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Create documents and canvases beside a Live Session when the conversation needs a shared draft, plan, diagram, or set of notes. Changes appear in real time, and non-private work becomes searchable Project knowledge automatically.

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Create a document or canvas

  1. Start or open a Live Session in the Chief Live Sessions App.
  2. Find the Session documents panel.
  3. Click New document for collaborative text or New canvas for a visual workspace. If the panel is empty, you can also click Create document.
  4. Rename the untitled item and begin editing.
People with access see the latest saved version. The Session documents list also shows when someone is viewing or editing an item.

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Collaborate and comment

A document supports shared writing and comment threads. A canvas supports drawing, text, colors, stroke widths, and comments.
  • Click Comments on this document or Comments on this canvas to open its comment threads.
  • On a canvas, select an object and click Comment on selected object to attach a comment to that specific item.
  • People can edit or comment only when the artifact’s access level and their Project role allow it.
This workspace is available to signed-in Project participants in the desktop app. Browser watchers and session guests do not get the document and canvas workspace.

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Choose who can access it

The creator can open Manage access and choose one of four levels: Only the person who created the document or canvas can change its access level. Other people see a read-only access badge instead of the menu when they cannot edit. Your first artifact in a Project starts at Anyone in the project can edit. Chief remembers the last access level you selected in that Project, so your next document or canvas starts at the same level.
⚠️ Important: Every non-private document or canvas is published to the Project’s Library, where Chief can search it and use it in tasks. A canvas is published with a flattened PNG and a text description. Changing an artifact to Private removes its published outputs from Project knowledge.

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Add, export, or share your work

  • Click Add to session in a document to add its text to the transcript at the current time. On a canvas, the same control adds a timestamped snapshot. This is separate from adding a screenshot.
  • Click Export to copy or download a document as Markdown. For a canvas, you can download a PNG or copy its text description.
  • In Session documents, click Download session bundle to download the transcript, documents, and canvases as a ZIP file. For transcript-only options, see copying and downloading transcripts.
  • The creator can click Share on a non-private document to copy a public, read-only link. Anyone with the link can read the document in a browser without an account or Project access, but cannot edit it. Click Turn off link to withdraw access.
Canvases do not have public read-only links. To share a canvas outside the session, export it as a PNG.

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FAQ

Its creator may have selected Anyone in the project can view or Anyone in the project can comment, or your Project role may not allow editing. The access badge shows that the artifact is read-only for you.
Yes. Chief excludes Private session artifacts from Project knowledge and retracts outputs created while the artifact was shared. Making it available to the Project again lets Chief publish the current version.