Everything in a repository is public by design; Spaces is an alpha extension where a space is a gated mini-network with per-space permissioned repos on the author's PDS; it gives access control, not confidentiality; the core is settling and a launch is expected in 2026.

The series must be honest about the one thing atproto does not yet do.

Everything in a repository is public. That is a design choice, and it is what makes the big shared stream possible.

For non public data there is an extension: atproto Spaces. A space is a miniature network, gated so only certain people and apps can read it.

Records in a space live in a separate, permissioned repository on the author's host. A space authority, a DID, decides who gets in.

Spaces give access control, not confidentiality. Data in a space is not encrypted. Anyone admitted can read it.

The alpha opened in August twenty twenty six. Breaking changes have landed since; the core is settling, and a launch is expected this year.

For developers. The Spaces series on atproto.com (October 2026) adds a group host role: an atmospheric group is "a DID with a bunch of permissioned spaces under it", and the group host does for groups what a PDS does for users, without holding its members' records.

Check yourself. Who can read a record in a space?