diff --git a/crates/collab/k8s/collab.template.yml b/crates/collab/k8s/collab.template.yml
index c6862a984dae230cef331867928e761941a1c39c..c5285ba15fdc5364751d3fde4d59daab41a3f8ff 100644
--- a/crates/collab/k8s/collab.template.yml
+++ b/crates/collab/k8s/collab.template.yml
@@ -185,6 +185,8 @@ spec:
               value: "true"
             - name: ZED_ENVIRONMENT
               value: ${ZED_ENVIRONMENT}
+            - name: AUTO_JOIN_CHANNEL_ID
+              value: ${AUTO_JOIN_CHANNEL_ID}
           securityContext:
             capabilities:
               # FIXME - Switch to the more restrictive `PERFMON` capability.
diff --git a/crates/collab/k8s/environments/production.sh b/crates/collab/k8s/environments/production.sh
index cb1d4b4de712864003c711dd8b46123b31fa5d5f..8b83fd3897109d945a7ab70fc9f4b4603d6fdf34 100644
--- a/crates/collab/k8s/environments/production.sh
+++ b/crates/collab/k8s/environments/production.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 ZED_ENVIRONMENT=production
 RUST_LOG=info
 INVITE_LINK_PREFIX=https://zed.dev/invites/
+AUTO_JOIN_CHANNEL_ID=283
 DATABASE_MAX_CONNECTIONS=85
diff --git a/crates/collab/k8s/environments/staging.sh b/crates/collab/k8s/environments/staging.sh
index b9689ccb19390b412f4a7df9e8fee2e744b0479c..a0d6f5221cf567efd666d9b97c717dd8a2fdea65 100644
--- a/crates/collab/k8s/environments/staging.sh
+++ b/crates/collab/k8s/environments/staging.sh
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@ ZED_ENVIRONMENT=staging
 RUST_LOG=info
 INVITE_LINK_PREFIX=https://staging.zed.dev/invites/
 DATABASE_MAX_CONNECTIONS=5
+AUTO_JOIN_CHANNEL_ID=8
diff --git a/crates/collab/src/api.rs b/crates/collab/src/api.rs
index 15c07838ae1f3523ab59e9b2445892a07a03d06f..51cbc5815278631389d307dfd216d67e73025d25 100644
--- a/crates/collab/src/api.rs
+++ b/crates/collab/src/api.rs
@@ -89,12 +89,15 @@ async fn get_authenticated_user(
     Query(params): Query<AuthenticatedUserParams>,
     Extension(app): Extension<Arc<AppState>>,
 ) -> Result<Json<AuthenticatedUserResponse>> {
+    let initial_channel_id = app.config.auto_join_channel_id;
+
     let user = app
         .db
         .get_or_create_user_by_github_account(
             &params.github_login,
             params.github_user_id,
             params.github_email.as_deref(),
+            initial_channel_id,
         )
         .await?;
     let metrics_id = app.db.get_user_metrics_id(user.id).await?;
@@ -179,11 +182,13 @@ async fn add_contributor(
     Extension(app): Extension<Arc<AppState>>,
     extract::Json(params): extract::Json<AuthenticatedUserParams>,
 ) -> Result<()> {
+    let initial_channel_id = app.config.auto_join_channel_id;
     app.db
         .add_contributor(
             &params.github_login,
             params.github_user_id,
             params.github_email.as_deref(),
+            initial_channel_id,
         )
         .await
 }
diff --git a/crates/collab/src/bin/seed.rs b/crates/collab/src/bin/seed.rs
index 8a998d0bf3ecb0f1204235ee1430522bfd2135e6..66828c75bc089305374f221cd557e239797ecb96 100644
--- a/crates/collab/src/bin/seed.rs
+++ b/crates/collab/src/bin/seed.rs
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ async fn main() {
                 &github_user.login,
                 Some(github_user.id),
                 github_user.email.as_deref(),
+                None,
             )
             .await
             .expect("failed to insert user");
diff --git a/crates/collab/src/db/queries/contributors.rs b/crates/collab/src/db/queries/contributors.rs
index 49194d6861fc0cf47a2716cddb86e1610070dd0f..703abfb0355fbcf54c02e0d0fa8609dd73597cb9 100644
--- a/crates/collab/src/db/queries/contributors.rs
+++ b/crates/collab/src/db/queries/contributors.rs
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ impl Database {
         github_login: &str,
         github_user_id: Option<i32>,
         github_email: Option<&str>,
+        initial_channel_id: Option<ChannelId>,
     ) -> Result<()> {
         self.transaction(|tx| async move {
             let user = self
@@ -72,6 +73,7 @@ impl Database {
                     github_login,
                     github_user_id,
                     github_email,
+                    initial_channel_id,
                     &tx,
                 )
                 .await?;
diff --git a/crates/collab/src/db/queries/users.rs b/crates/collab/src/db/queries/users.rs
index f17b43bb98b784de7b316289b9eba6599c213103..b884f276de240be32ada482c1e36bb2f0972ffac 100644
--- a/crates/collab/src/db/queries/users.rs
+++ b/crates/collab/src/db/queries/users.rs
@@ -74,12 +74,14 @@ impl Database {
         github_login: &str,
         github_user_id: Option<i32>,
         github_email: Option<&str>,
+        initial_channel_id: Option<ChannelId>,
     ) -> Result<User> {
         self.transaction(|tx| async move {
             self.get_or_create_user_by_github_account_tx(
                 github_login,
                 github_user_id,
                 github_email,
+                initial_channel_id,
                 &tx,
             )
             .await
@@ -92,6 +94,7 @@ impl Database {
         github_login: &str,
         github_user_id: Option<i32>,
         github_email: Option<&str>,
+        initial_channel_id: Option<ChannelId>,
         tx: &DatabaseTransaction,
     ) -> Result<User> {
         if let Some(github_user_id) = github_user_id {
@@ -124,6 +127,17 @@ impl Database {
                 })
                 .exec_with_returning(tx)
                 .await?;
+                if let Some(channel_id) = initial_channel_id {
+                    channel_member::Entity::insert(channel_member::ActiveModel {
+                        id: ActiveValue::NotSet,
+                        channel_id: ActiveValue::Set(channel_id),
+                        user_id: ActiveValue::Set(user.id),
+                        accepted: ActiveValue::Set(true),
+                        role: ActiveValue::Set(ChannelRole::Guest),
+                    })
+                    .exec(tx)
+                    .await?;
+                }
                 Ok(user)
             }
         } else {
diff --git a/crates/collab/src/db/tests/contributor_tests.rs b/crates/collab/src/db/tests/contributor_tests.rs
index a51817574a1725e30ac5297eec6a124856b046aa..72fa5f9357e0b82d79f052e8998f6e49bc914499 100644
--- a/crates/collab/src/db/tests/contributor_tests.rs
+++ b/crates/collab/src/db/tests/contributor_tests.rs
@@ -22,13 +22,17 @@ async fn test_contributors(db: &Arc<Database>) {
 
