How ndoc works

This guide explains how ndoc is put together and how to get things done in it. The stage is the quick map; this page has the detail. Each section stands on its own, so jump to the one you need. Where desktop and phone differ, both are given.

The idea in one paragraph

Most projects end up spread across a spreadsheet, a document, a slide deck, maybe a dashboard, and a chat with an AI. Your job becomes carrying every change from one to the next. An ndoc keeps all of it in one place: the data and the analysis, the write-up, and an interactive view. You build it with an AI that can see and change every part. When an assumption changes, you ask once, and the analysis, the charts, and the text are updated together.

You never need to write code. The AI writes the Python and the interactive views; you describe what you want, look at the result, and ask for changes.

What's inside an ndoc

Every ndoc has three surfaces, shown as tabs at the top of the ndoc, plus the ⓘ ndoc button.

Stage

The Stage is the interactive view: the part people see first. It can be a page with charts, a dashboard with filters, a slide deck you present, or a small app such as a task tracker or a calculator. Readers can move its sliders, switch its filters, and click through its slides; what they change is theirs alone and doesn't change the ndoc for anyone else.

Narrative

The Narrative is the written account: what you found, why it matters, and how you got there. It supports headings, tables, footnotes, math, figures, and numbered citations, so it can be anything from a one-page memo to a research paper. A number in the narrative can be linked to the analysis that computed it, so a reader can see where it came from.

Model

The Model tab holds what the ndoc is built from:

• Datasets: tables of data, which you can open and scroll through.
• Scripts: the Python that cleans, combines, and analyses the data. Each one starts with a sentence saying what it does.
• Runs: each time a script runs, ndoc keeps a record of what went in, what came out, and what it printed.

The Model tab draws these as a map of what feeds what, so you can follow a chart or a number back to the data and code behind it, without hunting through spreadsheet formulas.

The ⓘ ndoc button

The ⓘ button at the top right of the ndoc opens four tabs:

• Context: what the ndoc is for, who reads it, how it should sound, and any instructions for the AI. The AI reads it every time it works on the ndoc.
• Comments: conversations about the whole ndoc or about words you selected in the narrative.
• Tasks: to-dos with an owner and a status.
• Sources: the references the ndoc's citations point to.

Find your way around

On a desktop

The Studio has three panels side by side:

• Files, on the left. Your workspace's folders, ndocs, and uploaded files. At the top is your workspace name: click it to switch workspaces or to open Shared with me, where things other people shared with you appear. Below it are New ndoc, New folder, Upload files, and Upload folder. Right-click any item for Rename, Move, Sharing and permissions, and Move to trash.
• The ndoc, in the middle. Its title, the Stage · Narrative · Model tabs, and the controls along the top: the edit pencil, Present, Sharing and permissions, the ⋯ menu, and the ⓘ ndoc button.
• AI, on the right. Your conversation with the AI, with New conversation and your earlier conversations.

The ⋯ menu holds named versions, saving a version, downloads (PDF, or the whole ndoc as an .ndoc.html file), Make a copy, and Move to trash.

On a phone or tablet

Each panel fills the whole screen, and a bar at the bottom switches between them: Files · ndoc · AI.

• Files keeps New ndoc and uploading. Opening something from Files takes you to the ndoc view.
• At the top of the ndoc view are the title, a compact Stage · Narrative · Model switch, and one menu that holds Sharing and permissions, Present, named versions, saving a version, downloads, Make a copy, Move to trash, and your account.
• The ⓘ button opens comments and the rest as a full-screen sheet.
• You don't edit by hand on a phone. There's no pencil or toolbar; tap AI and say what to change. When the AI suggests changes to the narrative, you accept or reject them from a bar at the bottom.

On the stage, pinch to zoom in and double-tap to zoom in or back out.

When nothing is open

When you have no ndoc open, as now, the middle shows this guide, and the AI panel holds your workspace conversation. There the AI can search and read everything you can open in the workspace, but it doesn't change any existing ndoc. Open an ndoc to work on it.

Working with the AI

The AI panel is where most of the work happens. Talk to it in plain words, the way you'd brief a capable colleague.

What it can do

With an ndoc open, the AI can:

• bring in data from files you uploaded, or from a connection your workspace has set up, such as a database or SharePoint;
• write and run Python scripts to clean, combine, model, and chart your data;
• build or change the stage: charts, dashboards, slide decks, calculators, trackers;
• write or edit the narrative, with citations to sources it found or that you gave it;
• search the web and read pages, telling you what came from where;
• look at what it made, using screenshots of the stage and narrative, and fix layout problems it sees;
• take Studio actions you ask for: make an ndoc or folder, rename or move things, save a version, make a PDF, share an ndoc.

