> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.crewship.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Artifacts in chat > Ask an agent for a Project from a chat, follow its versions on the artifact card, review and comment in the side viewer, and see who edits a document in the Craft lock bar. A chat with an agent is where most artifacts start. When the agent creates or publishes an artifact, the conversation shows a progress card for that step and an **artifact card** for the result. **Open** on the card shows the artifact in a **side viewer** next to the conversation, where you can switch versions, leave comments for the agent and share a version, without leaving the chat. For documents, a **Craft lock bar** in the chat tells you who is editing right now. The chat shows the artifacts that this conversation produced. With the Artifacts library turned on, the full catalogue of your artifacts lives under **Artifacts** in the left navigation. > [!NOTE] > > Everything on this page is off by default. Each surface needs these switches: > > | Surface | Needs | > | - | - | > | **Create artifact project** in the composer | Workspace flag `artifact_projects`: `crewship feature-flag enable artifact_projects`. An operator can turn it on for every workspace with `CREWSHIP_ARTIFACT_PROJECTS_ENABLED=true`. | > | Progress cards, artifact cards and the side viewer | Build-time `NEXT_PUBLIC_CHAT_ARTIFACT_PROJECTS=true`, plus the workspace flag `artifact_projects`. The default production build sets `NEXT_PUBLIC_CHAT_ARTIFACT_PROJECTS=false`. | > | **Dashboard** on a card | Build-time `NEXT_PUBLIC_ARTIFACT_DASHBOARDS=true`. Without it a dashboard shows as **Project**. | > | **Slides** on a card | Build-time `NEXT_PUBLIC_ARTIFACT_SLIDES=true`, plus the workspace flag `artifact_slides` (`crewship feature-flag enable artifact_slides`) or the instance switch `CREWSHIP_ARTIFACT_SLIDES_ENABLED=true`. With only the build-time variable, a slide deck shows as **Artifact** with **Can't show this version here**. Without the build-time variable, it shows as **Project**. | > | **Artifacts** in the left navigation and the Artifacts library | Build-time `NEXT_PUBLIC_ARTIFACTS_LIBRARY=true` (off by default). Without it, **Artifacts** in the left navigation opens the older Pages list. | > | **+** › **New artifact** in the composer | Build-time `NEXT_PUBLIC_CHAT_ARTIFACT_PROJECTS=true` and the document engine on the instance: `CREWSHIP_DOCUMENTS_ENABLED=true` with its sockets (off by default; see [Private document engine](https://docs.crewship.ai/configuration/environment.md#private-document-engine)). It offers **Word** only. | > | **Saved documents** in a conversation | The document engine on the instance (`CREWSHIP_DOCUMENTS_ENABLED=true`, off by default). | > | An agent creating or publishing an artifact | The workspace artifact policy must be on and list the agent's crew (workspace owner or admin); see [Turn on the artifact policy](#turn-on-the-artifact-policy). | > | The Craft lock bar | Build-time `NEXT_PUBLIC_CHAT_CRAFT_LEASE=true` (the default production build sets it to `false`) and native Craft on the instance (`CREWSHIP_CRAFT_NATIVE_ENABLED=true`). | > > A build-time variable is read when the web UI is built. Changing it on a > running server has no effect until the UI is rebuilt and deployed. The > build-time switch `NEXT_PUBLIC_CHAT_ARTIFACT_CONTEXT` belongs to an experiment > whose server routes are not part of this release; leave it off. ## Two things called "Artifacts" The word appears in two places in a chat, and they are not the same: | Where | What it lists | | - | - | | Artifact cards in a conversation, and **Artifacts** in the left navigation | Versioned artifacts. A card shows a Project, Dashboard or Slides that the agent created, published or restored with its artifact tools. Word documents the agent saved through the Docs backend are listed under **Saved documents** in the conversation instead of as cards. Versioned artifacts have versions, a shared version and access rules. This page is about these. | | **Artifacts** panel in the chat's right drawer (`⌘1` / `Ctrl+1`), headed **Artifacts**, with the subtitle "Documents and outputs for *agent*" | **Documents edited in this chat**, **Agent document access** (which points you to a document's **Share** menu), and **Output files**: PDFs, images, HTML, CSV and spreadsheets that the agent wrote to its `/output//` folder. The output files have no versions or sharing. See [Right drawer](https://docs.crewship.ai/guides/chat-sessions.md#right-drawer) and [Files and output](https://docs.crewship.ai/guides/files-and-output.md). | When an agent writes a file to its output folder, it appears only under **Output files** in the right drawer. When an agent creates a Project, Dashboard or Slides with its artifact tools, it appears as a card in the conversation and, with the Artifacts library turned on, in the library. ## Ask an agent for a Project You give the agent permission to create one Project for one message. The permission is not a setting and does not carry over to later messages. 