davidwaroquiers · Sep 21, 2026 · Sep 28, 2026 · Oct 2, 2026 · Oct 9, 2026
diff --git a/.docker/app/Dockerfile b/.docker/app/Dockerfile
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ ARG VUE_APP_API_URL=magic-api-url
 ARG VUE_APP_LOGO_URL=magic-logo-url
 ARG VUE_APP_HOMEPAGE_URL=magic-homepage-url
 ARG VUE_APP_EDITABLE_INVENTORY=magic-setting
+ARG VUE_APP_HIDE_COLLECTIONS=magic-hide-collections-setting
 ARG VUE_APP_WEBSITE_TITLE=magic-title
 ARG VUE_APP_QR_CODE_RESOLVER_URL=magic-qr-code-resolver-url
 ARG VUE_APP_AUTOMATICALLY_GENERATE_ID_DEFAULT=magic-generate-id-setting

diff --git a/.docker/app_entrypoint.sh b/.docker/app_entrypoint.sh
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ echo "  LOGO_URL: ${VUE_APP_LOGO_URL}"
 echo "  LOGO_WIDTH: ${VUE_APP_LOGO_WIDTH}"
 echo "  HOMEPAGE_URL: ${VUE_APP_HOMEPAGE_URL}"
 echo "  EDITABLE_INVENTORY: ${VUE_APP_EDITABLE_INVENTORY}"
+echo "  HIDE_COLLECTIONS: ${VUE_APP_HIDE_COLLECTIONS}"
 echo "  WEBSITE_TITLE: ${VUE_APP_WEBSITE_TITLE}"
 echo "  QR_CODE_RESOLVER_URL: ${VUE_APP_QR_CODE_RESOLVER_URL}"
 echo "  AUTOMATICALLY_GENERATE_ID_DEFAULT: ${VUE_APP_AUTOMATICALLY_GENERATE_ID_DEFAULT}"
@@ -54,6 +55,7 @@ for file in $ROOT_DIR/js/app.*.js* $ROOT_DIR/*html; do
     sed -i "s|magic-logo-width|${VUE_APP_LOGO_WIDTH}|g" $file
     sed -i "s|magic-homepage-url|${VUE_APP_HOMEPAGE_URL}|g" $file
     sed -i "s|magic-setting|${VUE_APP_EDITABLE_INVENTORY}|g" $file
+    sed -i "s|magic-hide-collections-setting|${VUE_APP_HIDE_COLLECTIONS}|g" $file
     sed -i "s|magic-title|${VUE_APP_WEBSITE_TITLE}|g" $file
     sed -i "s|magic-qr-code-resolver-url|${VUE_APP_QR_CODE_RESOLVER_URL}|g" $file
     sed -i "s|magic-generate-id-setting|${VUE_APP_AUTOMATICALLY_GENERATE_ID_DEFAULT}|g" $file

diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ services:
       - VUE_APP_LOGO_URL
       - VUE_APP_HOMEPAGE_URL
       - VUE_APP_EDITABLE_INVENTORY
+      - VUE_APP_HIDE_COLLECTIONS
       - VUE_APP_WEBSITE_TITLE
       - VUE_APP_QR_CODE_RESOLVER_URL
       - VUE_APP_AUTOMATICALLY_GENERATE_ID_DEFAULT
@@ -125,6 +126,7 @@ services:
     environment:
       - NODE_ENV=development
       - VUE_APP_API_URL=${VUE_APP_API_URL:-http://localhost:5001}
+      - VUE_APP_HIDE_COLLECTIONS
       - CHOKIDAR_USEPOLLING=true
 
 networks:

