Editor tour

StoryBonsai is laid out as five modes, one screen each, with a shared Top bar that switches between them. This page names every panel in the default layout and walks each mode in turn, so you can recognize what you are looking at before you start authoring in First project.

Default layout

Default editor layout with the Menu bar across the top, the Mode selector below it, the scene list on the left, the Node Graph filling the center, and the minimap and zoom slider at the bottom-right.

Menu bar. File, Edit, View, Tools, Project, and Help, sitting at the top of the window. See Menu and shortcuts.
Mode selector. Five buttons that switch between Nodes, World, Data, Simulator, and Tools. The rest of the page is whichever mode is selected.
Left sidebar. The list column for the active mode. In Nodes mode it lists scenes; in World mode it lists scenes and locations; in Data mode it lists entity types; in Tools mode it lists tools.
Node Graph. The main part of Nodes mode. See Node Graph for pan, zoom, selection, and the context menus; Nodes and visibility explains what the graph is showing.
Minimap and zoom. Bottom-right of the Node Graph and World Graph. Click or drag inside the minimap to recenter the viewport; use the slider to set zoom.

Switching modes

The Mode selector (callout 2 on the layout above) switches between the five top-level modes.

Nodes. The default landing surface. The Node Graph, scene list, and per-node inspector live here. See Node Graph.
World. The World Graph of scenes and locations, described below.
Data. A sortable table of every entity in your project, described below.
Simulator. Runs your project from any starting state, described below.
Tools. Path Tester, Tests, and Validator, described below.

World Graph

Project title and locale picker. The project name sits in the center of the Menu bar, with the Locale picker immediately beside it for switching the editor between source and target locales.
History trail. Back and forward pills showing recently-visited entities. See the History trail entry in the glossary.
World sidebar. Lists scenes and locations as separate sections. Click a scene to drill into its node graph; click a location to inspect it.
World Graph. Scenes and locations as a connected graph. Lines between locations are travel connections; a line from a scene to a location pins the scene’s trigger to that location. See World Graph for authoring, and Scenes and visit state for what the graph is showing.
Scene and Location toggles. Toggles whether scenes and locations appear in the World Graph.

Data view

Data mode, with the entity-type tabs down the left sidebar, the sortable data table for the selected type filling the center, the Filter and search box above it, the Inspector on the right, and the Status bar across the bottom.

Entity-type tabs. One row per type, top to bottom: Scenes, Locations, Nodes, Choice Groups, Media, Audio Cues, Variables, Characters, Activities, Tags, Items, Codex, Skills, Time, and Localization. Selecting a type loads the table (or, for Time and Localization, the settings panel) for that type.
Data table. Every entity of the selected type, sortable by clicking any column header. Select a row to inspect it.
Filter and search. Text input that narrows the table by id or display name. Sort and search clear when you switch entity types.
Inspector. The right-hand panel whose contents follow the current selection. Per-entity field tours live under Entities.
Status bar. Shows the save state of the project. A leading dot and the Unsaved changes label appear when the current edits have not been written to disk yet.

Simulator

Context strip. Scene, location, and time read out above the main panel, so you can see at a glance where the run is.
Simulator main. The dialogue area, showing the active speaker and the history of revealed messages for the current run.
Choice panel. Visible choices for the current step. Click one to select it; selecting advances the run.
State panel. Right-side column with the node minimap, active location, and a list of active scenes, all kept in sync with the running simulation.

See Simulator for the full walkthrough: hero and timeline modes, breadcrumbs, and the debug rows under the Dialogue area.

Tools

Tool picker. Switches between Path Tester, Tests, and Validator. The rest of the panel updates to match.
Path Tester controls. Pick a scope, path count, strategy, and locale, then kick off the run.
Path Tester results. Coverage percentage, path count, and total steps for the most recent run, shown at the top of the panel.
Issues list. Per-issue rows below the summary, grouped by kind: Unreachable, Runtime Error, Unassigned Media, Unused Media, and so on. Click an issue to jump to the offending entity.

See Path Tester, Tests, and Validation for what each tool does and how to read its results.