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Second Shift is a shared workspace for developing and testing ideas. Use the tools when they help; you do not need to complete a fixed workflow.

1. Capture an idea. Choose New idea, write a title and some notes, then choose Save changes.
2. Think separately. Use Independent takes before you compare opinions.
3. Work it out together. Use Working sessions to keep decisions and next actions. Use Review ideas for an optional AI perspective.
4. Test one assumption. Use Experiments to record a plan before the result. Then decide whether to continue, change, or stop the idea.

Save explicitly. Typing is not a shared save. Each tool has its own save action. Card moves and connection changes save as you make them.

Review ideas

Use this when you want another perspective on the collection: useful questions, possible connections, or a small number of new directions. It is an AI review, not a conversation with your partner.

1. Save the ideas you want the review to use.
2. Open Review ideas above the board. Opening this panel does not call the AI provider.
3. For a new review, open Run a new review, read the consent statement, tick the checkbox, and choose Review saved ideas. If reviews are off, check AI provider.
4. Read the summary and suggestions. Add an optional answer or reason before choosing an action.

• Mark resolved saves your response to a question.
• Create proposal adds an AI proposed card. Open that card to accept it into Exploring or dismiss it with a reason.
• Add connection creates the suggested link between existing ideas.
• Dismiss records that you do not want to use a suggestion.

What is sent: saved idea text, status, tags, reasons, next steps, titles, and connections. Search and board filters do not limit the review. Parked and stopped ideas can be included. AI-proposed notes are excluded as source material, but their titles are sent to prevent duplicates. Embedded image data is omitted; text and external image addresses can remain.

Unsaved drafts, independent takes, experiments, and working-session records are not sent. The selected provider’s privacy and retention policies apply. The review does not browse links or verify facts on the web.

What stays: completed reviews are saved for both people, with the model, requester, source versions, and source text. Nothing is added to the board until someone approves it. Each decision keeps its author, time, and reason; a decision cannot be undone in the review.

Use Saved reviews to reopen an earlier review, even when AI is off. Use Refresh reviews to fetch your partner’s decisions. A changed-source warning means the review used older notes; compare its evidence with the current idea before acting.

Each review can return up to two proposals, three questions, and three connections. Fewer is normal. Requests are limited to one per minute and ten per person per day. A failed request does not produce a substitute review or switch to a fallback model.

Working sessions

Use this as the shared record of a conversation or work period. It keeps the outcome, not a chat transcript. It does not start a call, share your screen, or show who is online.

1. Open Working sessions in the sidebar, then choose New session.
2. Enter the question or goal under What are we trying to figure out? You can choose Save session with only this field filled in.
3. As you work, record What did we decide? and What remains uncertain?
4. Use Add next action for concrete follow-up work. Choose an owner, or leave it unassigned.
5. Select the Ideas discussed and save again.

Both people can reopen and edit a saved session. Use Refresh sessions on the session list to fetch newer records. An open form does not live-update.

Linked ideas let you return to the relevant notes. Actions are records of what you agreed to do, not reminders or a task scheduler. Sessions do not yet link directly to experiments.

Save before closing or reloading. Session drafts do not have per-tab recovery. If a save conflicts with your partner’s changes, your draft stays in place so you can compare versions.

Ideas and notes

Choose New idea to create a saved, untitled card. Open a card or list row to edit its title, status, comma-separated tags, next step, and notes. Choose Save changes to share those edits.

The formatting toolbar provides bold, italic, headings, bullet and numbered lists, checklists, tables, links, images, undo, and redo. Table controls appear when your cursor is in a table. Removing a table removes its contents.

Markdown switches to the source text. Advanced Markdown that the rich editor cannot represent stays in source mode to protect it. This is expected, not an error.

Upload image embeds a PNG, JPEG, GIF, or WebP file up to 1 MiB. The whole idea can contain up to 2 MiB of Markdown. Image from URL keeps an external address; it does not make an offline copy.

Full view hides the board and navigation without resetting the editor. Side view or Escape restores the board. In side view, Escape, the close button, or clicking empty canvas space closes the idea, with a warning for unsaved changes.

Use Notes, Independent takes, and Experiments to switch tools. Unsaved notes stay in place while you use another tool. Save a take or experiment before leaving its view.

Status and next steps

Status describes where an idea stands. It is a human decision, not an AI score.

Exploring

An idea you are still developing or considering.

Testing

An idea you are checking through a practical test.

Parked

Not now. Keep the idea and explain what made you pause.

Not for us

The idea may have value, but it does not fit your team or circumstances.

Not viable

You have a reason to believe it will not work. Keep that reason.

AI proposed

A card created from an approved review suggestion, not yet accepted as an idea to pursue.

Parked, Not for us, and Not viable require a reason under Why stop here? Choose Save changes after changing a status. Stopping an idea does not delete its notes, connections, takes, or experiments.

Next step is one useful thing to try next. It does not start an experiment or assign a session action. Experiment results do not change an idea’s status automatically.

There is no permanent delete action for ideas. Use a stopped status to keep the idea and its reasoning.

