it for production workloads.
Manage permissions: Create workspaces with an Alibaba Cloud account and assign the Workspace Administrator role to RAM users. Avoid assigning both the development and O&M roles to one user.
Avoid the default workspace for production: It is intended for exploration only.

Next steps

After setting up a workspace and assigning roles, start Data Integration, data development, or data analysis.