# A Node is useful on its own. A graph turns work into a system. Kavor does not ask you to abandon your favorite coding agent, hide the terminal, or turn every decision into another chat. It puts participants, tools, and context on the same Canvas so you can see who is working, with what, and under which limits. Every first-class item on that Canvas is a **Node**. A CodingAgent is a Node. So is a Specification. Sticky Notes, Terminals, Files, and Triggers share the same space because each can participate in the work with a distinct responsibility. A Node is already useful by itself. When you create a **Connection**, it joins a reachable component. CodingAgents in that graph can work with context, execution, memory, and collaborators at any distance without requiring a direct Connection to every resource. This is the model: **Node → Connection → graph → human decision** The sequence describes how work gains structure. Connections are neither persisted arrows nor an automation that runs the next box. They are visible relationships between Nodes. ![CodingAgents, Specification, Sticky Note, Terminal, File, and Trigger connected on the Kavor Canvas](https://media.agentkavor.com/editorial/nodes-and-connections/graph.b499a1b842e8.jpg) *A Canvas can combine durable intent, shared memory, execution, files, and a scheduled cause without hiding its participants or their Connections.* ## What a Connection actually changes A Connection first answers a practical question: **which graph do these Nodes belong to?** Any CodingAgent can work with reachable Nodes and message other CodingAgents in the same component. A direct Connection may still have its own contract: select a Schedule target, give a Terminal a File or Specification path, or carry a Guardrail between one CodingAgent and one resource. At the same time, a Connection establishes a boundary: - nearby Nodes on the Canvas do not gain access to one another; - mentioning a Node in a message does not grant a capability; - not every Node pair accepts a direct Connection, although unsupported pairs may share a component through valid paths; - a Guardrail restricts its direct pair and remains effective even when another route exists; - the graph makes context reachable, but does not approve actions automatically. The result is less magical and more useful: you can inspect the structure before, during, and after the work. ## The six Nodes ### CodingAgent: your favorite harness as a graph participant A CodingAgent is the native provider you already use, running in its own terminal interface. Instead of replacing Claude Code, Codex, or Google Antigravity with a generic chat, Kavor preserves each harness's experience and places it on the Canvas. Each CodingAgent can have a clear role. The harness preserves its native provider, model, and effort options whenever it offers them. You can keep a Spec Writer focused on questions and decisions, a Builder focused on implementation, and a Reviewer responsible for challenging the result. CodingAgents in the same reachable component can exchange asynchronous messages without a direct Connection. You can still inspect those conversations in the Messages panel and intervene when needed. Connecting them to Specifications, Files, Sticky Notes, and Terminals makes it clear which resources participate in the work. It is the same harness—now with visible context and capabilities. ### Specification: intent that outlives the session A Specification records decisions, scope, constraints, and acceptance criteria in durable Markdown. It can describe an architecture foundation, an integration, domain modeling, a feature, a module, or a bounded set of corrections. You can write it manually or coauthor it with a CodingAgent. For difficult subjects, investing the best available reasoning before implementation is worthwhile. Deep thinking here usually costs less than fixing ambiguity later. Specifications have a lifecycle. **Draft** is the space to investigate and decide. **Ready** says the contract can be implemented. **In progress**, **Blocked**, and **Done** keep the state visible. **Done** only makes sense after the acceptance criteria have actually been met. Connected to agents with distinct roles, the same Specification can guide who writes, implements, and reviews—without depending on the memory of a single conversation. ### Sticky Note: shared working memory A Sticky Note is a post-it on the Canvas. You can record questions, hypotheses, temporary decisions, findings, and next steps as you would in any quick note. Connected to a CodingAgent, it gains a second hand. The agent can maintain it with you: compile open decisions while forming a Specification, record something that needs your attention during implementation, or answer “what have you done, what are you doing, and what comes next?” without burying that state in chat history. Sticky Notes work well as informal, visible memory. When a decision becomes a durable contract for implementation and future maintenance, promote it to a Specification instead of leaving it hidden in a note forever. ### Terminal: execution that stays visible A Terminal keeps the shell inside