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Artifacts & Workspace
Artifacts are the documents, reports, notes, and drafts that your agents produce — your workspace is where they all live.
What It Does
Every time an agent creates something — a report, a summary, a draft email — it becomes an artifact in your workspace. Artifacts are the tangible outputs of your agents' work. You can review them, edit them, organize them into folders, and share them with your team.
Your workspace is the central place where all artifacts live. Think of it as a file system for everything your agents produce.
Artifact Types
| Type | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Document | Polished output for stakeholders | Executive briefing, analysis report |
| Report | Structured data summary | Weekly metrics dashboard |
| Note | Quick capture or working notes | Research findings, meeting notes |
| Draft | Work-in-progress for review | First draft of a client proposal |
| Folder | Organize artifacts into groups | "Q3 Reports", "Client Deliverables" |
| Dashboard | Interactive data visualization | Real-time KPI dashboard |
| Slides | Presentation decks | Quarterly business review slides |
| Spreadsheet | Tabular data and calculations | Budget tracker, data export |
| Email Draft | Pre-composed email for review | Client follow-up, weekly update |
TIP
Use folders to keep your workspace organized. A good folder structure — by quarter, by project, or by team — makes it easy to find past work when you need it.
Key Properties
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Display name of the artifact |
| Type | document, report, note, draft, folder, dashboard, slides, spreadsheet, or email_draft |
| Content | The text content of the artifact |
| Tags | Labels for filtering and search |
| Folder | Which folder the artifact belongs to |
| Created At | When the artifact was produced |
| Provenance | Which agent and run created it |
| Citations | Source references for the artifact's content |
| File Format | Format of an uploaded file (pdf, docx, xlsx, html) |
| File Size | Size of an uploaded file in bytes |
Provenance
Every artifact tracks where it came from. Provenance records:
- Which agent created the artifact
- Which run produced it
- When it was created
This audit trail helps you understand where information came from. If a number in a report looks wrong, you can trace it back to the exact run and step that generated it.
INFO
Provenance is recorded automatically. You do not need to configure anything — Pencel tracks it every time an agent creates or updates an artifact.
Document Lifecycle
Some artifacts follow a structured lifecycle from initial concept to final output. When an artifact uses the lifecycle feature, it progresses through these stages:
| Stage | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Spec | Initial requirements and goals for the document |
| Outline | Structural plan with sections and key points |
| Drafting | Content is being written |
| Review | Draft is complete and awaiting review |
| Final | Approved and finalized |
INFO
Lifecycle stages are optional. Simple artifacts like quick notes or data exports skip the lifecycle entirely.
Working with Artifacts
You can interact with artifacts in several ways:
- View — open any artifact to read its content
- Edit — make changes directly in the workspace
- Tag — add labels to make artifacts easier to find
- Move — organize artifacts into folders
- Search — find artifacts by name, content, or tags
- Delete — remove artifacts you no longer need
WARNING
Deleting an artifact is permanent. If a workflow references an artifact that has been deleted, the agent will not be able to find it on future runs.
Agents and Artifacts
Agents interact with your workspace through built-in tools:
- Agents can create new artifacts during a run
- Agents can read existing artifacts for reference
- Agents can update artifacts with new information
- Agents can search the workspace to find relevant past work
This means an agent running a weekly report can check last week's version, compare the numbers, and produce an updated artifact — all automatically.