The artifact tabs, in work order
What each of the twelve tabs — knowledge base through kanban — is for, and why they sit in that order. Plus how to move with ⌘1–⌘0 and how the tabs share context. Written for your very first look.
6 min read
The Workspace
New here? Welcome. Open any project and you will see a row of tabs across the top — this is the heart of nidavellir. And the row is not an arbitrary list: it is the order the work actually happens, running left to right. By the end of this article you will know what each tab makes and why it sits where it does.
Artifact
One finished thing your project produces — a proposal, a deck, a prototype, and so on. Each visible deliverable is one artifact. Think of it simply as: one tab = one kind of artifact.
Tab
The switch buttons in a row at the top. Click one and the screen changes to edit that kind of artifact — just like tabs in a web browser.
Shared context
The tabs in one project draw on the same information, so what you write in the proposal becomes the groundwork when a deck is built.
Here is the key idea: each tab is a different deliverable, but inside one project they share context. What you write in the proposal informs the deck; the direction on the concept board carries into the prototype. The tabs sit in work order for the same reason — a tab on the left is raw material for the ones on its right.
Knowledge
⌘1Research
⌘2Concept
⌘3Branding
⌘4Spec
⌘5Model
Proposal
⌘6Deck
⌘7Prototype
⌘8Website
Video
⌘9Kanban
⌘0The artifact tabs at the top of the workspace. The hairlines mark the stages — gather, define, document, build, run.
What each tab is for
The tabs fall into five stages. The hairlines in the tab row are the boundaries.
1. Gather — collect what is true
Knowledge base (⌘1): where you gather pre-proposal notes and material. It grounds the AI when it builds the rest of the artifacts, so filling it first makes everything more accurate.
Research (⌘2): studies market size and competitors with live web search and writes it up with sources cited. If the knowledge base is what you already know, Research is what you went out and checked.
2. Define — decide what this is
Concept (⌘3): a card-based concept board with AI image generation — where you lay out candidate directions and pick one.
Branding (⌘4): a brand identity board for colours, logo and type.
Spec (⌘5): a Product Requirements Doc — prioritised requirements, user flows and a screen map.
Model: a multi-period revenue, cost and KPI projection. One of the two tabs without a digit chord — open it by click or ⌘K.
3. Document — put it into words
Proposal (⌘6): a rich-text document. Toggle edit↔preview with ⌘P and export to docx, hwpx or pdf.
Deck (⌘7): a pitch deck of 16:9 slides with a presentation mode; export to pptx or pdf.
4. Build — show the real thing
Prototype (⌘8): a runnable product prototype in a container (Node+Vite or Python). Run it with ⌘R, switch the device frame between desktop, tablet and phone, and open it at a live preview URL.
Website: the public landing page that sells the product, running in its own container alongside the prototype. Like Model, it has no digit chord.
Video (⌘9): an intro video — play the deck as a slideshow, or embed a YouTube, Vimeo or MP4 URL.
5. Run — actually do it
Kanban (⌘0): a kanban board for organizing what happens next. Each card has a ▶ button that hands that task straight to the AI agent.
Knowledge base
Research
Concept
Branding
Spec
Proposal
Deck
Prototype
Video
Kanban
The digits follow the tab order. Twelve tabs, ten digits — so Model and Website are reached by click or ⌘K. On Windows and Linux, use Ctrl instead of ⌘.
Where should you start?
Twelve tabs can feel like a lot at first. But you just move left to right, and you never have to fill them all. Most work starts with the three steps below.
Set context in the knowledge base
Write the proposal
Grow it into a deck
If it is your first time, just remember these three steps. Research, concept, branding and prototype can come later, when you need them.
You don't have to fill every tab. For most work, setting context in the knowledge base and building the proposal and deck is plenty.
A common mix-up: the tabs look like separate files, but they are really pieces of one project. So a change in one tab can ripple into another — and you control that link with coherence mode (covered later).
Every tab can be edited by the AI chat or by keyboard and mouse alike — and either way, changes appear to your teammates in real time.
You don't need to know the tab names. Just ask in plain words in the chat panel (⌘J) and the AI fills the right tab for you. Try typing one of these as-is.
Fill the knowledge base
“Summarize our company and this project’s background into the knowledge base.”
Draft the proposal
“Draft a proposal based on the knowledge base.”
Turn it into a deck
“Turn this proposal into a 10-slide deck.”
Do I have to use every tab?
No. Use only the tabs you need. Leaving some empty is perfectly fine and does not harm the project.
How do I move between tabs?
Click a tab directly, or press ⌘1–⌘0 (Ctrl on Windows and Linux). Model and Website have no digit, so reach those by name from the command palette (⌘K).
Does changing one tab change the others automatically?
It depends on coherence mode. "Auto" adjusts related tabs for you, "Suggest" only points out what to update, and "Off" leaves them independent. The project settings article explains it.
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