Using the app

Putting knowledge in

There are three ways to put knowledge into Vinc: write a document, make a node, or bring in files. This page shows where each one starts and what you fill in. The screens below are the public demo, so nothing is saved.

Where to start

New document and Import files at the top of the document home are the nearest way in. From any screen, the + at the top of the sidebar opens a menu with all three.

+ button At the head of the sidebar's topic list. Press it to open the three items below.
Write a document Opens a new document in place on the document home, or in the panel on the right in the graph.
Make a node Opens the New node sheet.
Import files Opens the Import tab in Settings > Data.

Right-click a topic row in the sidebar for New document here and New node here, which create straight into that topic. Right-clicking an empty spot in the graph offers the same two. The shortcuts are Ctrl/Cmd + N for a new document and Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N for a new node; if a web browser takes those keys first, pick them from the command palette (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + K).

Write a document

Longer writing goes in a document. Press New document on the document home and an empty document opens where the list was. If the list was narrowed to one topic, that topic is filled in already.

All documents Stops writing and goes back to the list. Text you closed before it was saved comes back as a draft next time.
Topic The topic the document goes under, written with slashes like work/research.
Title The document's name, and the basis for its id.
When The year the thing it covers happened, as YYYY. It is kept apart from the day you wrote it and is used when you look by time.
Text Written in Markdown. Type / on an empty line for a menu of headings, lists and more.

You do not have to press save. Once it has a title, a topic and a first line, it saves as you write, and Ctrl/Cmd + S saves straight away. On the first save the title sets the document's id, and Vinc tells you which id it was saved as, under which topic. The document is kept exactly as written.

Type [[ and a few letters in the text to pick a node with that name and mention it; if none fits, Create concept makes it on the spot. Select some text and a small bar appears above it with Make a node from this text.

Writing a document from the graph opens the same editor in the panel on the right, with the graph still beside it.

Make a node

Something short, like one idea or one decision, goes straight in as a node.

Kind Concept, Record, Decision or Episode. The line below says what the chosen kind is for.
Title The node's name. If a node with that name exists, the sheet says so and lets you open it.
One line A short description shown with the node in lists and on its card.
Topic Written with slashes, like work/research. Existing topics can be picked from the list.
Links (optional) Link the new node to others as you create it.
Create and open Creates the node and opens it in the graph. Same as Ctrl/Cmd + Enter.
Create Creates it and closes the sheet. Same as Enter. Turn on Keep creating to keep the sheet open.

The new node shows up in the graph at once. The sidebar and the document home show documents, so a single node adds no row there.

Import files

Writing you already have comes in as files. Press Import files on the document home and the Import tab of the Settings window opens.

Import tab The Import tab, beside Create and Share. Create offers Link related documents, which links the main concepts of your documents to each other.
Drop here Drop files onto this area. Several at once is fine.
Choose a file Choose files to bring in. Documents can be .md, .txt, .rst or .pdf; packs are .vincpack or .json.

Drag and drop

Two places take dropped files: the drop area on the Import tab, and the invitation that appears in a graph with nothing in it yet. The invitation also has Choose a file and New node buttons. Files dropped on the document home's list are not taken, so press Import files and drop them on the Import tab.

Bringing in a pack

A pack someone shared (.vincpack or .json) comes in through the same Import tab. It merges into your graph: anything already there is updated in place and never duplicated. Making a pack is covered on Sharing.

A new account or team gets the Default Agents pack by itself. What it holds is on Quickstart.

Apply concept candidates

Bringing in or saving a document does not create concepts by itself. Vinc finds concept candidates in the document and shows them to you, and only the ones you pick become nodes.

After an import: a N concept candidates found · Apply button appears. Press it, review the candidates and pick the ones to add.
After writing: once you save, Concepts found in this document · N appears under the document. Press Review, then Add N or Skip all.

This step needs saving, so the demo cannot show it.