Basics · 01
How Nova works
Nova is a business app for running a department or a whole company. You build your business workflows inside Nova, then your team and AI coworkers carry them out, step by step.
The five building blocks
Everything in Nova lives in one structure. Each level holds the one below it.
| Level | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Workspace | Your company or team account. It holds all your people, spaces and processes. | Acme Studio |
| Space | A group of related projects, such as a department, a service line or a client list. | Clients, Marketing, Hiring |
| Project | One piece of work with a goal, such as a client engagement, a launch or an onboarding. | Brightline rebrand |
| Session | A unit of work inside a project. It can be a live meeting, a workshop or async work people do in their own time. | Kickoff workshop |
| Step | One part of a session. Steps run in order, and each one can have its own owner, due date and type of input. | Vote on directions |
| Task | A to-do with an assignee, dates and a checklist. Tasks live in a project, on its board or inside a session step. | Send moodboard to client |
Processes make the work repeatable
A process is a saved recipe for a session or a whole project. When something works, you save it as a process. The next time, you start from that process instead of a blank page.
You can also start from the Process Library, which holds processes created by Nova and by experts. See What is a process?
A workspace template goes one level higher. It adds a ready-made set of spaces and projects to your workspace in one step. See Workspace templates.
People and AI do the work together
- Team members belong to your workspace. They lead sessions, own steps and get tasks. See Team members and roles.
- Collaborators are people outside your team, such as clients or partners. They take part in the sessions you invite them to. They do not see the rest of your workspace. See Work with external collaborators.
- AI coworkers take on steps, sessions and tasks you assign to them. Nova AI is the built-in coworker. See AI coworkers.
Where to find things
The left menu takes you everywhere:
- + Start a Process starts new work from a process.
- Calendar, Sessions and Tasks show the work assigned to you.
- Leadership hub holds sessions that are private to you, such as 1:1s, until you invite others.
- Mentions shows where people mentioned you.
- Spaces lists your spaces and their projects.
- Resources holds your Processes and Time tracking.
Can I use Nova on my phone?
Yes. Nova is a web app at app.novatools.org, and it works in the browser on your phone, tablet or computer. There is no app to install.