Departments
The department is FieldOps' top-level container. Everything — operations, users, pins, settings — lives inside a department. This page explains what that means and how to set one up.
What a Department Is
A department is your organization's private workspace in FieldOps. Every department has:
- Its own subdomain (e.g.
yourdept.fieldops.app) - Its own team of users with their own PINs
- Its own operations — past, current, and archived
- Its own settings — branding, enabled pin types, access rules, documents
- Its own data — pins, reports, drones, rosters, everything
Departments are isolated from each other. Users in one department can't see or access another department's data. If you want to share something between departments, that happens by sharing specific links or PINs — not by crossing the boundary.
The Subdomain Model
Every department gets a unique subdomain. Instead of everyone logging into fieldops.app and picking their organization, each department has its own URL:
The subdomain is the department. When someone opens yourdept.fieldops.app, they're opening your FieldOps — with your branding, your team's PINs, your operations. They won't see anyone else's stuff, and nobody else will see yours.
Subdomains make the app feel owned by your organization rather than shared. The department name is in the URL, the branding is yours, and users don't have to choose "which FieldOps" they're logging into. It also means each department can customize the app independently — different pin types, different PINs, different SOGs — without affecting anyone else.
Who Controls a Department
Departments are created through Anthropic — reach out to Jacob to get one set up. Once created, one or more people are designated as Admins. Admins have full control over everything department-wide:
- Settings (branding, pin types, access, documents)
- Team Roster (add/remove members)
- Operations (create, archive, delete)
- Billing and subscription
Users and Viewers can use the app but can't change department settings. Role detail is covered in Roles & Permissions (v03b).
Department-Level Settings — Overview
All department settings live in the ⚙ Settings panel on the Projects screen. Admin only. There are four top-level sections:
Subscription
Plan details, access links for Admin/User/Viewer roles, MapNova livestream configuration.
Site Access
The three main PINs (Admin, User, Viewer) plus Temporary PINs for short-term access.
Set Up
Everything about how your department works — Setup Wizard, branding (Site Title, App Icon), Team Roster, Member Accounts, Drone Roster, Pilot Profile, Department Info, enabled Pin Types, User Permissions, and SOG.
Tools
Utilities — GPS Conversion, Offline Maps download, Parcel Layers download.
Full detail on every item in every section is coming in Settings Reference (v03d).
First-Time Department Setup
When a new department is created, an admin should work through these steps in order. Most of them live in Settings → Set Up.
1. Run the Setup Wizard
Settings → Set Up → 🧭 Run Setup Wizard. This picks sensible defaults for your use case. The wizard has presets for:
- 🔥 Wildland Fire
- 🔍 Search & Rescue
- 🦌 Deer / Wildlife Recovery
- 🛡️ Tactical / Law Enforcement
Pick whichever best matches what your department does. The wizard enables the right pin type categories automatically. You can always change this later.
2. Set Your Branding
Settings → Set Up → 🏷 Site Title — this is your department name shown at the top of the app. Settings → Set Up → 🎨 App Icon — pick an emoji that represents your department.
3. Add Your Team
Settings → Set Up → 👥 Team Roster to add members with names, agency info, and roles. Then Settings → Set Up → 🔑 User Accounts to give each member a unique PIN. Full workflow is in User Management (v03b).
4. Set Your Access PINs
Settings → Site Access — set the Admin PIN (your own), and optionally User and Viewer PINs for people who don't have named accounts.
5. Add Drones (if applicable)
Settings → Set Up → 🚁 Drone Roster. These become available to assign to operations as Active Drones.
6. Fill In Your Pilot Profile and Department Info
Settings → Set Up → 🧑✈️ Pilot Profile and 🏢 Department Info. These auto-fill into waivers and reports — do them once, they get used forever.
7. Upload Your SOG (optional)
Settings → Set Up → 📑 Department SOG. Upload a PDF or link to an external document so your team can reference it from the Projects screen.
The Setup Wizard covers most of the above in one pass — pin types, a reasonable starting configuration. You can fill in the specifics (roster, drones, branding) over time as you need them. Nothing breaks if some of it is blank.
What's Not a Department-Level Setting
A few things that feel like they should be department-wide but aren't:
- On-Scene Personnel — this is per-operation. A single person can be on the Team Roster (department) and on the On-Scene Personnel list (specific operation). The distinction matters for reporting.
- Parcel Permissions — granted/denied/not-contacted status is per-operation. If you worked with a property owner on a previous recovery, that permission doesn't carry over automatically to a new operation.
- Active Drones — which drones are deployed is per-operation. The full roster of drones is department-level, but which ones are active for this op is not.