Nodes and relationships

Create a node

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Create nodes from Entities or from a relational Canvas. Creation opens in a centered modal, regardless of the button or canvas position you chose.

Give the node a name if it needs one.
Choose a node type, or enter a new type name.
Open Details to enter optional properties if the type has them.
When project time is active, choose Timeless if the node should exist outside the current moment.
Choose Create node, or use its attached arrow to choose Create and connect or Create with spatial layout where offered. Then press the main button. Create and connect saves the node and opens Add connection in the same modal. Create with spatial layout creates the node and an owned map.

Choosing an action in the menu does not create anything. Alt+Enter cycles the button’s action while you type, keeping focus and the cursor in the current field. Focus the attached arrow and press Up or Down to open the menu. Use arrows, Home, or End to move and Enter or Space to choose. Esc closes the menu and returns focus to its arrow. Tab closes it and continues through the form. The arrow remains available while required form information is missing; creating locks both buttons until it finishes. Cmd/Ctrl+Enter submits from the form’s fields. In a structured property editor, it saves that property’s draft first; submit the form separately. In a type picker, Enter first uses the highlighted type; it does not submit the form.

Wait for the type list and selected type’s details to load before creating. While the list is loading or has failed, it offers no existing or new type choices. A load error appears beside Type; choose Reload type details to try again. Your name, type search, and entered property values stay in the form. The same recovery applies to relationship types in Add connection.

Details shows how many properties you have filled. Done or Esc closes its panel and keeps entered values in the form. An invalid property reopens Details and focuses that field. Creation saves the properties with the node; closing Details does not save separately.

The spatial-layout preference is remembered. Unsaved node and connection drafts remain available when you reopen the same form in the same project and viewed time during the current app session. Reloading the app clears these drafts. If the node saves but its spatial layout fails, retry the layout or choose Finish to finish with the saved node.

Continue after creating

After standalone Create node closes the creation dialog, a temporary notification confirms the saved node. Creating directly into a connection or spatial layout, or creating a missing endpoint or layout owner, continues with that flow instead. The notification’s action starts on Create another node. Use Cmd/Ctrl+Enter to run that action, or Alt+Enter to open the choices and cycle through Create another node, Add connection, and Create spatial layout. The checkmark and highlighted row show the current choice. Choosing a row changes the action; use the action button or Cmd/Ctrl+Enter to run it.

Add connection keeps the saved node as one endpoint. Create spatial layout asks for a name, creates an owned spatial layout, and opens it. It does not place the layout in Atlas. Cancelling either action keeps the node saved.

The notification lasts 12 seconds while idle. Hovering, focusing it, or leaving its choices open pauses that timer. Action notifications wait until open modal dialogs close. Open forms and text editors keep their own shortcuts. Dismiss the notification with its close button; changing project or viewed time also clears it. The newest node notification replaces the previous one.

Create a relationship

Open a node from Entities. Use the Outgoing connections or Incoming connections icon below the header to show that section, then choose Add connection. A new form starts in the chosen direction. You can also choose Create and connect when creating a node. Choose its relationship type, then search for the node at the other end. The arrow above the fields shows the source and target; Swap connection direction reverses them. Focus this button and press Enter or Space to swap by keyboard.

If the endpoint does not exist, choose Create node in the node picker. Create it and return to the connection with that node selected. Back to connection or Esc returns to the search without losing the relationship draft. The endpoint’s unfinished node draft is also kept for the current app session. Creating the endpoint saves it to the project; cancelling the connection afterward does not remove it. Likewise, Done after Create and connect keeps the node even if you do not create a relationship.

On a relational canvas, use the Connect tool to draw one visually. Choosing the edge type and confirming the connection also use centered modals. In Add connection, focus the type or node selector and type to filter its options. A highlighted option has an Enter → cue. Focus moves into the dialog when it opens; use Tab and Shift+Tab to move through its controls. Open Details to enter optional type properties. Closing its panel keeps those values in the connection draft. Cmd/Ctrl+Enter creates the connection. A validation or save error keeps the form and entered values available for correction.