How its changes reach you

• Stage changes appear in your live preview right away. Each is one step you can undo.
• Narrative changes arrive as suggestions. You review each one and accept or reject it; nothing is saved until you accept.
• Sharing changes (who can see something) happen only after you approve them in the AI panel.
• Replacing data that someone edited by hand asks for your approval first, and ndoc keeps a checkpoint so it can be brought back.

Context and memory

The AI works better the more it knows about what you're doing, and ndoc keeps that knowledge with your work rather than reading anything outside it.

• Context (in the ⓘ button) is the ndoc's brief: purpose, audience, tone, and custom instructions. Fill it in when you start; anyone who works on the ndoc later benefits from it.
• Memory holds lasting preferences and decisions at three levels: for this ndoc ("leave out incomplete quarters"), for you ("I prefer short sentences"), and for your workspace ("our fiscal year starts in February"). The AI notes these on its own when you say them. Ask it what it remembers, or ask it to change or forget something.

Tips for good results

• Say what it's for and who will read it. "A one-page summary for the leadership team" gets a different result than "a detailed analysis for the data team."
• Point at things. Select something in the Studio before you ask, and "this" and "here" refer to it.
• Ask for one change at a time when you're refining, and look at each result.
• Paste an image (a sketch, a screenshot of a chart you like, your brand's slide) to show what you mean.
• Ask questions, too. "Where does this number come from?" and "What would change if churn were 4%?" are good requests.

Start a new ndoc

1. Desktop: in the Files panel on the left, click New ndoc. Phone: tap Files, then New ndoc.
2. Give it a name. It goes at the top level of your workspace; you can move it into a folder later.
3. The ndoc opens on its Context. Write a sentence or two for each part: what it's for, who will read it, and how it should sound. Save it.
4. Tell the AI what you want to build, and which files to start from.

You can also ask the AI from your workspace conversation: "Make a new ndoc called Q4 plan in my Finance folder."

To start from someone else's ndoc instead, open it and choose Make a copy from the ⋯ menu (on a phone, the top menu). The copy is yours to change.

Bring in your data

1. Upload your files into a folder. Desktop: use Upload files or Upload folder in the Files panel on the left. Phone: upload from Files. Uploaded files stay in your folders and can be used by any ndoc.
2. Open the ndoc you want the data in.
3. Ask the AI to bring it in: "Bring sales.csv into this ndoc and chart revenue by month."

What happens next depends on the file:

• CSV, Excel, and JSON tables become datasets, keeping their column types. You'll see them in the Model tab.
• Other JSON (a nested structure rather than a table) becomes a JSON asset the stage can use.
• PDFs, text, and anything that needs reshaping or combining are read by a Python script the AI writes, which publishes clean datasets.
• Images can be added for the narrative or the stage.

If your workspace has a connection to a database, data warehouse, or SharePoint, ask the AI to pull the data you need into a dataset.

An ndoc doesn't follow its files on its own. When an uploaded file changes, upload the new one and ask the AI to update the dataset from it.

Rebuild an Excel workbook

A spreadsheet model can become an ndoc where the calculations are readable and the inputs are controls anyone can try.

1. Upload the workbook from the Files panel.
2. Make a new ndoc (or open one) and ask: "Rebuild Forecast.xlsx as this ndoc, with its inputs as sliders."
3. The AI reads the workbook's sheets, inputs, and formulas, then tells you what it found: what the model is for, what it takes in, and what it answers. It proposes a plan and asks where to start.
4. It builds one agreed piece at a time: the inputs you edit, a few readable Python scripts, a stage with the controls that matter, and a narrative of the method. It checks each piece against the workbook's own results and tells you plainly where they differ and why.

The calculations end up in the Model tab as named, readable steps rather than cell references, so anyone can follow them.

Rebuild a PowerPoint deck or import its theme

Upload an existing PowerPoint from the Files panel, open the ndoc you want it in, and ask the AI for one of two things:

• Use its theme: "Give this ndoc the look of Q3 Review.pptx." The AI copies the deck's colours, fonts, slide layouts, and logo. The look applies to the whole stage, so a dashboard or a page matches your brand too.
• Rebuild it: "Rebuild Q3 Review.pptx as a deck in this ndoc." The AI rebuilds the slides with their text and numbers, and turns pasted charts into live ones. You can then ask for controls, such as a slider for the churn rate.

