# Canvases

> A whiteboard — sticky notes, shapes, connectors and record cards for stakeholder maps, account plans, deal plans, brainstorms and flowcharts; voting, note-to-task, Mermaid and AI.

A **canvas** is an infinite whiteboard your team edits together. You place sticky notes, text, shapes, frames, connector arrows and **live cards** of CRM records (contact, company, opportunity, user) on it. A canvas can stand alone or be linked to a company or opportunity; linked canvases are listed in the **Canvases** card on that record.

In the sidebar, **Canvases** (`/canvases`) lists every canvas with a thumbnail, with *Mine* and *Linked to a record* filters and search. The command palette (Ctrl+K) also has **New canvas**.

## Templates {#templates}

Pick a template in the **New canvas** dialog. Record templates fill the content from the CRM — the canvas isn't empty when it opens.

| Template | Linked to | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Blank canvas | — | Free-form work |
| Stakeholder map | Company | The company's contacts arrive as cards; drag them into the *high / low influence × supporter / neutral-against* quadrants |
| Org chart | Company | Parent company and branches (from [relations](/concepts/relations)), contacts in columns by department |
| Account plan | Company | Current state, open opportunities, stakeholders, goals, risks and blockers, next steps |
| Deal plan | Opportunity | Stage path (passed stages checked), BANT, stage gate issues, stakeholders, next steps |
| SWOT | — | Strengths / weaknesses, opportunities, threats |
| Brainstorm / retro | — | What went well, what to improve, actions — prioritize with voting |
| Sales process flow | — | Your stages, time targets and transition rules as a flowchart |

Templates that need a record show a **Select a company**, **Select an opportunity** or **Select a company or opportunity** label. Picking one focuses the **Linked record** box, which then searches only the matching record type; once a record is chosen, **Open canvas** is enabled.

The **Canvas** menu in the **Canvases** card of a company or opportunity opens the templates that fit that record directly.

## Editor {#editor}

The toolbar on the left (at the bottom on phones) and shortcuts:

| Tool | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Select | `V` | Selects and moves items; dragging on empty space draws a selection box |
| Hand | `H`, or drag while holding `Space` | Pans the canvas |
| Sticky note | `N` | A note where you click; double-clicking empty space also adds one |
| Text | `T` | Heading / text (S · M · L · XL sizes) |
| Shape | `S` | Rectangle, rounded, ellipse, diamond |
| Frame | `F` | A section; moving the frame moves what's inside |
| Connector | `L` | Click the source, then the target — arrow, plain line or dashed; type a label in the middle |
| Record card | `K` | Search for a contact, company, opportunity or user; the card shows current data from the record and opens it on click |

The bar above the selection sets color (10 colors), shape, text size, connector style, bring to front / send to back, note-to-task and delete. Double-click an item (or press `Enter`) and type.

| Shortcut | |
|---|---|
| `Ctrl+Z` / `Ctrl+Y` (⌘ on Mac) | Undo / redo |
| `Ctrl+C` · `Ctrl+V` · `Ctrl+D` | Copy · paste · duplicate |
| `Ctrl+A` | Select all |
| Arrow keys (×10 with Shift) | Nudge the selection |
| `Delete` | Delete the selection (its connectors go too) |
| `+` / `-` · Ctrl + wheel | Zoom in / out |
| `Shift+1` | Fit everything |
| `Esc` | Clear the selection and tool |

Changes save instantly. Changes made by teammates who have the same canvas open reach your screen within a few seconds; editing different items at the same time is safe.

## Voting {#voting}

**Voting** starts a session: choose the votes per person (e.g. 3). Everyone votes by clicking a note, shape or card; clicking again takes the vote back. Vote counts appear on the corner of each note. **End voting** closes the session and the votes stay on the notes; when starting a new session, **Clear previous votes** resets them. Users who can only view the canvas can vote too.

## Note to task {#tasks}

Select a note and choose **Turn into task**: the first line becomes the task title, the rest goes into the description with a link to the canvas. Pick an assignee and a due date. If the canvas is linked to a company the task is linked to that company; if it's linked to an opportunity, to that project. The note shows a task link, which turns green once the task is done.

:::tip
Retro flow: everyone adds notes → start voting → turn the notes with the most votes into tasks.
:::

## Diagram — flowcharts from text {#diagram}

Type a [Mermaid](https://mermaid.js.org/syntax/flowchart.html) flowchart into the **Diagram** dialog; nodes and arrows are laid out on the canvas automatically (layered layout; arrows that skip a layer route around the other boxes):

```text
flowchart LR
  A[Quote requested] --> B{Discount above limit?}
  B -->|Yes| C[Manager approval]
  B -->|No| D[Send quote]
  C -->|Approved| D
  C -.->|Rejected| E[Revise quote]
  E --> B
  D --> F([Follow-up call])
```

Supported: `flowchart` / `graph` (TD, LR, BT, RL), node shapes `[ ]` `( )` `([ ])` `(( ))` `{ }`, labelled arrows (`-->|text|`, `-- text -->`), dashed `-.->`, plain `---`, `subgraph` (becomes a frame), `A & B --> C`. Up to 200 nodes. Sequence, ER and class diagrams are not supported.

With AI enabled, describe the diagram on the **AI** tab ("quote approval: manager sign-off when the discount exceeds 10%") — AI writes the Mermaid text, you review it and draw it. On a linked canvas the record summary is sent as context.

## Summarize with AI {#ai}

Select two or more notes and choose **Summarize**: AI condenses them into 3–5 bullets (voted notes first) and adds them as a purple note next to them. AI must be enabled for the workspace and for you.

## Access {#access}

| Access | Who can see | Who can edit |
|---|---|---|
| Workspace can edit (default) | Everyone who can see the linked record | Everyone who can see it |
| Everyone can view, I edit | Everyone who can see the linked record | Only the owner (and admins) |
| Only me | Only the owner (and admins) | Only the owner |

A linked canvas follows [record visibility](/users-and-roles): in team mode you don't see the canvases of companies you can't see. The owner changes access from the ⋯ menu; deleting is also limited to the owner and admins. **Make a copy** duplicates the canvas as a new canvas owned by you.

## Comments, SVG and record cards {#more}

- **Comments** — start team threads on the canvas; mentions, replies and resolving work like [comments](/guides/comments) elsewhere.
- **SVG** — download a vector picture of the canvas (slides, email, documents).
- The **Canvases** card on company and opportunity pages lists linked canvases.

## From an AI assistant {#mcp}

An assistant such as Claude connected through [Solk MCP](/mcp/overview) can read and create canvases: `list_canvases`, `read_canvas` (outline, JSON or SVG), `create_canvas` (template, Mermaid or elements), `update_canvas` (add / update / delete as a diff). E.g. "Create an account plan canvas for Kuzey Plastik and add the two objections from the last call to the risks" or "Summarize the most-voted notes on the post-fair brainstorm". Ready-made prompt: *Tasks from a canvas*.

## Limits {#limits}

1,500 items per canvas, 2,000 characters per note. No live cursors / presence; changes sync every few seconds. Canvases aren't in the mobile app (they open in the phone's browser). No image / file uploads — files stay in the record's files area.