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Getting Started

This page takes you from logging in to a first saved dataset.

Logging in

Metaseed Hub uses OpenID Connect (OIDC) for authentication. The hosted instance authenticates through SURF SRAM; a local instance authenticates through Keycloak.

  1. Open the hub. On the hosted instance this is https://metaseed.ewi.tudelft.nl; a local instance runs at http://localhost:7001/hub/.
  2. Click Login in the top-right header.
  3. Complete sign-in with your identity provider. You are returned to the dataset list.

Your name and initials appear in the header. Click the avatar to open Your Profile; click Logout to end the session.

When your session expires

A sign-in lasts as long as the identity provider keeps the session alive; after that the hub cannot act for you any more. The next thing you do — opening a page, following a link, editing a cell — takes you to the sign-in page instead. Signing in returns you to the page you were trying to reach, not to the dataset list.

Pages are never served from the browser's cache, so going back, or returning to a tab you left open, asks the hub again rather than redrawing what was on screen before. An expired session therefore shows the sign-in page, not a dataset list you can no longer open.

Your profile

The profile page (avatar → Your Profile) shows the account information read from your OIDC token: name, email, subject ID, and any roles. The email shown under Sharing is the address collaborators use to share datasets with you, and they may type it in any capitalisation. See how an email is resolved.

Create your first dataset

  1. From Datasets, click + New Dataset.
  2. Choose a profile and version on the Standards tab — for example MIAPPE, ISA, DiSSCo, or Darwin Core. The newest version of each profile is marked latest.
  3. Optionally enable example data to start from a populated dataset.
  4. Click Create. The dataset editor opens.

Alternatively, switch to the Import File tab to create a dataset from an existing ISA-JSON, YAML, or Excel file. See Importing and exporting.

Add and save entities

  1. In the editor, the left sidebar lists the entity types the profile allows. Click + <Entity> (for example + Investigation) to add one.
  2. Fill in the required fields, marked with *.
  3. Click Save. Saving records a new version automatically.

Continue adding entities, then click Validate to check the dataset against the profile schema. See Editing entities for the full editing workflow.

Next steps

Running a local instance

Installing and running the hub on your own machine (make dev, containers, migrations) is covered in the Developer section, not in this manual.