diff --git a/pydatalab/docs/config.md b/pydatalab/docs/config.md
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ These can be provided as either:
         - `VUE_APP_LOGO_URL`: the URL of an image to use as the logo header in the web app.
         - `VUE_APP_HOMEPAGE_URL`: a URL to provide as a link from the web app header, and as a button on the dedicated login page.
         - `VUE_APP_EDITABLE_INVENTORY`: whether the inventory can be edited by non-admin users in the web app.
+        - `VUE_APP_HIDE_COLLECTIONS`: whether to hide collection pages and controls in the web app. This defaults to `false`. It is not an access-control mechanism and does not disable collection API routes or alter stored collection data.
         - `VUE_APP_WEBSITE_TITLE`: the title of the web app, which is displayed in the browser tab and header. It is also used in the heading of the dedicated login page, as "Welcome to the <title>".
         - `VUE_APP_QR_CODE_RESOLVER_URL`: the URL of a service that can resolve QR codes to *datalab* entries, which is used by the web app to display QR codes for entries (see [datalab-org/datalab-purl](https://github.com/datalab-org/datalab-purl) for more information).
         - `VUE_APP_AUTOMATICALLY_GENERATE_ID_DEFAULT`: whether to automatically generate IDs for new entries in the web app by default, or require a checkbox to be ticked at item creation.

diff --git a/webapp/cypress/component/ItemGraphTest.cy.jsx b/webapp/cypress/component/ItemGraphTest.cy.jsx
@@ -165,6 +165,15 @@ describe("ItemGraph", () => {
     cy.contains("configure").should("be.visible");
   });
 
+  it("hides collection options when configured", () => {
+    mountGraph(twoConnectedNodes, { showOptions: true });
+    cy.then(() => {
+      Cypress.vueWrapper.vm.hideCollections = true;
+      return Cypress.vueWrapper.vm.$nextTick();
+    });
+    cy.contains("Ignore connections to collections:").should("not.exist");
+  });
+
   it("hides options panel when showOptions is false", () => {
     mountGraph(twoConnectedNodes, { showOptions: false });
     cy.contains("configure").should("not.exist");

diff --git a/webapp/cypress/component/NavbarTest.cy.jsx b/webapp/cypress/component/NavbarTest.cy.jsx
@@ -109,6 +109,22 @@ describe("Navbar", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("hides the collections navigation link when configured", () => {
+    cy.mount(Navbar, {
+      global: {
+        plugins: [store, router],
+      },
+      data() {
+        return { hideCollections: true };
+      },
+    });
+
+    cy.get("#nav").within(() => {
+      cy.contains("Collections").should("not.exist");
+      cy.contains("Inventory").should("have.attr", "href", "/starting-materials");
+    });
+  });
+
   it("navigates to the correct route on link click", () => {
     cy.mount(Navbar, {
       global: {

diff --git a/webapp/cypress/component/SampleTableTest.cy.jsx b/webapp/cypress/component/SampleTableTest.cy.jsx
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import "bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap.css";
 import DynamicDataTable from "@/components/DynamicDataTable.vue";
+import DynamicDataTableButtons from "@/components/DynamicDataTableButtons.vue";
 import SampleTable from "@/components/SampleTable.vue";
 import UserBubble from "@/components/UserBubble.vue";
 import StyledTooltip from "@/components/StyledTooltip.vue";
@@ -199,6 +200,29 @@ describe("SampleTable Component Tests", () => {
     cy.get('[data-testid="search-input"]').should("exist");
   });
 
+  it("hides collection table controls when configured", () => {
+    cy.then(() => {
+      const dataTable = wrapper.findComponent(DynamicDataTable);
+      dataTable.vm.hideCollections = true;
+      dataTable.vm.selectedColumns = dataTable.vm.availableColumns.filter((col) => !col.hidden);
+      dataTable.vm.itemsSelected = [store.state.sample_list[0]];
+
+      const buttons = dataTable.findComponent(DynamicDataTableButtons);
+      buttons.vm.hideCollections = true;
+
+      expect(dataTable.vm.availableColumns.some((col) => col.field === "collections")).to.be.false;
+      return dataTable.vm.$nextTick().then(() => {
+        expect(buttons.props("availableColumns").some((col) => col.field === "collections")).to.be
+          .false;
+      });
+    });
+
+    cy.get(".p-datatable-column-title").should("not.contain.text", "Collections");
+    cy.get('[data-testid="add-to-collection-button"]').should("not.exist");
+    cy.get('[data-testid="add-to-collection-form"]').should("not.exist");
+    cy.contains("Create new collection").should("not.exist");
+  });
+
   it("closes table settings outside but keeps them open when selecting columns", () => {
     cy.get('[data-testid="table-settings-button"]').click();
     cy.get('[data-testid="table-settings-menu"]').should("be.visible");