Canvas, list, and connections

Canvas and List show the same saved ideas. Use the sidebar statuses, search field, and tag filter to narrow the view. On a small screen, open the navigation menu to reach the sidebar.

On the canvas, drag cards to arrange them. Drag empty space to pan; scroll or use the zoom buttons to zoom. Fit view brings the visible cards into view. Position changes save when you finish a move.

Drag from a connection dot on any side of a card to a dot on another card. Or open an idea, go to Connections, choose another idea and an optional relationship label, then choose Connect. The form also works without dragging.

Links are two-way and appear on both ideas. A label describes the link; it does not create a directional dependency. Only one connection can exist between a pair of ideas.

Lines attach to facing card edges and change sides as cards move. They do not route around unrelated cards. Move a card if a line is hard to follow.

Choose a connected idea’s name to open it. Use its remove button to remove only the connection; both ideas stay. Connection changes save immediately, separate from Save changes.

Independent takes

Use this to capture each person’s view before one answer influences the other. Open an idea and choose Independent takes.

1. Answer what is promising, what the biggest concern is, and what would change your mind.
2. Choose Save private draft to save an unfinished answer that only you can read.
3. When all three answers are complete, choose Ready to share and confirm.

Ready is final. Your answers become fixed immediately. You cannot edit or withdraw a ready take, even while waiting for your partner.

Both answers appear only after both people are ready. Until then, the app can show whether your partner is ready, but does not send their answer text to your browser. Revealed answers stay separate and named.

There is one take per person per idea, not repeated rounds. Takes are never included in AI reviews or Markdown exports. Save before leaving: unsaved take text does not have per-tab recovery.

The waiting view checks every five seconds while visible and not being edited. Use Refresh takes to check manually; refreshing a dirty form asks before discarding unsaved answers.

Experiments

Use this to separate what you expected from what actually happened. Open an idea, choose Experiments, then New experiment.

1. Write the assumption, the smallest useful test, and the success criterion. Assign an owner.
2. Choose Save plan before you run the test. You must save any later plan changes before recording a result.
3. After the test, enter the Observed result and any Supporting or opposing evidence, then choose Record result.
4. If the result needs a correction, edit it and choose Save result correction.

Recording a result fixes the plan. Start a new experiment for a different assumption, test, criterion, or owner. Earlier results and criteria stay in Plan and result history, with each version’s author and time.

Both people can read and update experiments. Use Refresh experiments on the experiment list to fetch newer records. If a save conflicts, compare the latest version and copy any draft text you want to keep before loading it.

Use Notes to decide the idea’s status afterward. Parking or stopping the idea keeps its experiments. Experiments are not included in AI reviews or Markdown exports, and their unsaved forms do not have per-tab recovery.

Saving and shared updates

Saved ideas, tags, statuses, connections, and card positions refresh every five seconds while the workspace tab is visible. Returning to the tab or reconnecting checks again. This is not simultaneous text editing: your partner cannot see your unsaved typing.

Use the save action in the tool you are editing. Save changes saves idea notes and metadata, not a session, take, experiment, or review decision note.

This idea changed elsewhere means a newer version was saved before yours. Your draft is still present. Inspect the latest version and copy any text you need before choosing:

• Save my version over latest replaces the latest saved text and metadata with your draft. It is not a merge.
• Use latest saved version discards your draft and loads the saved version.

Session conflicts offer similar choices. Takes and experiments have their own conflict messages; preserve your text before refreshing or loading a newer version.

Idea notes and metadata have an extra recovery copy in the current tab when browser storage is available. This is not a backup or a shared save. Takes, experiments, session drafts, provider settings, and unsent review decision notes do not have that recovery.

Updates paused means saved updates could not be fetched; the app will retry. If your session expires, copy unsaved work somewhere safe before signing in again. Do not rely on a reload to keep an unsaved form.

Export .md

Open an idea and choose Export .md to download its last saved Markdown document. Save first if you want recent edits included.

The file contains the idea’s notes, metadata, and connections. Uploaded images are embedded in the document. Images added by URL remain external links.

This is an export of one idea, not a full workspace backup. It does not include independent takes, experiments, working-session records, or saved review records. The app does not sync with a local notes folder.

Settings and account

AI provider

These settings are shared by both people. Choose OpenRouter or a custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint, enter the base URL, exact model ID, and API key, enable opt-in reviews, then choose Save provider settings.

Use a free model and set a hard spending cap with the provider. Second Shift has no paid fallback, but a custom provider can charge for the model you choose. Enabling reviews does not run them automatically.

Custom endpoints must use public HTTPS; localhost and private-network addresses are not supported. Include /v1 when your provider needs it. The app appends /chat/completions.

Keys are encrypted on the server and not returned to the browser. Leave the key field blank to keep the key for the same endpoint. Changing the provider URL clears the old key unless you supply a new one.

Appearance

Choose Light, Dark, or System. System follows your device. This preference stays in your browser, not your partner’s account. Changing it does not discard your draft.

Account and sign out

Open your account in the sidebar to change your password. Enter the current password and a unique new password of at least 12 characters, then confirm it. Changing a password invalidates older sessions for that account.

Sign out ends the current session. Save your work first. There is no public registration or password-reset form.