# Open the native workspaces

Nova Free 4.3.0 includes four optional visual companions under their existing capability owners. Choose by the work you want to understand. Ordinary Nova conversation needs no app or persistent estate. Extract the complete edition first. The paths below start at `codex/plugins/nova-the-optimal-ai` or `claude/nova-the-optimal-ai` in the customer package.

## Choose a useful starting point

| Your task | App and Windows launcher | First useful outcome |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Follow a project outcome | Project Bridge: `skills/dennis-stratton-project-management/Open Project Bridge.cmd` | Read the current commitment, declared dependencies, blockers and linked evidence. |
| Read saved research | OMNARA Reading Room: `skills/omnara-deep-research/Open.cmd` | Read a saved report beside cited notes, compare sources and refresh after an author update. |
| Diagnose a device problem | Beryl: `skills/beryl-it-tech/workspace/Open.cmd` | Compare explanations, plan a discriminating test and retain what actually happened. |
| Read across retained knowledge and context | Knowledge Desk: `skills/commonplace/workspace/Open.cmd` | Collect useful source material into a temporary working set and download a reading packet. |

These local companions use their packaged launchers and the prerequisites in their owner guides. macOS wrappers are supplied where included but were not executed on this Windows qualification host. Open the launcher rather than directly opening HTML when the companion uses a local reading service.

Open Project Bridge to see what can move your projects forward and what depends on it. Follow an OMNARA report from its conclusions into the passages behind them. Compare computer observations with their original logs in Beryl, or find and read retained material in Knowledge Desk. Ask Nova in conversation to prepare or change the work, then refresh the relevant companion.

## Open, save and return

1. Open the matching launcher. Check the app title and selected work location. Keep a private loopback session address private.
2. For Project Bridge or OMNARA, choose an existing project or research home and read its supplied records, sources and retained notes. To author or change native work, use Nova in conversation; do not enter it into the read companion.
3. Browse, search, compare or refresh within the companion. Reading position and view preferences are separate from native owner records.
4. Preview supported private exports before downloading. A reading copy is not a complete backup of original attachments or a native-record update.

The package includes each app's own native icon resources. Installation does not automatically create desktop shortcuts. Existing shortcuts should point to the current packaged launcher and that app's included icon. See the skill's guide for any supplied shortcut helper.

## Conversational capabilities

The Giles knowledge steward and Oracle Reading remain installed skills for work in conversation. Their standalone visual apps are not part of this edition's app presentation.

## Dennis / Project Bridge: follow an outcome to its next action

Project Bridge reuses the exact `DENNIS_PROJECT_HOME` discovered through Nova Operations. Its equivalent agent route is `python skills/nova-operations/scripts/nova_estate.py run project-bridge --`. If the existing project selector is missing, use Nova Operations' supported estate setup under the approved root. The Free edition does not create a standalone fallback.

Select an existing project through the approved `DENNIS_PROJECT_HOME` estate selector. Read its outcome, current next action, declared milestone/dependency route and linked evidence. Unknown dates and incomplete acceptance remain unknown or incomplete. Project Bridge is a read-only companion: ask Nova in conversation to author or update native project records, then choose **Refresh project** to see the result. Ember bridge, Survey folio and Redline present the same source through distinct reading surfaces; a theme never changes project state.

## OMNARA Reading Room: understand a saved inquiry

Open **OMNARA Reading Room** through its launcher and choose a saved inquiry or the clearly labelled included worked inquiry. Use **Choose research folder** and **Browse folder** to select an existing OMNARA research home. **Find a report** searches saved inquiries and retained notes; it does not begin a web search.

Read the saved report first. Select a citation to open its retained note and source details; choose two source records to **Compare two selected sources**. Search the inquiry, inspect the review recorded for the report and choose **Refresh inquiry** after an update. A saved reading copy can be previewed and downloaded as a private HTML file. The companion does not create inquiries, edit reports, conduct research or fetch linked pages.

The Reading Room opens the existing OMNARA research home. Its `workspace/WORKING-GUIDE.md` documents source selection, reading, comparison, refresh, saved position and the exact contents of private exports. The research home and retained originals stay with their existing owner; browsing never rewrites them.

## AnswerLayer: use the capability in conversation

Ask Nova in conversation to revisit guidance when a new development may change wording. AnswerLayer is a capability Nova can use during the conversation; it is not a separate visual app in Nova Free. Share the current wording, relevant source and audience, then review any proposed change in chat.

## Beryl Repair Companion: catch and compare what changed

Open Beryl when a Windows problem is happening and you want a bounded observation, a comparison between two moments, or a prepared investigation beside its exact sources. On **Start & return**, **Check this Windows PC** runs a clearly scoped three-second sample; choose **Compare samples** to read two saved moments side by side. The sample does not capture your workload or establish a cause.

To explore existing material, select a log or screenshot in **Sources & Beryl**. The original stays available unchanged; Beryl interprets it in your existing conversation. Copy the local request there, ask Beryl to prepare an investigation, then choose **Refresh prepared work** and read it under **Investigations**. Follow its evidence, rival explanations, next useful move and exact sources. The supplied examples are labelled fictional. You do not enter or edit cases in the companion.

Read the packaged `docs/FIRST-USE.md` and `docs/READ-AN-INVESTIGATION.md` for the full walkthrough. Beryl does not inspect or control the computer beyond the specifically described observation, execute proposed commands, or send your request.

## Knowledge Desk: browse the retained material

Ask Nova to open Knowledge Desk after the optional estate is configured. Start with **Collections** and choose a recognizable collection or section. Read an original document or image beside its location, or choose **Saved notes**, **Reminders** or **People** for retained personal context. **Search…** narrows a view when you already know a fragment; it is optional.

Add useful passages to **Working set**, state the task and download a reading packet with original locations. The catalog refreshes while preserving open reading, search scope and the working set. That working set is temporary in the page: download anything you need before closing or reloading.

**Appearance** offers Ember stacks, Survey cloth and Proof press. They change material, typography and organization while keeping the same information. Knowledge Desk opens on the dark Ember stacks environment.

Personal context comes through the existing read-only owner adapters. Their availability and scope remain visible; restricted material stays excluded. An unavailable owner is not an empty collection. Preserve its diagnostic and use the supported owner recovery route. Record corrections and notebook edits go through the actual source workflow. The desk does not create a second knowledge store or edit originals.

## Recovery and evidence limits

If an app looks empty after upgrading, check its displayed work location before creating a replacement store. Open the known existing folder with its chooser or supported `--data-home` option. An inaccessible or unreadable folder is an error to inspect, not proof that your work is gone. Preserve the original folder before recovery.

When another window has saved newer work, a stale-save refusal protects that newer revision. Before reloading, copy any unsaved text and notes to a separate local file. A server backup protects the last saved version; rely on an app export for unsaved edits only when that specific export says it includes them. Once the unsaved work is preserved, reload and reconcile deliberately. Do not overwrite the newer data to clear the message. Knowledge Desk's working set remains temporary: download its reading packet before closing. Dennis retains its existing owner-specific save and recovery behavior.

Windows checks exercise the packaged launch and ordinary work paths. macOS live launch, fresh-host model discovery and assistive-technology conformance remain separate observations. Follow the included skill guide when a schema, label or launcher changes.