the same visual Workspace. You can move between terminals, follow a log, run checks, or stay connected to a remote machine without losing the surrounding Canvas. When a CodingAgent is connected, you can work in the same Terminal. The agent can inspect output, run commands when allowed, follow a correlated execution, and help diagnose a problem. Human input keeps priority, and a Guardrail can keep the Connection read-only. Files and Specifications can also provide their paths to the Terminal through environment variables. A Trigger can deliver a scheduled command directly to an active shell session. The Terminal does not hide execution behind opaque automation. The process, command, and result stay visible. ### File: a file that participates in the Canvas A File is a file. The gain is making its canonical source visible and explicit in the graph. Connected to a CodingAgent, it can delimit the file to read, review, or change. On the Canvas, it can also keep text, an image, or a PDF in view while you organize the rest of the work. Connected to a Terminal, the File's absolute path can be exposed through an environment variable. This lets you use a script, SQL file, configuration, or other material visually as command input without copying paths between windows. The File does not become a disposable attachment. It remains the real source in the filesystem. ### Schedule: a visible cause of activity Schedule is Kavor's available Trigger source. It schedules an action in time. It can deliver a command to a Terminal, like an operating-system cron, or send a clear prompt to a CodingAgent with an active session. Its value grows when the target is already connected to other Nodes. A Trigger can wake an agent responsible for inspecting a File, running checks in a Terminal, writing a report in a Sticky Note, and requesting an independent review from another CodingAgent. That is how a calendar time can start a small autonomous or semi-autonomous system. The Trigger starts the activity; the graph provides context, tools, memory, and collaboration. Schedule does not decide what is worth doing, expand permissions, or start a session you left off. It has exactly one direct target: a CodingAgent or a Terminal. ## When Nodes form a graph The Canvas becomes valuable when every Node has a responsibility and each Connection expresses a real need. Three graphs show this progression. ### From intent to review **Specification → Builder → Reviewer → human decision** The Specification preserves the contract. The Builder implements it. The Reviewer compares the result with the acceptance criteria. A Sticky Note keeps findings and working decisions; a Terminal supplies evidence such as tests and checks. Connections do not execute that sequence automatically. They make the required participants and capabilities reachable in the same graph. ### Scheduled maintenance **Trigger → Maintainer** The Maintainer is connected to a File with input data, a Terminal for checks, a Sticky Note for the report, and a Reviewer for an independent assessment. The Trigger delivers its prompt at the configured time while Kavor is running and the target session is active. The CodingAgent works with the context and limits it already had. You can inspect results, messages, and evidence when you return to the Workspace. ### Supervised operational command **Trigger → Terminal** A File containing SQL or a script supplies its path to the Terminal through an environment variable. The Trigger delivers the scheduled command to the active session. A CodingAgent connected to the Terminal can help analyze the result while you retain visibility into the process. This graph automates a cause and an execution without pretending the system understands success on its own. ## Start with the work, not the number of Nodes A larger Canvas is not automatically better. Start with the smallest structure that makes the result verifiable: 1. define what must happen; 2. add a Specification when decisions, scope, or criteria must survive; 3. choose a CodingAgent and give it a clear role; 4. connect a File when concrete scope must be explicit; 5. connect a Terminal when the task requires execution or evidence; 6. use a Sticky Note when human and agent need shared working memory; 7. add another CodingAgent when independent review or parallel work materially improves the result; 8. add a Trigger when time is a legitimate cause of activity. The goal is not to fill the Canvas. It is to build a system small enough to understand and complete enough to preserve intent, execution, evidence, and decision. ## Continue - Consult the [supported Connections matrix](./connections.md) for the exact contract of every pair. - [Close your first loop](./first-loop.md) with a Specification, two CodingAgents, and a Sticky Note. - Learn [how to choose CodingAgents and roles](./agents-and-roles.md) for formulation, implementation, review, and delivery. - Learn to use [Schedule to give your graph a clock](./schedule.md). - Understand [how CodingAgents see and build the Canvas](./coding-agents-and-canvas.md). - Return to [What is Kavor?](./what-is-kavor.md) for the complete product model.