     assert_eq!(db.get_contributors().await.unwrap(), Vec::<String>::new());
 
-    db.add_contributor("user1", Some(1), None).await.unwrap();
+    db.add_contributor("user1", Some(1), None, None)
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
     assert_eq!(
         db.get_contributors().await.unwrap(),
         vec!["user1".to_string()]
     );
 
-    db.add_contributor("user2", Some(2), None).await.unwrap();
+    db.add_contributor("user2", Some(2), None, None)
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
     assert_eq!(
         db.get_contributors().await.unwrap(),
         vec!["user1".to_string(), "user2".to_string()]
diff --git a/crates/collab/src/db/tests/db_tests.rs b/crates/collab/src/db/tests/db_tests.rs
index 2edaaa431469710fa847a6deb764d50e6130d60e..96e0898709e6fc12bbe92870f38945111a0b179d 100644
--- a/crates/collab/src/db/tests/db_tests.rs
+++ b/crates/collab/src/db/tests/db_tests.rs
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ async fn test_get_or_create_user_by_github_account(db: &Arc<Database>) {
         .user_id;
 
     let user = db
-        .get_or_create_user_by_github_account("the-new-login2", Some(102), None)
+        .get_or_create_user_by_github_account("the-new-login2", Some(102), None, None)
         .await
         .unwrap();
     assert_eq!(user.id, user_id2);
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ async fn test_get_or_create_user_by_github_account(db: &Arc<Database>) {
     assert_eq!(user.github_user_id, Some(102));
 
     let user = db
-        .get_or_create_user_by_github_account("login3", Some(103), Some("user3@example.com"))
+        .get_or_create_user_by_github_account("login3", Some(103), Some("user3@example.com"), None)
         .await
         .unwrap();
     assert_eq!(&user.github_login, "login3");
diff --git a/crates/collab/src/lib.rs b/crates/collab/src/lib.rs
index 616405edadb8af8a122a6294d6499e929cd8b9ce..71ca4788e1fe1a8f62efea5af6c241b67aeb41b4 100644
--- a/crates/collab/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/collab/src/lib.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ mod tests;
 use anyhow::anyhow;
 use aws_config::{BehaviorVersion, Region};
 use axum::{http::StatusCode, response::IntoResponse};
-use db::Database;
+use db::{ChannelId, Database};
 use executor::Executor;
 use serde::Deserialize;
 use std::{path::PathBuf, sync::Arc};
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ pub struct Config {
     pub zed_environment: Arc<str>,
     pub zed_client_checksum_seed: Option<String>,
     pub slack_panics_webhook: Option<String>,
+    pub auto_join_channel_id: Option<ChannelId>,
 }
 
 impl Config {
diff --git a/crates/collab/src/tests/channel_guest_tests.rs b/crates/collab/src/tests/channel_guest_tests.rs
index 24828e42ef3aff0de716dca9fc273bff07cb57c6..1d92691a8afe372a4e17526980481856a9e297da 100644
--- a/crates/collab/src/tests/channel_guest_tests.rs
+++ b/crates/collab/src/tests/channel_guest_tests.rs
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ async fn test_channel_requires_zed_cla(cx_a: &mut TestAppContext, cx_b: &mut Tes
     server
         .app_state
         .db
-        .get_or_create_user_by_github_account("user_b", Some(100), None)
+        .get_or_create_user_by_github_account("user_b", Some(100), None, None)
         .await
         .unwrap();
 
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ async fn test_channel_requires_zed_cla(cx_a: &mut TestAppContext, cx_b: &mut Tes
     server
         .app_state
         .db
-        .add_contributor("user_b", Some(100), None)
+        .add_contributor("user_b", Some(100), None, None)
         .await
         .unwrap();
 
diff --git a/crates/collab/src/tests/test_server.rs b/crates/collab/src/tests/test_server.rs
index 1ffb2d281d440bf2ccba82c2936fb05765fc060c..652faa5c53d0378b7aaf2c09561d0d0eefaf1c74 100644
--- a/crates/collab/src/tests/test_server.rs
+++ b/crates/collab/src/tests/test_server.rs
@@ -513,6 +513,7 @@ impl TestServer {
                 clickhouse_database: None,
                 zed_client_checksum_seed: None,
                 slack_panics_webhook: None,
+                auto_join_channel_id: None,
             },
         })
     }