Getting started

Get started with Biosphere

Biosphere keeps your business in one place: the files and data you bring in, your catalog and inventory, your contacts and your orders. Scout, the assistant inside Biosphere, answers questions about all of it.

Before you start

You need an approved business. Create an account, answer the short business survey and wait for the Biosphere team to approve your application. See Sign up and get approved.

Sign in

1. Open Biosphere and enter your Email and Password.
2. Select Sign in.

Biosphere opens on Inbox. If your business does not have Inbox, it opens on Catalog, then Scout, then Configure, whichever it has first. Your business also has its own workspace address, usebiosphere.com/ followed by a short version of your business name. It is shown in Configure → General and still requires sign-in.

Set up your workspace

1. Open Configure at the bottom of the sidebar. General opens first: add your logo, check your business name and enter your own name. See Change your business name, logo and profile.
2. If you keep stock, open Locations in Configure and add the places you keep it. See Manage locations.
3. Bring in your data. Drop files into Inbox, or forward email to the inbound address shown there. Nothing changes your records until you review and approve it in Inbox. See Use the Inbox.
4. Ask Scout something. Select Scout at the bottom of the sidebar, or press Cmd-K or Ctrl-K, type a question and start a chat. See Ask Scout about your business.

What each page is for

• Inbox: files, email and connected-store data waiting to be mapped, reviewed and approved.
• Catalog: the items and variants you sell, with their SKUs and prices.
• Contacts: your customers and vendors, with their addresses.
• Inventory: stock by location (Levels), the physical things you count (Inventory items), totals (Summary) and Recipes that turn one stock item into another.
• Sales orders and Purchase orders: what you sell and what you buy.
• Knowledge: your business documents, such as policies and procedures, which Scout searches.
• Scout and Configure sit at the bottom of the sidebar.

You see only the pages your business has. The Biosphere team turns them on when it approves your business. If a page you need is missing, ask the team: see Get help.

What to know

• Each account belongs to one business. There is no business switcher, and Biosphere has no way to invite teammates. Signing up again creates a separate business application, so ask the Biosphere team about adding people instead.
• When a new version of Biosphere is released, a message says A new version is available. Select Refresh now to load it.