diff --git a/webapp/src/components/CreateItemModal.vue b/webapp/src/components/CreateItemModal.vue
@@ -64,8 +64,8 @@
             <input id="create-item-name" v-model="name" type="text" class="form-control" />
           </div>
         </div>
-        <!-- All item types can be added to a collection, so this is always available -->
-        <div class="form-row">
+        <!-- When collections are visible, any item type can be added to a collection. -->
+        <div v-if="!hideCollections" class="form-row">
           <div class="col-md-12 form-group">
             <label id="startInCollection">(Optional) Insert into collection:</label>
             <CollectionSelect
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ import {
   SAMPLE_TABLE_TYPES,
   INVENTORY_TYPES,
   AUTOMATICALLY_GENERATE_ID_DEFAULT,
+  HIDE_COLLECTIONS,
 } from "@/resources.js";
 import CollectionSelect from "@/components/CollectionSelect.vue";
 export default {
@@ -169,6 +170,7 @@ export default {
       selectedItemToCopy: null,
       startingConstituents: [],
       generateIDAutomatically: AUTOMATICALLY_GENERATE_ID_DEFAULT,
+      hideCollections: HIDE_COLLECTIONS,
       agesAgo: new Date("1970-01-01").toISOString().slice(0, -8), // a datetime for the unix epoch start
       shareWithGroups: [],
       additionalCreators: [],

diff --git a/webapp/src/components/DynamicDataTable.vue b/webapp/src/components/DynamicDataTable.vue
@@ -143,9 +143,10 @@
   />
   <BatchCreateItemModal v-model="batchCreateItemModalIsOpen" />
   <QRScannerModal v-model="qrScannerModalIsOpen" />
-  <CreateCollectionModal v-model="createCollectionModalIsOpen" />
+  <CreateCollectionModal v-if="!hideCollections" v-model="createCollectionModalIsOpen" />
   <CreateEquipmentModal v-model="createEquipmentModalIsOpen" />
   <AddToCollectionModal
+    v-if="!hideCollections"
     v-model="addToCollectionModalIsOpen"
     :items-selected="itemsSelected"
     @items-updated="handleItemsUpdated"
@@ -167,7 +168,7 @@ import CreateEquipmentModal from "@/components/CreateEquipmentModal";
 import AddToCollectionModal from "@/components/AddToCollectionModal";
 import BatchShareModal from "@/components/BatchShareModal";
 
-import { INVENTORY_TABLE_TYPES, EDITABLE_INVENTORY } from "@/resources.js";
+import { INVENTORY_TABLE_TYPES, EDITABLE_INVENTORY, HIDE_COLLECTIONS } from "@/resources.js";
 
 import { FilterMatchMode, FilterOperator, FilterService } from "@primevue/core/api";
 import DataTable from "primevue/datatable";
@@ -254,6 +255,7 @@ export default {
       filteredData: [],
       allowedTypes: INVENTORY_TABLE_TYPES,
       editable_inventory: EDITABLE_INVENTORY,
+      hideCollections: HIDE_COLLECTIONS,
       selectedColumns: [],
       // Names of the per-column matchers this instance registered with the global
       // FilterService, so that they can be removed again when it unmounts.
@@ -302,7 +304,9 @@ export default {
       );
     },
     availableColumns() {
-      return this.columns.map((col) => ({ ...col }));
+      return this.columns
+        .filter((col) => !this.hideCollections || col.field !== "collections")
+        .map((col) => ({ ...col }));
     },
   },
   created() {