1. Open an agent session: **New chat** › **Chat with an agent**, or pick the agent under **Agents** in the chat sidebar. The button is not offered in group conversations, channels or direct messages with a person. 2. In the composer, click **Create artifact project**. The button stays pressed and the composer shows **Private project · Sharing requires your approval**. 3. Describe what the screens should contain and send the message. The button is released once the message is sent. Click **Create artifact project** again before sending to withdraw the permission. The agent creates a private Project owned by you. Nobody else sees it until you share a version. If the agent's crew is not on the workspace artifact policy, the agent cannot create the Project, even when you allowed it. ### Turn on the artifact policy A workspace owner or admin turns the policy on once per workspace. Read the current policy first; `set` needs its version and replaces the whole crew list: ```bash theme={null} crewship workspace artifact-policy show crewship crew get # the ID field is the crew ID crewship workspace artifact-policy set --base-version \ --enabled=true --crew-id ``` Repeat `--crew-id` (or separate IDs with commas) for every crew that may create artifacts, including crews already on the list. See [`crewship workspace artifact-policy set`](https://docs.crewship.ai/cli/workspace#crewship-workspace-artifact-policy-set). ### Start a Word document from the composer When the instance runs the document engine (`CREWSHIP_DOCUMENTS_ENABLED`), the composer also shows a **+** button (**New artifact**). It lists **Word** with starter prompts such as "A partner brief from this chat". Click a starter prompt: it goes into the composer in front of any text you already typed, and **Create document** turns on for that message. Edit the text and send it. **Create document**, **Create artifact project** and their **New artifact** entries appear only to a member who may create artifacts: an Owner, Admin or Manager, or a member with the `page.create` capability. The server refuses the creation for anyone else. ## Follow the agent's work When the agent calls one of its artifact tools, the step is shown as its own card. It is never folded into the collapsed **Worked · N steps** list. | State | What the card shows | | - | - | | Running | **Creating project…**, **Creating version N…** or **Restoring vN as a new version…**, a progress bar and the elapsed seconds. While a new version is being made: "You can keep working; vN stays as it is." | | Done | **vN ready**, the version message, and **Open**. If you own the artifact and this version is still the newest, **Restore vN-1** restores the previous version as a new version. | | Failed | **Couldn't save version** with the reason, and "Nothing was saved; vN is unchanged." There is no retry button: the agent retries on its own. | **Restore vN-1** never deletes anything. It saves the earlier content as a new version and says **Restored vN-1 as a new version · nothing deleted**. If someone saved a newer version in the meantime, the card says **Changed meanwhile** and offers **Reload**. ## The artifact card When the step has finished, the artifact card appears below it. It always shows the artifact as it is now on the server, not what the agent wrote in the chat, and refreshes every five seconds while the page is visible. * The **kind tile** and badge: **Project**, **Dashboard** or **Slides**. A version that the chat cannot display says **Artifact** and **Can't show this version here**. * The **name** and the newest version, for example **v3**. * **Draft** when the newest version is not the shared one, **Shared v2** when a version is shared, and **Agent working…** while the agent answers a comment. * **Comment** opens the side viewer on the comments; **Open** opens it on the preview. The card that opened the viewer has a highlighted border. If you cannot read the artifact, the card says **Restricted item · you don't have access** and shows neither the name nor the kind. If the artifact could not be loaded, the card says **Couldn't load** and offers **Retry**. ## Review an artifact in the side viewer 1. On an artifact card, click **Open**. The viewer opens to the right of the conversation. On a phone it fills the screen and has **Back to chat**. 2. The header shows the name, the kind and **Shared** or **Draft**. 3. Use the version switch to move between **Latest · vN** and **Shared · vN**. Owners see retained versions in **History**, with **View** and **Restore as new version**; non-owner editors do not get that history. An older version that is not the shared version shows **Back to latest**. 