Boards Guide

This is the hands-on guide: creating a board, setting its layout, populating it, and nesting layers inside it. For what a board is — the types, the layer model, and where opening one takes you — start at Boards.

Creating a board

Your first board checklist

• Pick a board type that matches your goal
• Choose a short, descriptive name (2–100 characters)
• Set a URL-friendly slug (lowercase, hyphens only)
• Select a layout — dashboard for visual, page for written content
• Add a description so teammates know the board's purpose
• Place at least one node or content block to get started

Layout settings

Every board has a layout — dashboard or page — that controls how content is arranged. Change it any time without losing content.

Dashboard layout

Best for diagrams and visual canvases. Supports width presets:

Page layout

Best for written content — ADRs, reports, knowledge base articles.

Section templates

Each layout also uses a section template that defines the internal structure — single diagram, single content block, title + content, title + diagram, multi-column, and so on. Pick the one that matches what the board is for.

Adding nodes and edges

Once your board is created, you can populate it:

1. Add nodes — Click the canvas to place a new node (system, service, database, etc.)
2. Connect with edges — Drag from one node's handle to another to create a relationship
3. Edit properties — Click any node or edge to set its name, slug, description, and tags

Layers (nested boards)

Any node on a board can have a child layer — a full board nested inside it. This is how you model depth without cluttering a single view.

• Right-click a node and select Create Subsystem Layer to create a nested board
• Navigate between layers using the breadcrumb trail at the top

Layers are also where app boards usually live: connect a repo to a layer board and that layer gets its own hub. Drilling around from the canvas keeps you on the canvas — hubs only take over once you arrive at an app board.

Once you have a few layers, hit Map in the board bar to see and jump around the whole structure — see The Board Tree.

Organizing with folders

Group boards into folders from the workspace sidebar — by domain, by team, or by lifecycle stage. Workspaces & Organizations covers the folder types.

Tags and featured boards

• Apply context tags to boards for filtering and discovery
• Mark boards as featured to highlight them on your org's public profile
• Opt in to listing to get your board curated and surfaced

What's next