The workbench keeps your project documents and assistant in one Trace desktop window.
Open the Document You Want to Work On
- Create or open a project from the start page using New project or Open project….
- Use the project tree on the left to find a schematic, board, or other project document.
- Double-click a document to open it. For a hierarchical schematic, expand the tree and double-click the intended sub-sheet.
- Use the document tabs along the top to return to an open view.
Opening an already-open document brings its tab forward. An asterisk on a document tab marks unsaved changes. Closing a tab is not a substitute for saving; review any save prompt before closing a modified document.
The start page belongs to the desktop application. The web dashboard is a separate account and project-management surface.
Use the Shared Assistant
The assistant sits beside the active document. Your chat tabs and draft remain available as you navigate the workbench, but a request must still target the correct project and editor.
Before sending, check the open document, select Ask, Agent, or Plan, and choose a supported model. See Chat and Models.
During an active design task, switching to another design editor may wait until the task finishes or you stop it. Other sheets in the current editor and supporting views may remain available. Multiple chat tabs are not permission to make competing edits to the same design.
Open Supporting Tools
Use the top bar to open the tools your build supports:
- Workspaces: supported local, cloud, and team project workflows.
- Artifacts: reusable reference files.
- Component Editor: component generation and review.
- Simulation: the open schematic's saved-run shelf and results. Opening it does not start a solver.
- Preferences: application settings.
Follow the focused guides for Workspaces, Artifacts, Component Editor, and Simulation. Their presence and capabilities depend on the build and current project.
Choose Simple or Full
Open Preferences → Interface and choose a Layout:
- Simple: emphasizes the canvas, a small action bar, the project tree, and assistant. Everyday schematic actions include Add part, Wire, and ERC.
- Full: shows the full editor toolbars and panels for detailed manual work.
The layout changes which controls are visible, not the meaning of your circuit or board. Use Full when you need a detailed editor panel that is not exposed in Simple.
Choose a Theme
In Preferences → Interface, choose a Theme:
- Trace: Trace colors throughout, including the canvases.
- KiCad: the system interface look and KiCad canvas colors.
- Mixed: Trace interface colors with KiCad canvas colors.
Where Appearance is available, choose Light, Dark, or Automatic. Save preferences to keep the changes. Theme selection does not change design data.
Find Commands and Shortcuts
Use the Command Box to search commands, project files, and parts. Available results depend on the active context.
Newer Ask Trace tool-finder work is separate from the chat's Ask mode. In a build that offers it, describe an editor action, review the suggested existing tool and its instructions, then choose that tool deliberately. A design question can be directed to chat instead. The new finder is still development work in the standalone sources reviewed here; use the Command Box or normal editor controls if it is absent.
For keyboard bindings, check Preferences → Hotkeys and the shortcut guide. Bindings can differ by platform, layout, host, and customization; do not assume a shortcut from another installation is active.
If a View Is Missing
Confirm the project and document first. A viewer, closed tab, or busy editor can explain why a design is not visible. Avoid reloading over unsaved work or resending an uncertain edit to recover the view. Use Troubleshooting for the observed symptom.