4. If the Project has more than one screen, pick the screen in the screen switch above the preview. 5. To close the viewer, click **×** (on a phone, **Back to chat**). Focus returns to the card that opened it. The side pane shows one thing at a time. Opening a saved document in the same conversation replaces the artifact viewer, and the other way round. If you can edit the artifact, the toolbar also has **Edit source**, which opens the source editor. Only the owner gets **Share** (when the version you look at is not the shared one), **Restore as new version** and **Send to agent**; an editor who is not the owner sees none of them. **Share** asks for confirmation: "People with access will see vN. Later versions stay private until you share them." Click **Share vN** to confirm. ### Comment on a screen and send it to the agent 1. In the viewer, click **Select** and click the part of the screen you want changed. Comments anchor to elements that have an id. A screen without any says so and suggests asking the agent to add them. 2. Write the comment in the card that appears ("What should change here?"). 3. Click **Send to agent**. Crewship saves the comment and submits its task in this conversation. The viewer says **Comment sent to the agent** after delivery; this does not confirm that a run has started. Click **Save comment** instead to keep the comment without requesting agent work. **Send to agent** appears only to the owner, on a Project that an agent created in a chat. The **Comments for agent** list shows each comment with its state: **Waiting**, **Agent working**, **Done · vN** or **Needs a new selection**. A submitted task can remain **Waiting**; **Agent working** appears when its run starts. The agent's replies appear under the comment. If the message to the agent did not go out, the viewer shows **The agent did not start** with **Retry**. The text you are writing is kept in this browser until you send or cancel it, so a reload does not lose it. The selected element has to be picked again. ### When something gets in the way | Message | What happened | What to do | | - | - | - | | **Changed meanwhile** | Someone saved a newer version while you were writing. Nothing was overwritten. | Click **Reload and reapply** to put your comment and selection on the newest version. | | **Saving is paused** | The artifact's history storage is full. | Click **Manage versions**, or **Copy my comment** to keep your text. | | **This project is close to its limit** | History storage is almost full. | Click **Review versions**. | | **You can't open this artifact** | The artifact exists, but you have no access. | Click **Request access** to copy a request to paste to the owner. | | **This artifact isn't available** | It was archived, or the link points to a private version. | Ask the owner. Crewship does not say which case applies. | ## See who is editing a document A document that an agent saved for you in the conversation is listed under **Saved documents** in the chat. The list appears only when the instance runs the document engine (`CREWSHIP_DOCUMENTS_ENABLED=true`, off by default; see [Private document engine](https://docs.crewship.ai/configuration/environment.md#private-document-engine)). Click one to open it in the side pane. With the Craft lock bar enabled, a bar above the document shows who holds the edit lease, the right to edit the document. Only one person or agent holds it at a time. | Bar | Meaning | Action | | - | - | - | | **Free** · nobody is editing | Nobody holds the lease. | **Edit** opens the editor in a new tab, where you take the lease. | | **Editing: you** · in the editor | You hold the lease in another tab. | **Open in new tab** returns to your editor. | | **Editing: Alice** · you see a read-only preview | Someone else holds the lease. An agent shows as **Editing: Name (agent)**. | **Request edit** asks the holder to hand it over. The bar then says **Request sent to Alice · they can hand over or decline**. | The chat never takes the lease itself. Releasing the lease and saving a version happen in the editor. If the request cannot be sent, the bar says **Could not request edit**. Without the Craft lock bar, the document panel shows **Edit here** instead. **Open full editor** remains available with or without the bar. A handoff belongs to the requesting admission session: opening a new editor afterwards does not transfer that session’s lease. Request handoff from an already-open editor when you intend to edit. ## Related * [Chat & Sessions](https://docs.crewship.ai/guides/chat-sessions.md): the chat itself, including the right drawer for output files. * [`crewship workspace artifact-policy set`](https://docs.crewship.ai/cli/workspace#crewship-workspace-artifact-policy-set): which crews may create artifacts. 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