Things

Open a thing and click the ⊕ under its sub-things (Add sub-item), or press +. With more than 12 sub-things, the ⊕ moves into the grid as its last tile, Add.

Agents create things through a connection, AI Mode creates them when you ask (see Find things), Slack's Save as thing turns a message into one, and on Android you can share text, links and images to Everythings from other apps.

The editor shows the Name field, the content (see Writing content) and the Tags field. Separate tags with commas or spaces. Tags are saved in lowercase and show as chips such as #recipe under the content; a chip opens every thing carrying that tag.

Click the icon beside the name. The Icon picker has three tabs:

• Emoji: pick one.
• Upload Image: use a picture as the icon. Its Fallback emoji shows wherever the image can't load. Clear Image removes it.
• Text: type a few emojis or characters.

The swatch beside the name sets the thing's accent color: a preset, a Custom color, or a hex code. Default uses the workspace's accent. The color tints the thing's card edge, its header and its sub-thing badge.

With auto-save on (the default), edits save as you type and the header button reads Saving…, then Saved; click it (Done editing) to stop editing. With auto-save off, click 💾 or press Ctrl/⌘ Enter. A new thing always saves with 💾. Details in Writing content.

From left to right: the ⋮ menu, a grid button back to the workspace, the parent thing, and the thing's name when it fits. On the right sit the marks, the ⭐ for Faves, ✏️ to edit, 💬 for comments (with a count once there are any) and ✕ to close. When you scroll a long thing, the header shrinks to ⋮ and ✕.

• The name and icon, large, when they don't fit in the header.
• A reading time such as 6 min read on things of 1,000 words or more.
• On this page: an outline of the content's headings, shown when it has two or more. Click one to jump to it.
• The content, with checklists you can tick right there.
• A question from an agent, when one is waiting, with a place to answer. See Questions, inbox & @Agent.
• A footer line: which agent wrote or last changed the thing (✦ and its name), and when it last changed, such as 2 days ago, with the full date on hover. A thing with sub-things and little text of its own leaves the date off.
• The sub-things, as tiles, with the ⊕ to add one.
• The comments, opened with 💬. See Comments & mentions.
• A bar saying the item is public, when it has a public link.

On wider screens, round buttons on the card's left and right edges show the previous and next thing at the same level; hover one to see its name. Press ← or → for the same. On a phone, swipe the card sideways. Esc, ✕ or a click outside the card closes it and returns you to the parent; Backspace also goes up a level.

Opening a thing on the web or in the phone app records a visit. The apps don't display visits, but a connected agent can see whether someone opened a thing since it asked a question there.

Rest the pointer on a tile. A ring fills over its icon, then a panel shows the first lines of its content and up to 9 of its sub-things. Move away to close it.

• Reorder: drag a tile into the gap between two others.
• Nest: drop it on the middle of another tile. The target lights up, and the thing moves inside it.
• Move up a level: on a thing page, drop a sub-thing on the background outside the card. It moves out to sit beside the thing you are viewing.
• Trash or duplicate: while you drag, a red trash target appears at the bottom right and a blue duplicate target at the bottom left. Drop on one.

On a touch screen, hold a tile for a moment before dragging, so a quick swipe still scrolls. From the keyboard, focus a tile and press Space to pick it up (see Keyboard shortcuts).

Press and hold a tile without moving, then release. Selection mode starts and a bar shows how many are selected. Tap more tiles to add or remove them, then choose Duplicate or Delete for all of them. The ✕ on the bar (Clear selection) or Esc ends it.

Duplicate in the ⋮ menu (or the duplicate target) copies a thing with all its sub-things. A picker titled Duplicate this item into: asks where:

• Current parent: beside the original.
• A workspace name: at that workspace's top level.
• The arrow beside a workspace: browse into it, step down through its things, and choose Duplicate into the one you want.

Switch to Large Icon View in a thing's ⋮ menu shows its sub-things as big covers standing on a shelf, which suits photos and collections. Switch to Normal View goes back. The view is saved with the thing, so everyone sees it the same way.

Choose Delete Item in the ⋮ menu, press Delete on the open thing, or select several tiles and choose Delete. A dialog says the item and its sub-things will be moved to Trash; confirm to delete. Dropping a tile on the trash target while you drag deletes it at once, with no dialog.

While Trash holds anything, a bar at the bottom of the workspace grid shows how many items are in it (for example 🗑️ 3 items in trash):

• Restore all puts everything back.
• Empty deletes everything in Trash permanently, after you confirm.
• Click the count to open the 🗑️ Trash page, which lists each deleted thing with its own Restore button and an Empty trash button at the foot.

• Restoring a thing brings back everything that was deleted with it, with content, marks and comments.
• A sub-thing restored on its own, while its parent is still in Trash or gone, comes back at the top level of the workspace.
• A thing in Trash can't take new sub-things.