Full product manual
A practical path from first capture to a connected canvas—every core feature, with the exact place to find it.
Constella opens straight into your library — every note, file, clip, canvas, and connected record in one grid.
The library is the home screen. Filter chips across the top switch between everything, canvases, notes, PDFs, images, and records pulled in from connected apps.
Home → All / Canvases / Notes / PDFs / Images / IntegrationsThe Add to Library button opens a command palette. From one place you can write a note, upload files, browse connected apps, or start a canvas.
Home → Add to LibraryChoose Upload files and pick anything from your computer — PDFs, images, and markdown are recognised on sight. Constella pulls out the text so the file is searchable, not just stored.
Add to Library → Upload filesThe search field is AI-indexed, so plain language works better than remembering the exact title. Results include passages from inside long documents, each quoted with a link back to its source.
Home → Search your library with AI-indexingType # in the search field, or open the Tags filter, to narrow the grid. If the tag you type does not exist yet, create it from the same place.
Home → Tags · or type # in searchNotes, PDFs, and images open in the reference panel — the same editor the canvas uses — with the body, its tags, and a Show connections toggle for what it links to.
Library card → clickPress Command + K for the global ask bar. Choose Ask Stella and the window turns into a full chat that can search your library and work with what it finds.
⌘K → Ask StellaAn endless sheet where notes become something you can see. Drag things in, wire them together, and ask questions about whatever you have selected.
Press the Canvas button in the library toolbar for a blank one, or click any canvas card to reopen it. From inside a canvas you can rename it, switch to another, or start a new one from the pill in the top-left corner.
Home → + CanvasSelect and Pan sit together in the dock — V and H switch between them. Holding Space pans for as long as you hold it, so you rarely need to change tools. Zoom buttons and a minimap sit with the canvas chrome.
Dock → Select (V) / Pan (H) · hold Space to panDouble-click any empty spot while Select is armed and a card appears ready to type in. Click a card once later to edit it again.
Canvas → double-click empty spaceDrag a file straight from Finder onto the canvas — there is no import menu or add step. Pasting works the same way. Images, PDFs, Word documents, and text or markdown files all land as cards and index themselves in the background.
Canvas → drop a file · or ⌘V to pasteEvery card has a port on each of its four sides. Drag from a port onto another card to link them. Drag out to empty space instead and you get a fresh note already connected to the one you started from.
Card edge → drag onto another cardThe dock holds Draw, Erase, Shape, and Text alongside Recall and Search memory. Number keys 1 through 9 arm them in order, and each one opens its own options — brush size, stroke style, colour, arrow ends, text size.
Dock → Draw / Erase / Shape / TextDrag a box across empty canvas with Select armed. Once the selection settles, a ring appears around it offering Pin, Organize, Group, and a box for asking about what you picked.
Canvas → drag a box over cardsCommand + G groups a selection and Command + Shift + G breaks it apart. A group gets its own bar to name it, pin it, tidy it, ungroup it, or delete it.
⌘G to group · ⌘⇧G to ungroupPress / or pick Recall in the dock to search everything you have saved without leaving the canvas, then drop the results you want onto the sheet as cards.
Canvas → / · or Dock → RecallSelect some cards, type your question in the ask box, and send it. A pin drops where you asked and quiet marks appear on every note the answer drew from, so the reasoning stays visible.
Selection → AskOpen the pin to read the thread. Accept turns that reply into a real note on the canvas — the one door an answer has onto the sheet, so nothing lands there by accident.
Inquiry pin → AcceptExpand to reference panel docks the card down the right-hand side with the full editor, its tags, and connections Constella suggests. PDFs open in their own reader instead.
Card → Expand to reference panelOrganize the whole canvas re-lays everything while keeping the links intact. The same Organize on a selection or a group tidies only that part and leaves the rest alone.
Canvas → Organize · or Selection → OrganizeShare publishes a public link you can revoke later with Unshare. Export saves the canvas as Markdown, an HTML mindmap, or a PNG.
Canvas → Share / ExportUndo and Redo sit in the dock, on Command + Z and Command + Shift + Z. The bracket keys move a selected card up and down the stack when things overlap.
⌘Z / ⌘⇧Z · ] and [ to restackOne shortcut to save a thought without leaving whatever you are doing.
Command + Shift + O opens a small bar above whatever is on screen. Type the thought and press Enter to save it. The same bar searches what you have already saved, so it doubles as a way back in.
⌘⇧O (works outside Constella)Typing # in that bar brings up your tags, and you can make a new one on the spot rather than tidying up later.
Quick Capture → # to tagIf Command + Shift + O clashes with something else, rebind it in settings.
Settings → Shortcuts → Quick Capture OverlayPressing / while the app is focused opens capture right there, with a drop zone for a PDF or an image alongside the note box.
Anywhere in the app → /Read, clip, and ask without leaving the page you are researching.
Add Constella from the Chrome Web Store and sign in. The side panel opens from the toolbar icon, or from the small Constella button that sits in the corner of the page.
Chrome Web Store → Add to ChromeClip this page saves the readable article into your library and keeps the original link. When it finishes, the tile tells you the page is indexed.
Side panel → Clip this pageSelect the text you care about and right-click. Under Constella you can clip the selection, send it to chat, or clip a link or an image instead.
Select text → right click → ConstellaAsk Stella offers Summarize key points, Recall related ideas, and Search for similar articles and papers — or type your own question into the box.
Side panel → Ask StellaThe panel quietly tells you how many notes in your library relate to the page you are on, and opens any of them in place.
Side panel → related notesPressing / in the side panel opens a note box with tags, for a thought that belongs to the page but is not a quote from it.
Side panel → /Point Constella at what you already have, so recall covers your real work and not just what you retyped.
The index button in the top bar opens the list of everything Constella can read from.
Top bar → Index Your DataLocal Files, Obsidian, Zotero, Notion, Readwise, Slack, and Linear connect today. Folders and vaults are picked from disk; the rest sign in or take an API key.
Index Your Data → choose a sourceApple Notes, iMessage, WhatsApp, Dropbox, Outlook, and Figma show as request tiles. Tapping one registers your interest rather than connecting it.
Index Your Data → Request accessIndexed records join the library under Integrations, badged with the app they came from, and behave like any other card — searchable, askable, and draggable onto a canvas.
Home → IntegrationsGive your coding agents and chat apps the same memory you use, over MCP.
The card in the sidebar — or the small pill in the top bar — opens the setup, already filled in with your own key.
Sidebar → Bring your brainCopy the single claude mcp add line and run it in your terminal, then start a new session so the tools appear.
Bring your brain → Claude CodeCopy the config block into your Codex settings file. The agent can then search your library while it works.
Bring your brain → CodexChatGPT connects through developer mode, and Open WebUI, LibreChat, Cline, and Continue can point at Constella running on your own machine. Claude desktop and web are not wired up yet — use Claude Code for now.
Bring your brain → ChatGPT / self-hostedAsk the agent to search your Constella memory, then open what it cites back in the library to confirm it really read your notes.
Agent chat → search my Constella memory for …Last three months
Notes, files, clips, canvases, and connected records share a single grid.
Draw, erase, shapes, and text live in one dock with number-key shortcuts.
Select cards, ask about them, and accept the answer as a real note.
Claude Code, Codex, and self-hosted chat apps read your library over MCP.