notes, text and zones

Three nodes are about words and structure rather than media. A text node carries a value other nodes read, a sticky note is for people, and a zone is a labelled frame around part of the board.

text nodes

A text node is a wireable string: a prompt, a name, a list. Add one with + then Text, right-click then Add Text, or paste text onto the canvas.

• Type in the editor. The value flows out of the node's right-hand handle into any text input.
• Give it a Label... in the header so you and your pixies can tell prompts apart.
• Drag the corner to resize; it will not shrink below 200 by 100.
• While a model writes into a text node it shows Generating....
• If the value is JSON, a button in the header switches between raw JSON and a visual editor with a field per key.

A text node reads like code in a plain editor: nothing is rendered. For formatted notes, use a sticky note.

sticky notes

A sticky note is an annotation. It has no handles and takes no part in runs, so it never changes what a model receives. A note pinned to a node shows a pin icon.

• Add Sticky Note from the right-click menu, or Sticky note from the dock's +.
• Click the note to write. Placeholder: Write a note….
• When you are not editing, the note renders markdown: headings, lists, bold, links, code and tables.
• Hover to pick one of five colors: yellow, pink, green, blue, or white, which reads as a plain text block.
• It grows to fit its text up to 640 high, until you resize it yourself; after that your size wins. The minimum is 160 by 110.

zones

A zone is a tinted frame with a name tab above its top-left corner. Use zones to group a stage of work ("Avatar", "Packaging"), to jump around a large board, and to split work out into its own project.

draw one

1. Choose Zone from the dock's +, or Add Zone from the right-click menu.
2. The cursor becomes a crosshair. Drag out the area you want, and release.

A plain click without dragging makes a default 900 by 600 zone at that point. <kbd>Esc</kbd> cancels. A zone can't be smaller than 300 by 200.

what belongs to it

You never "add" a node to a zone. A node belongs to the smallest zone that contains its center, and that changes as you move things. Zones inside zones work the same way.

Drag a zone by its name tab or its border and everything inside moves with it. Drag a node out and it leaves. Wires to nodes outside the zone stay in place.

name and color

Double-click the name to rename it; <kbd>Enter</kbd> saves, <kbd>Esc</kbd> reverts. Click the colored dot on the tab to change color between red, blue, green, amber, violet and pink. The name stays the same size on screen however far you zoom out, so you can read it from altitude.

jump between zones

When a canvas has zones, a button with a frame icon and the zone count appears in the bottom-left controls (tooltip Jump to a zone). It lists each zone by color and name; click one (Fly to this zone) and the view flies there.

move a zone to another project

When a canvas has grown too big, split a zone off. Right-click the zone, choose Move to project, then New project… or Existing project….

The dialog shows how many nodes move: N nodes move with it, along with their runs, generation history and pixie chats, and how many links to the rest of this canvas will be removed. Pick New project (name it under Project name, then Create & move) or search Existing project and press Move. When it finishes you can Stay here or open the other project.

Only editors can move a zone, and only on a project canvas: processes and runs keep their zones.

limits & good to know

• Auto layout leaves zones out.
• A zone sits behind everything else on the board and its body does not catch clicks: click through it to select what is inside.
• Zone membership is geometry, so resizing a zone can pull nodes in or push them out.

related

• nodes and wires
• zones and teams for how pixies use zones
• navigation and shortcuts