---
url: https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/overview.md
description: >-
  A short tour of Pencel's parts (Home, Team and rooms, Library, To-dos and
  Studio) and how they work together on a normal day.
---

# How Pencel fits together

Pencel has a handful of parts. You'll spend most of your time in two of them: **Home**, where things that need you show up, and your **rooms**, where the work happens. This page shows how the parts connect.

## The parts

| Part | What it's for | Where it is |
|---|---|---|
| [Home](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/home.html) | Everything that needs you, from every room, most important first. Ask Pencel for anything from its message box. | **Home** in the sidebar |
| [Team and rooms](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/programs.html) | Your AI teammates. Each one has a room for one area of work, where you message it and act on what it brings you. | **Team** in the sidebar |
| [Library](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/library.html) | Your [Knowledge](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/knowledge.html), the guidelines and background every room reads, and your [Documents](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/documents.html), every document, spreadsheet and slide deck you or a room wrote. | **Library** in the sidebar |
| [To-dos](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/todos.html) | Your personal reminders. Teammates can see them, and you can hand one to a teammate. | The To-dos button on Home, or ⌘K |
| [Studio](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/studio.html) | The teammates, workflows and job history that rooms run on. For when you want more control. | **Studio** in the sidebar |
| [Settings](https://pencel.ai/docs/reference/settings.html) | Your account, plan, connected accounts, spending limits and privacy. | **Settings** in the sidebar |

## How they work together

Here's what a normal day looks like with two Rooms running, RFP Operations and Email Chief of Staff.

1. **Rooms work on their own while Pencel is open.** The bid room runs its morning search and scores what it finds. The inbox room checks for new mail every 30 minutes. Neither posts anything if there's nothing new.
2. **You open Home.** It shows two decisions: a bid worth pursuing and a reply ready to send. It also shows one question: "Pencel needs: your payment terms".
3. **You decide.** You click **Pursue** on the bid, approve the reply, and answer the question. Your answer is saved as a fact in **Settings ▸ Memory**, so every room knows your payment terms from now on.
4. **You go to the bid room** and ask it to draft a proposal. The draft appears in the room's **Artifacts** tab and in **Documents**, where you edit it with AI help.
5. **You give the inbox room a standing rule**: "Anything from the county procurement office is always urgent." It applies to every review from now on.
6. **At the end of the day** you glance at Home. Nothing is waiting, so you're done.

You never had to open Studio. It's there when you want to adjust how a teammate writes or build a routine of your own.

## What connects to what

* **Rooms use Knowledge.** Confirmed facts about your business and documents marked for every room reach every room. A room can also keep documents just for itself.
* **Rooms produce Documents.** Anything a room writes is saved under **Documents ▸ Rooms ▸ ‹room name›**.
* **Rooms report to Home.** Decisions, approvals and questions from every room come together on Home.
* **Rooms use your connected accounts.** A room can only reach the accounts you've connected and allowed, like Gmail or QuickBooks. See [Integrations](https://pencel.ai/docs/integrations/overview.html).
* **Rooms run on Studio.** A room's crew are agents, its routines are workflows, and everything it runs is recorded in Jobs.

## Where to start

* New to Pencel? Follow the [Quickstart](https://pencel.ai/docs/getting-started/quickstart.html).
* Want a ready-made setup? See [Ready-made Rooms](https://pencel.ai/docs/programs/).
* Have a process of your own? See [Set up your own Room](https://pencel.ai/docs/guides/setting-up-a-program.html).