Canvas

The Canvas (⌘7) is a freeform spatial board for visual story planning. Unlike the linear Outline view, Canvas lets you place story elements anywhere, draw connections between them, and see your story's structure as a visual map — before committing to a final outline.

Opening the Canvas

Press ⌘7 or click Canvas in the left sidebar. Use the canvas sidebar to switch between multiple canvases or create a new one.

Cards

Cards are the primary building block. Each card represents a story element:

Card Type	Color	Use for
Note	Amber	Free-form ideas, observations, questions
Beat	Orange	Scene or story beats
Character	Purple	Character profiles or relationship notes
Setting	Green	Locations and atmosphere notes
Theme	Blue	Thematic ideas, motifs
Scene	White	Existing scenes from your outline

Add a card: Click Card in the toolbar and choose a type. The card appears on the canvas. Drag it anywhere.

Edit a card: Double-click to open the editor. Type your content.

Connections (Edges)

Draw edges between cards to represent relationships:

1. Hover over a card until connection handles appear on its edges.
2. Click and drag from one handle to another card.
3. Double-click the edge to add a label (e.g., "causes", "precedes", "contradicts").

Edges help you visualize narrative causality, character interactions, and plot dependencies.

Groups

Group related cards with a color-coded container:

1. Click Group in the toolbar.
2. Draw a rectangle around the cards you want to group.
3. Name the group (e.g., "Act Two", "Elena's Arc").

Cards inside a group move together when you drag the group. Groups are useful for organizing cards by act, chapter, or character thread.

AI Operations

The AI dropdown in the toolbar provides six canvas-specific operations:

Expand Card

Select a single card and choose Expand Card. The AI fleshes out the card's content — a brief note becomes a detailed scene beat or character outline.

Suggest Connections

Choose Suggest Connections with any cards on the canvas. The AI analyzes all card content and recommends edges between them, which you can accept or dismiss individually.

Fill Gap

Select exactly two connected cards and choose Fill Gap. The AI generates one or more intermediate cards to fill the narrative space between them.

Analyze Cluster

Select two or more cards and choose Analyze Cluster. The AI summarizes what the selected cards have in common and suggests how they might connect thematically.

Timeline Sort

Choose Timeline Sort with multiple cards selected. The AI reorders them into chronological sequence based on their content.

AI Fill Template

Choose AI Fill Template to populate the canvas from a story structure template — three-act structure, hero's journey, save-the-cat, etc. The AI fills card content based on your Story Bible.

Import from Outline

Click Import Outline in the toolbar to pull your existing project structure onto the canvas. Acts, chapters, and scenes appear as cards, giving you a visual map of your existing outline to annotate or rearrange.

Commit to Outline

When your canvas reflects the story structure you want:

1. Click Commit to Outline.
2. Review the confirmation dialog — this updates your project's acts, chapters, and scene order to match the canvas.
3. Confirm.

warning

Committing to outline overwrites your current outline structure. Make sure the canvas represents your intended story structure before committing.

Multiple Canvases

Use the canvas sidebar to:

• Create separate canvases for different purposes (plotting, character relationships, world-building)
• Switch between canvases
• Delete canvases you no longer need

Each canvas is saved automatically.