Every relationship has:

an edge type;
a source node and a different target node;
optional type properties;
an optional validity interval when time is active.

Direction matters in Query and on node detail pages. An outgoing relationship starts at the current node; an incoming one ends there.

An edge type can create a reverse relationship automatically. For example, creating Parent from one node to another can also create Child in the opposite direction. A bidirectional edge type creates the same type in both directions. Configure this on the edge type detail page under Relationships and Reverse relationship.

Generated reverse relationships share their properties and activity period. Editing, deleting, or restoring either one applies to both. Changing the edge type setting does not add or remove reverse edges for existing connections.

Work from a detail page

A node detail page shows its type, properties, rich content, and time actions. The icon row below the title and date controls filters the visible sections: Properties, Outgoing connections, Incoming connections, Spatial layouts, Referenced by layouts, and Content. Hover or focus an icon to see its label. Click it, or press Enter or Space, to show or hide its section. Selected icons indicate visible sections. Hiding a section keeps its data and unfinished edits.

Properties and content start visible. Connections and layouts start visible when they contain items. To use an empty feature, turn on its icon, then use Add connection or Add spatial layout in the section. Incoming and outgoing connections can be shown independently. Your choices last while this detail page remains open; reopening it restores these defaults. The content editor is last, separated by a horizontal divider instead of a heading.

A relationship detail page shows properties, rich content, time actions, and referencing layouts. Its icon row toggles Properties, Referenced by layouts, and Content. Its header shows From node → relationship type → To node. Both node names open their detail pages. Each name also shows its node type. On narrow screens, the relationship reads from top to bottom.

Temporary detail refresh failures keep open activity drafts, visible sections, and the Create spatial layout form. You can save an activity change or create the layout while the notice is visible. Choose Retry on the detail page to refresh saved data without submitting a draft.

Initial load failures offer Retry before editing. If the node or relationship has been deleted or you no longer have access, editing is removed.

Choose Add cover above the title to upload a decorative header image. The image is center-cropped to the header area and appears anywhere you open that node or relationship detail. Use Change cover to upload a replacement, or the trash action beside it to remove the cover. Cover changes are saved as soon as the upload finishes.

If your account has storage limits, uploads reserve capacity before they start. An exhausted allowance blocks new uploads; existing covers remain available. Contact support if you need more capacity. If saving an uploaded cover fails, follow the error message to retry or upload the image again.

A node has only a Start: when it comes into existence. It remains part of history afterward. Record death or other endings as ordinary dated properties; see Properties and notes.

Relationship detail pages retain an Active or Inactive status at the viewed project time. Their Start and End show the effective activity period, limited by when their endpoints come into existence. Connection rows also mark active relationships when project time is active.

From a node you can:

create incoming or outgoing connections while keeping the current node as one endpoint;
open a relationship from its type or a connected node from its name;
delete a relationship from the project without deleting either connected node (a generated reverse relationship is deleted with it);
expand long connection lists;
choose Add spatial layout to name and create an owned layout, then open or delete owned layouts;
open layouts that reference the node;
edit properties and notes.

From a relationship you can open either endpoint. The Referenced by layouts icon shows referencing layouts above the content editor. Select a layout to open it.

Set a node’s start

Select Start on a node detail page to open Node start. Choose the date with the project calendar, or use Now to copy the viewed time. Unknown start removes the explicit start. There is no node end date.

Date selection updates the open draft. Choose Save to apply the node’s start, or Cancel to discard it. In a typed date picker, Enter selects the date; it does not save the surrounding activity editor. Esc closes the date picker first and returns to its field.

Properties and text with inherited starts follow the node’s start. Explicit fact dates cannot precede it. At a date before its start, the node is absent from projected graph lists and queries; its detail page remains available.

Change a relationship’s period

Select Start and End on a relationship detail page to edit its activity period. Choose either date with the project calendar, or use Now to copy the viewed time. Now is unavailable in All time.

Choose Save to apply the activity period. Date selection alone does not save it; Cancel discards the open draft.

Use No beginning or No end for an open boundary. All time clears both boundaries. The start must be earlier than the end. Ending a relationship keeps its history available at earlier dates.