Canvases

A canvas (Beta) is a live page built from the recent conversations in a project and redrawn on a rhythm. You ask the assistant for one in chat, try it, and apply it. It then keeps itself fresh while a session runs.

Canvases are an experiment. The product says of them: “Early beta: they may change or be removed.”

Switch canvases on for a project#

Open the project’s “Manage”, then “General”, then “Experimental”, and switch on “Living canvas and popcorn”. Anyone who can edit the project can do this. It needs no paid plan.

Ask for a canvas#

1. On “Ask”, press “Try Agentic instead” and start an assistant chat.
2. Ask for a live view of the conversations, and say what it should show.
3. The assistant shows a card with a “Brief”. Press “Try it” for a preview. The preview says “This is not saved yet.”
4. Press “Apply” to keep it, or “Dismiss”.

After you apply, the card reads “Applied. The canvas now shows this design and keeps it fresh.” and links to “Open in library”.

To change a canvas, ask in chat. The assistant can edit a canvas, add to it, remove from it, and pause, resume or stop its updates. It makes these changes to an existing canvas without a card. See Chat & Ask.

Where a canvas lives#

A canvas has no entry in the sidebar and no link from “Present”. You reach it from the assistant’s cards: “Open in library” or “Go to library”.

“Library” is the page that lists a project’s canvases: “The live popcorn deck and the canvases built for this project live here.” Its “Popcorn” row leads to “Present”. While it is empty it says “No canvases yet. Ask in chat when you want a live view of the conversations. The first canvas will stay here.”

On the canvas page you find:

• “Open the chat” or “New chat about this canvas”;
• “Full screen”;
• “Canvas settings”, with “Pause updates” or “Resume updates”, and “Regenerate”;
• “Versions”.

How a canvas stays fresh#

“Keep this canvas fresh” sets two things:

The default rhythm is every 5 minutes. A line on the page tells you the state:

• “Updates every {n} minutes until {time}.”
• “Preparing the first update.”
• “Checked {time}. Nothing new since your last conversation. Updated {time}.”
• “Paused.”
• “Stopped.”

“Versions” keeps the earlier versions of the canvas. The badge “Live” means you are looking at the newest one. Choose an earlier version to view it, and press “Back to live” to return.

A canvas is drawn from recent transcript text: up to 6,000 characters for each conversation and 28,000 in all. It shows what was said lately. It is not an analysis of the whole project. For that, use Map, Present or Reports.

Who can do what#

See roles & permissions.

Related#

• Chat & Ask: the assistant chat where you ask for a canvas.
• Present: popcorn and the other outcomes on a room screen.
• Library & analysis: what happened to the old library.
• Projects: where the “Experimental” section sits.