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Overview

When an agent builds a document (a calculation sheet, a spreadsheet, a 3D model), it opens in the Canvas: a panel beside the chat where you watch it take shape while the agent works.
The Canvas open beside the chat: a calc sheet on the right, the agent's summary and deliverables on the left
The Canvas appears automatically the first time a document is created in a conversation. A panel toggle in the header, next to the design standard selector, closes and reopens it. The Structural Agent and the BIM Agent use it.

Calc sheets

Formatted, unit-aware calculation documents

Spreadsheets

Excel workbooks with live formulas

2D & 3D models

IFC building models and DXF drawings

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Calc sheets

Ask the Structural Agent for a design check and the calc sheet builds in the Canvas: title block, assumptions, code references, calculations, and the final pass/fail check.
A calc sheet in the Canvas: title block, assumptions, code references, calculations, and design check
  • Page navigation at the top steps through multi-page documents. Recently changed lines flash briefly so you can follow the agent’s edits.
  • Click anywhere on the sheet to place a cursor. The agent sees where you’re pointing, so “add a serviceability check here” needs no further explanation.
  • The ⋯ menu holds Download PDF plus display toggles for the calculation grid and page border:
The Canvas options menu: Download PDF, Show grid, Show border
The calc file itself (and a PDF report when you ask for one) arrives as download links in the chat and is saved to your Files area.

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Spreadsheets

Excel workbooks open as a live grid: sheet tabs along the bottom, zoom controls in the header, cells that recalculate.
An Excel workbook in the Canvas with the grid, sheet tabs, and zoom controls
  • Zoom with the +/− controls, or hold Ctrl/Cmd and scroll.
  • Click a cell to edit it and watch dependent formulas update. Useful for quick what-if checks while you read.
  • The ⋯ menu offers Download PDF. The workbook itself comes back as an .xlsx download link in the chat.
Want a change to stick? Tell the agent. Cell edits in the Canvas are for quick exploration. Ask the agent to make the change (“set the beam span to 32 ft and update the checks”) and it becomes part of the real workbook.

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2D & 3D models

When you work with the BIM Agent, or click an IFC/DXF file attached to a chat message, the model opens in a 3D viewer:
A 3D model in the Canvas with the Layers panel open and Ortho/Persp controls in the header
  • Navigate like any CAD viewer: drag to orbit, scroll to zoom, use the axis gizmo in the corner to snap or reset the view. Toggle Ortho / Persp projection in the header.
  • The Layers panel lists every layer with element counts. Click the eye to show or hide a layer.
  • Click an element to select it and see its properties. In 2D drawings, drag left-to-right for a window selection and right-to-left for a crossing selection, like AutoCAD.
  • Export from the download button in the header. DWG export carries a Beta tag while it rolls out.

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Switching between documents

A conversation can produce several documents. The dropdown on the document title lists everything the conversation has open (calc sheets, workbooks, and models together):
The document dropdown in the Canvas header listing the conversation's documents
When the agent starts writing to a different document, the Canvas follows automatically.

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Good to know

Close the tab, come back tomorrow, reopen the conversation: the Canvas restores its documents automatically.
Download PDF saves a copy to your computer. The source documents (the calc file, the workbook) also land in the conversation’s folder in Files, so nothing is lost if you never click download.
The Canvas splits the window with the chat. On a phone-width window the chat takes over and the Canvas stays out of the way.
The Structural Agent (calc sheets, spreadsheets) and BIM Agent (models). The Review Agent has its own drawing viewer, and the ETABS & SAP2000 agents show the actual desktop application.

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Next steps

Structural Agent

The agent that fills the Canvas with calc sheets and workbooks.

BIM Agent

Inspect, edit, and quantify building models in the 3D viewer.

File Management

Where Canvas documents are saved for later.

Using the Chat Input

Attach the files your documents are built from.
Questions? Email support@stru.ai or book a call.