diff --git a/webapp/src/components/DynamicDataTableButtons.vue b/webapp/src/components/DynamicDataTableButtons.vue
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
           </button>
         </template>
         <button
-          v-if="dataType === 'collections'"
+          v-if="!hideCollections && dataType === 'collections'"
           data-testid="add-collection-button"
           class="btn btn-default btn-action"
           @click="$emit('open-create-collection-modal')"
@@ -162,6 +162,7 @@
             >
               <a
                 v-if="
+                  !hideCollections &&
                   !['collections', 'collectionItems', 'users', 'tokens', 'groups', 'tags'].includes(
                     dataType,
                   )
@@ -173,7 +174,7 @@
                 Add to collection
               </a>
               <a
-                v-if="dataType === 'collectionItems'"
+                v-if="!hideCollections && dataType === 'collectionItems'"
                 data-testid="remove-from-collection-dropdown"
                 class="dropdown-item"
                 @click="confirmRemoveFromCollection"
@@ -366,6 +367,7 @@ import { vOnClickOutside } from "@vueuse/components";
 import BulkChangeRoleModal from "@/components/BulkChangeRoleModal.vue";
 import BulkAddToGroupModal from "@/components/BulkAddToGroupModal.vue";
 import BulkChangeManagersModal from "@/components/BulkChangeManagersModal.vue";
+import { HIDE_COLLECTIONS } from "@/resources.js";
 
 import {
   deleteSample,
@@ -473,6 +475,7 @@ export default {
       showBulkChangeRoleModal: false,
       showBulkAddToGroupModal: false,
       showBulkChangeManagersModal: false,
+      hideCollections: HIDE_COLLECTIONS,
     };
   },
   computed: {

diff --git a/webapp/src/components/EquipmentInformation.vue b/webapp/src/components/EquipmentInformation.vue
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
           :possible-item-statuses="possibleItemStatuses"
         />
       </div>
-      <div class="form-group col-md-3 col-sm-3">
+      <div v-if="!hideCollections" class="form-group col-md-3 col-sm-3">
         <label id="collections" class="mr-2">Collections</label>
         <div>
           <CollectionList aria-labelledby="collections" :collections="Collections" />
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ import ToggleableCreatorsFormGroup from "@/components/ToggleableCreatorsFormGrou
 import ToggleableItemStatusFormGroup from "@/components/ToggleableItemStatusFormGroup";
 import ToggleableGroupsFormGroup from "@/components/ToggleableGroupsFormGroup";
 import ToggleableTagsFormGroup from "@/components/ToggleableTagsFormGroup";
+import { HIDE_COLLECTIONS } from "@/resources.js";
 
 export default {
   components: {
@@ -118,6 +119,7 @@ export default {
   },
   data() {
     return {
+      hideCollections: HIDE_COLLECTIONS,
       tableOfContentsSections: [
         { title: "Equipment Information", targetID: "equipment-information" },
         { title: "Table of Contents", targetID: "table-of-contents" },

diff --git a/webapp/src/components/ItemGraph.vue b/webapp/src/components/ItemGraph.vue
@@ -77,14 +77,16 @@
         @option:deselected="readdItemToGraph"
       />
 
-      <label for="ignore-collections">Ignore connections to collections:</label>
-      <CollectionSelect
-        id="ignore-collections"
-        v-model="ignoreCollections"
-        multiple
-        @option:selected="removeItemFromGraph"
-        @option:deselected="readdItemToGraph"
-      />
+      <template v-if="!hideCollections">
+        <label for="ignore-collections">Ignore connections to collections:</label>
+        <CollectionSelect
+          id="ignore-collections"
+          v-model="ignoreCollections"
+          multiple
+          @option:selected="removeItemFromGraph"
+          @option:deselected="readdItemToGraph"
+        />
+      </template>
 
