Infinite Canvas — User Guide

What the Board module does

The module is an infinite canvas inside YoBench for visual work: mind maps, brainstorming, product diagrams, retrospectives. A single board mixes stickies, shapes, text, images, frames, connectors, tables, mind-map nodes and freehand drawing. Version history, AI helpers and a presentation mode are built in.

What you get:

Infinite canvas — 2D placement of objects, smooth zoom, camera position remembered between sessions.
Rich object set — sticky, shape, text, image, frame, group, card, table, mindmap-node, freehand, edges (connectors with handle anchors).
Comments — threaded, attached to an object or floating.
Presentation mode — frames are walked through in presentationOrder like slides.
Version history — up to 50 snapshots per board with restore; restoring saves the current state as "Before restore".
AI helpers — sticky clustering, mind map / diagram generation, board summary (uses the app's shared AI provider).
Text search — an FTS index of objects helps find notes on large boards.
Load-more on the board list — long board collections load in batches instead of all at once.

Board parameters

Title — defaults to "Untitled".
Icon — emoji or icon ID (optional).
Background color — HEX, default #ffffff.
Camera state — viewport_x, viewport_y, viewport_zoom are saved automatically.
Favorite — pin flag in the side list.
Trash — is_deleted; restore via Restore or hard-delete.
Cover image — preview in the boards list.
Last opened — last_opened_at for sorting.

Objects and tools

Toolbar on the canvas:

Select — selection and movement.
Sticky — short note in a fixed color.
Shape — rectangle, circle, diamond, etc.
Text — free-floating text block.
Image — drag-and-drop or paste from clipboard.
Frame — container; used for presentation and grouping.
Connector — arrow between objects (snap to handle anchors).
Pen — freehand drawing (freehand).
Eraser — remove drawing strokes.
Card — structured block with title and description.
Table — tabular object on canvas.
Mind map — nodes with auto-links.
Comment — C key, attached to a point or object.

Object context menu: Copy / Paste / Duplicate / Delete / Bring to front / Send to back / Lock / Unlock / Group / Ungroup / Add to frame.

Version history

Save version — create a labelled snapshot on demand. Up to 50 snapshots are kept per board.
Restore — switches the board to a snapshot; the current state is saved as "Before restore" so you can always roll back.

AI helpers

The AI menu on the canvas offers:

Cluster stickies — group similar stickies by meaning.
Create mind map — from selected context or a prompt.
Create diagram — generate a schema.
Summarize board — short description of the contents.

AI uses the app-wide provider (chatDefaultProviderId).

Export and import

PNG — current canvas view.
PDF — sequential dump of frames.
JSON — full snapshot of a board (objects, edges, comments, versions).
Import JSON — creates a new board from a previously exported file.

There's also Templates: save a board as a template and create new boards from it.

Global settings

There are no dedicated board* keys in the app settings. The board uses the shared app settings (language, chatDefaultProviderId for AI). All board-level parameters (background, viewport) live in the board record itself.

Workflow

1. Create a board

Open the Board module from the left sidebar.
Click New board.
Enter a title and optionally an icon.
Open the board — the canvas is ready.

2. Add objects

Use toolbar tools (sticky, shape, text, image).
Drag files right onto the canvas.
Connect objects with connectors.

3. Structure

Group objects in a frame for presentation.
Use mind maps for hierarchical ideas.
Reorder layers (front/back).

4. Use AI

Select a board or area → AI menu → Cluster stickies, Create mind map, Create diagram or Summarize board.

5. Presentation

In Presentation mode the board steps through frames by presentationOrder. Use Next frame / Previous frame.

6. Save and share

Save version — snapshot of the state.
Export PNG / PDF / JSON — for sharing.
Template — reuse the structure in new boards.

Next steps

Keep written documentation in Docs.
Configure AI providers so AI helpers work.
Push board insights into RAG contexts by exporting text.

Help and feedback

Want real-time collaboration, sticky voting or more templates? Contact us via the feedback form.