Boards

A board is backed by nodes, edges, bound sources, and insights, so it can stay current as the system changes.

Boards and the canvas

Everything you model lives on a board: shapes, connections, and supporting material. The canvas is one view of that model. For steps, see the Boards Guide.

The Root Board

Create a workspace and it gets a Root Board at the top of its tree. It is the workspace overview.

Every workspace has exactly one Root Board. Rename it, lay it out, and populate it. You cannot delete it or change its type.

Its opening view changes as the tree grows beneath it. While the layers under it are plain boards, opening the Root Board takes you to its canvas. Once those layers include app boards, it opens on a command center instead, with one tile per app and the work that needs attention across them.

Board types and layouts

Choose a type in the create sheet and a layout when you first open the board. Layout has the bigger effect.

A type is a label. It appears in the listing, sidebar, and breadcrumb so a teammate can tell one board from another at a glance. A type does not control features, with one exception.

A Context Map opens in a reading view that leads with the question it answers and links each element to its source board. When the board was drawn as a C4 diagram, the strip also names its level, such as "C4 container". The plugins' /ask-board and /discover commands use this type for a context board.

An ADR board includes no decision template, and a Report board generates no report. Pick the label that helps people scan the sidebar.

A layout controls canvas behavior. Dashboard is a grid for overviews and presentations. Page is a vertical column for ADRs, knowledge-base articles, and reports.

Where opening a board takes you

Opening a board does not always take you to the canvas. An app board opens on its hub, a root board with app boards below it opens on its command center, and everything else opens on the canvas. The Board Tree explains the rules.

How layers appear

Boards nest. Any node can hold a child layer, a full board of its own.

Layers arrive three ways:

• By hand. Right-click a node and choose Create Subsystem Layer. The node gets a drill-down indicator, and clicking it navigates to the child board.
• By dropping an app. Drag an app from the canvas Apps palette. This creates a node and child app board with a repo bound to it.
• From the code plugin. /analyze --drill maps a node's internals as a child board, and /sync pushes each layer in turn. The code plugin covers both.

The connect plugin does not build hierarchy. It grounds a board you already authored against your documents, so the tree is shaped either by hand or from code.

Folders, permissions, publishing

Three board topics are covered elsewhere:

• Boards live in folders inside a workspace. Workspaces & Organizations covers where boards are created and how you find one again.
• A board has its own access on top of your organization role. Permissions & Access explains the access layers.
• Publishing shares a board with people who have no account. Publishing Boards covers the wizard.

What's next