       <div class="form-group form-check mt-3">
         <input
@@ -120,7 +122,7 @@
 <script>
 import ItemSelect from "@/components/ItemSelect.vue";
 import CollectionSelect from "@/components/CollectionSelect.vue";
-import { itemTypes } from "@/resources.js";
+import { itemTypes, HIDE_COLLECTIONS } from "@/resources.js";
 import cytoscape from "cytoscape";
 import cola from "cytoscape-cola";
 import elk from "cytoscape-elk";
@@ -215,6 +217,7 @@ export default {
       ignoreItems: [],
       removedNodeData: {},
       ignoreCollections: [],
+      hideCollections: HIDE_COLLECTIONS,
       labelStartingMaterialsByName: true,
       labelItemsByName: false,
       showBlocks: this.defaultShowBlocks,

diff --git a/webapp/src/components/Navbar.vue b/webapp/src/components/Navbar.vue
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@
   <div id="nav" data-testid="navbar-navigation">
     <router-link to="/about">About</router-link> |
     <router-link to="/samples">Samples</router-link> |
-    <router-link to="/collections">Collections</router-link> |
+    <template v-if="!hideCollections">
+      <router-link to="/collections">Collections</router-link> |
+    </template>
     <router-link to="/starting-materials">Inventory</router-link> |
     <router-link to="/equipment">Equipment</router-link> |
     <router-link to="/item-graph"
@@ -48,7 +50,7 @@
 </template>
 
 <script>
-import { API_URL, LOGO_URL, LOGO_WIDTH, HOMEPAGE_URL } from "@/resources.js";
+import { API_URL, LOGO_URL, LOGO_WIDTH, HOMEPAGE_URL, HIDE_COLLECTIONS } from "@/resources.js";
 import LoginDetails from "@/components/LoginDetails.vue";
 
 export default {
@@ -62,6 +64,7 @@ export default {
       logo_url: LOGO_URL,
       logo_width: LOGO_WIDTH,
       homepage_url: HOMEPAGE_URL,
+      hideCollections: HIDE_COLLECTIONS,
       user: null,
     };
   },

diff --git a/webapp/src/components/SampleGraphExportModal.vue b/webapp/src/components/SampleGraphExportModal.vue
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@
             </label>
           </div>
           <hr />
-          <div class="form-check">
+          <div v-if="!hideCollections" class="form-check">
             <input
               id="create-collection"
               v-model="createCollection"
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ import ExportProgressModal from "@/components/ExportProgressModal";
 
 import { startItemExport, createNewCollection, getItemGraph } from "@/server_fetch_utils";
 import { DialogService } from "@/services/DialogService";
+import { HIDE_COLLECTIONS } from "@/resources.js";
 
 export default {
   name: "SampleGraphExportModal",
@@ -187,6 +188,7 @@ export default {
       selectedSampleIds: [],
       selectAll: false,
       createCollection: false,
+      hideCollections: HIDE_COLLECTIONS,
       collectionId: "",
       collectionTitle: "",
       graphDepth: 1,

diff --git a/webapp/src/components/ToggleableCollectionFormGroup.vue b/webapp/src/components/ToggleableCollectionFormGroup.vue
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 <template>
   <div
+    v-if="!hideCollections"
     ref="outerdiv"
     class="h-100 form-group clickable"
     @click="isEditingCollections = !isEditingCollections"
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@
 import CollectionSelect from "@/components/CollectionSelect";
 import CollectionList from "@/components/CollectionList";
 import { OnClickOutside } from "@vueuse/components";
+import { HIDE_COLLECTIONS } from "@/resources.js";
 
 export default {
   components: {
@@ -60,6 +62,7 @@ export default {
     return {
       isEditingCollections: false,
       outerDivRef: null,
+      hideCollections: HIDE_COLLECTIONS,
     };
   },
   computed: {

diff --git a/webapp/src/resources.js b/webapp/src/resources.js
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ export const GRAVATAR_STYLE = "identicon";
 const editable_inventory = process.env.VUE_APP_EDITABLE_INVENTORY || "false";
 export const EDITABLE_INVENTORY = editable_inventory.toLowerCase() == "true";
 
+const hide_collections = process.env.VUE_APP_HIDE_COLLECTIONS || "false";
+export const HIDE_COLLECTIONS = hide_collections.toLowerCase() == "true";
+
 const automatically_generate_id_default =
   process.env.VUE_APP_AUTOMATICALLY_GENERATE_ID_DEFAULT || "false";
 export const AUTOMATICALLY_GENERATE_ID_DEFAULT =