Platform walkthrough — your first hour

Platform walkthrough — your first hour

Business Summary: This end-to-end script mirrors the platform demo — workstream chat and collaboration rail, creating goals, connectors and wiki, Lifecycle Graph, cross-workstream collaboration, audit, Overview triage, and Teams.

Use this page as a guided tour. Estimated time: 45–60 minutes for a first pass with one connector and one workstream. You can stop after steps 1–3 and still complete a first governed run — see Onboarding checklist.

Full platform script

1. Workstream chat — Analyze default and four modes (10 min)

  1. Open an existing workstream from Workstreams in the sidebar (or create one in step 2 first).
  2. Confirm you land in Analyze mode — the default when a workstream opens.
  3. Use Analyze to ask questions about data — charts, tables, and commentary before taking further action.
  4. Click the mode button to see Action, Plan, and Reports — move to Plan or Reports for governed deliverables, or Action to push approved data downstream.
  5. Type @ — attach Wiki documents or Connectors (for example HubSpot + Xero for pipeline vs actuals forecasting).
  6. Remember: your chat is private; teammates see plans, reports, and rail artifacts — not your message history. See Private chat vs shared work.
  7. Expand the collaboration rail on the right — Gather evidence, Create plans, Make reports, HITL review, Commit artifacts (team-visible).
  8. Open Runtime (header, left of gear) during a Plan run to watch orchestration.

Deep guide: Workstream chat modes

2. Create a workstream (10 min)

Three entry points — same Perception wizard:

From Action
Overview New workstream (top right)
Workstreams hub Purple New workstream
Perception orb Describe the goal in natural language → commit preview

Wizard steps:

  1. Workstream name and Primary goal — goal text drives which functional team (agent) Nimbus assigns.
  2. Add collaborators… with at least one approver.
  3. Toggle connectors in Search integrations… — or connect inline from Perception chat.
  4. Click Create workstream → land in Analyze mode.

Deep guide: Creating a workstream

3. Connectors and Company Wiki (10 min)

Connectors catalog:

  1. Open Connectors from the sidebar under Knowledge.
  2. Search for HubSpot, Xero, or your CRM — click a card to review available tools (reads/writes) before activating.
  3. Turn the toggle on → Connect [Vendor] → secure OAuth sign-in.
  4. Bind the connector to your workstream under Settings → Connectors.

Company Wiki (optional):

  1. Open Company Wiki from the sidebar (Knowledge section).
  2. Connect a file platform (Dropbox, Google Drive, Notion, OneDrive, SharePoint) from the Connectors panel.
  3. When prompted, select which folders to import — not necessarily every file on a large drive.

Deep guides: Connector catalog, Adding wiki content

4. Lifecycle Graph and Perception (5 min)

  1. Open Knowledge → Lifecycle Graph — the graph builds automatically from sign-up; no manual construction.
  2. Read ENTITIES, EDGES, STAGE — seed context starts at sign-up; grows with team members, connectors, workstreams, and runs.
  3. Slide the Growth timeline to preview maturity stages.
  4. Click the Perception orb (bottom right) or press ⌘/ — ask What happened on this workstream? or What needs my approval?
  5. Revisit past Perception sessions via Chat history in the sidebar.

Deep guides: Using the Perception console, Using the Lifecycle Graph

5. Governed run inside the workstream (10 min)

  1. Switch to Plan mode — review Confirm & run and Estimated NTU.
  2. Monitor Create plans on the collaboration rail; respond at HITL review if prompted.
  3. Switch to Reports after outputs land; push artifacts toward Live Canvas when ready.

Deep guide:

6. Process Board and Live Canvas (5 min)

  1. Open Collaboration → Process Board — status of every open workstream (organizations may run 1–100 concurrently).
  2. Scan Plan → Run → Reports → Review → Committed; expand rows for per-run REPORTS and HITL badges.
  3. Open Live Canvas — Figma-style boards to aggregate reports from multiple workstreams into one master board pack for executives.

Deep guides: Using the Process Board, Using Live Canvas

7. Audit, Overview, and Teams (10 min)

  1. Audit & History — every agent action, human interaction, and MCP write; query the same events from Perception.
  2. Overview — role-scoped morning triage (Ask Nimbus, stat pills, New workstream); admins see broader scope than managers with limited workstream access.
  3. Teams — workspace org chart and GitHub-style contribution heatmap (governed commits, not git).

Deep guides: Audit and History, Using the Overview page, Browsing Teams

How this fits in Nimbus

Walkthrough order — follow the numbered steps in Full platform script above:

flowchart LR
  S1[1 Workstream chat]
  S2[2 Create workstream]
  S3[3 Connectors and Wiki]
  S4[4 Lifecycle Graph]
  S5[5 Governed run]
  S6[6 Process Board and Live Canvas]
  S7[7 Audit Overview Teams]

  S1 --> S2 --> S3 --> S4 --> S5 --> S6 --> S7

Relationship view — how surfaces connect during daily work:

flowchart LR
  WS[Workstream chat]
  Rail[Collaboration rail]
  Conn[Connectors and Wiki]
  Lifecycle[Lifecycle Graph]
  Perception[Perception orb]
  PB[Process Board]
  LC[Live Canvas]
  Audit[Audit and History]

  WS --> Rail
  Conn --> WS
  Lifecycle --> Perception
  WS --> PB
  WS --> LC
  Rail --> Audit
  Audit --> Lifecycle

This loop — explore in chat, scope, connect data, run with governance, collaborate cross-workstream, audit — is the daily rhythm in Navigating the platform.

Example scenarios

New ops lead — day one onboarding

A new ops lead opens a workstream in Analyze, connects HubSpot and Xero, scopes a pipeline health goal from Overview → New workstream, runs Plan mode, approves at HITL review, and merges the report on Live Canvas. She verifies the run in Audit & History and asks Perception What approvals happened this week?

CFO delegate — executive tour in one sitting

A CFO delegate completes steps 4, 6, and 7 — Lifecycle Graph and Perception for causality, Process Board and Live Canvas for board-pack aggregation, Overview for Monday triage. His FP&A lead owns steps 1–3 and 5.

FAQs {#faqs}

Q: Should I complete every step in one session? A: No. Steps 1–2 and 5 are enough for a first governed run. Collaboration and audit steps add cross-workstream visibility.

Q: Where does Ask Nimbus get its data? A: The Lifecycle Graph — built automatically from sign-up. See How the graph grows.

Q: Can teammates read my chat during step 1? A: No. Chat is private per user; the collaboration rail shows shared plans and artifacts — see Private chat vs shared work.

Q: Which step consumes NTUs? A: Step 5 — Confirm & run in Plan mode. Browsing, connecting, and scoping do not meter governed execution.

Q: What should I do after the first hour? A: Follow the Onboarding checklist for week-one goals — second connector, wiki sync, and governance preset review.