A rebuilt deck follows the original's story and design closely but won't match it pixel for pixel.

Side note: a PowerPoint template file (.potx) works for the theme too, as does a screenshot of a slide.

Make slides, dashboards, and apps

The stage takes whatever shape you ask for. Some examples:

• "Turn this analysis into a six-slide board deck."
• "Make a dashboard of revenue by region, with a filter for segment."
• "Add a slider for the discount rate and show how the payback period changes."
• "Make the stage a task tracker my team can update."

Slides

Decks are real slides with live charts and controls on them. To show one, use Present: on the top bar on a desktop, or in the top menu on a phone. Present goes full screen, and the controls keep working, so you can change an assumption mid-meeting.

Look and feel

Ask the AI for the colours and fonts you want, a dark stage, or your organization's design. It can copy a design from a description, a screenshot of a slide, or a PowerPoint template you uploaded.

Small apps

A stage can let its editors add and change rows of data, such as tasks, sign-ups, or expenses, and attach images. The data is stored in the ndoc's own datasets, with rules the AI sets up (for example, "status must be to do, doing, or done"). Only the ndoc's editors can change it; everyone else sees it read-only.

Find anything in your workspace

With no ndoc open, ask the AI about anything across your workspace:

• "Which of my ndocs talk about churn, and what do they conclude?"
• "Find the latest revenue forecast and tell me its main assumptions."
• "What's in the Finance folder?"

It reads the ndocs and files you can open, checks what it finds before answering, and tells you where each answer came from. From an open ndoc you can also ask it to use the data, scripts, or sources of another ndoc, which it copies into the one you're working on.

Share and work together

Who can see what

Open Sharing and permissions (top of the ndoc on a desktop, the top menu on a phone):

• People: give anyone a role by email address: editor (changes everything), commenter (reads, comments, and adds tasks), or reader (reads only).
• Workspace members: let everyone in the workspace read, comment, or edit, or keep it restricted to the people you name. A folder's setting passes down to what's in it.
• The link: turn on the ndoc's link so anyone who has it can read it, with an optional password.

Comments and tasks

Open the ⓘ button. Select words in the narrative first to comment on them, or comment on the ndoc as a whole. Reply, resolve, and reopen threads. Tasks have an owner and a status; assigning someone a task doesn't give them access to the ndoc.

Editing together

Editors work on one shared draft. To edit the stage or narrative by hand on a desktop, click the edit pencil: one person edits a surface at a time, and others see who is editing. The AI can change things while you read along.

Versions and checkpoints

• Named versions freeze the ndoc as it was, for example Sent to the board. Save one from the ⋯ menu and keep editing the draft. A named version can have a link of its own, so the board keeps seeing exactly what they were sent.
• Automatic checkpoints are taken after edits pause. Find them under named versions, open one to look at it, or keep it as a named version. Ask the AI to bring back an earlier state of any part.

Copies and downloads

• Make a copy creates your own ndoc from what you're viewing.
• Download gives a PDF of the stage, the narrative, or both, or the whole ndoc as an .ndoc.html file.

Open an .ndoc.html file

An .ndoc.html file is a whole ndoc in a single file: stage, narrative, data, scripts, and sources. It opens in any web browser, even offline, and stays interactive. The format is open, so the file doesn't depend on ndoc to be read.

To work on one in ndoc:

1. Upload the file into a folder from the Files panel.
2. Ask the AI: "Open Q3 Review.ndoc.html as a new ndoc."

It becomes a new ndoc of yours. Anything that couldn't be brought back is listed, so the AI can rebuild it.

Is my work safe?

• The interactive stage runs in a sealed-off frame with no network access, so it can't send your data anywhere.
• Python runs in a fresh, network-free container each time, and is thrown away afterwards.
• Each workspace's data is kept apart from every other workspace's.
• The AI only sees what's in ndoc and what you can open. It never reads your computer, screen, or inbox.

See what an ndoc can be

The examples on the stage are real ndocs: a live board deck, a quant model, a team mini-app, a research paper, a calculator, a data story, and more. Open one and click through its Narrative and Model tabs to see how it was made. Then use Make a copy and ask the AI to change something, which is the fastest way to learn.