Workbench & feature packs

Nexis keeps the terminal, editor, Files, Recent Files, Source Control and AI chat available at all times. Everything else is organized into feature packs. Turning a pack off hides its surfaces; it does not uninstall code.

Presets

Presets are one-click bundles over the same toggles in Settings → Features:

Settings → Features: presets on top, individual packs below.

Preset	Intended surface
Bare-Bones	Terminal, editor, files, source control, and AI chat.
Standard	Core plus navigation, build/test/debug, and developer tools.
Web Dev	Standard plus the Web workbench (Ports, HTTP Client, Web Tools).
Mobile	Standard plus the Mobile pack; its Expo/React Native panels are still planned.
AI / ML	Standard, AI Extras, ML Lab, and Benchmark.
Art	Files, source control, and SVG Studio without code-reading panels.
Everything	Every currently available pack, including Documents.

The first-run tour and lasting Getting Started checklist derive from the active packs, so changing your configuration also changes the guidance.

Where a surface lives

Every built-in view has a kind, and the kind decides its home. The sidebar rail no longer holds 34 pinnable views; it holds the six you glance at while working on a file.

The bottom panel holds session views; here, System Monitor.

flowchart LR
  V["Built-in view"] --> K{"kind"}
  K -->|contextual| R["Sidebar rail<br/>Files · Source Control · Outline<br/>Symbol Search · Bookmarks · Recent Files"]
  K -->|session| P["Bottom panel (Ctrl/Cmd+J)<br/>Problems · Build · Tests · Debugger · Activity<br/>REPL · Database · SSH · Command History · System Monitor"]
  K -->|workbench| W["Own window, title-bar launcher<br/>SVG Studio · ML Lab · Web · Documents<br/>Atlas · Benchmark"]
  K -->|utility| C["Command palette / Spotlight"]

• Sidebar rail — contextual panels for the file in front of you.
• Bottom panel — things you start, watch run and see finish. It toggles with Ctrl/Cmd+J or the Panel button in the status bar.
• Workbenches — places you go and stay.

Workbench windows

SVG Studio, ML Lab, Web and Documents each open in their own window, like Atlas and Benchmark. A window can sit on a second screen beside the code.

sequenceDiagram
  participant T as Title-bar launcher
  participant M as Main window
  participant W as Workbench window
  T->>W: open (or focus + replay short animation)
  M-->>W: workspace root at launch
  M-->>W: root updates when you switch folders
  W->>M: port preview · SSH session · "Edit raw"
  Note over M: main window takes the action and comes to the front

• The launchers sit in one row; drag one to reorder it. The order is saved (titlebarToolOrder), and a launcher whose pack is off keeps its place.
• A window is capped to 92% × 90% of the monitor’s work area when it opens.
• Opening eases the window in; reduced motion turns this off.
• Atlas has its own map icon; Web keeps the globe.

The workbenches

• Atlas — an isometric map of your repos, with a 53-week commit-activity heatmap per repo read from local git history.
• Benchmark — compares ONNX and GGUF models across CPU-only ONNX Runtime, llama.cpp, nexis-ml-rs, and a clearly labelled simulated backend.
• ML Lab — local training and experiments. A running job shows an elapsed clock and a stop button.
• SVG Studio (Art pack) — Draw (source, canvas, shapes, 27 presets, preview) plus Palette, Backdrop, Icon Set, Favicon Set and Animator in one tool strip. Presets and shapes add to the canvas by default, each in its own slot.
• Web (Web Dev pack) — Ports, an SSRF-guarded HTTP Client, and Web Tools (JSON, JWT, codecs, regex). Each tool is gated by its own pack.
• Documents (Documents pack) — rich-text editing for Markdown and Word files with PDF export. See Editor → Documents.

Atlas: every repo it is configured to scan, with branch, changes and a commit heatmap.

SVG Studio's Backdrop tool generating layered waves.

SVG Studio's Palette tool, whose colours feed Backdrop.

The Web window's HTTP Client, with Ports and Tools in the same strip.

The Web window's Web Tools formatting JSON.

The Documents window before a document is opened.

Long-running work

A shared chip (live dot, name, elapsed clock, stop control) shows running work the same way everywhere: the oldest background process in the status bar, ML Lab training, and Benchmark sweeps.

Command history and privacy

Command recording is off by default. If enabled, the Command History panel adds success-filtered history, searchable captured output, build-time trends, and a local work journal. Settings → Privacy shows what is stored, controls age/count/output caps, and provides time-windowed or whole-workspace deletion.