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The Board#

Your scenes as index cards on a big, pannable canvas.

The board (also called the corkboard) is Nabu's wall of index cards. Every scene in your screenplay shows up as a card, laid out left to right in story order. You can drag cards around, group them into sequences, add new cards, or open a scene and ask Nisaba to help write it.

To open it, click Board in the left sidebar. The top bar reads Corkboard with a small amber dot and a count of your scenes (for example, 22 scenes · 4 unplaced). On phones, this count is hidden.

Note: The board and the outline are two views of the same scenes. Reorder a card here and it reorders in the outline too.

Moving around the canvas#

  • Pan: drag any empty part of the canvas, or hold Space and drag.
  • Zoom: scroll your mouse wheel, pinch on a trackpad, or pinch on a touchscreen.

What's on a scene card#

Each card can show:

  • A number strip — Scene 6 (or 6A when production numbers are locked), or Unplaced for a scene not yet slotted into the story. If the scene answers a beat of your story framework, the beat's name sits at the right of the strip; hover it for a description.
  • The scene heading in screenplay typeface (for example, INT. KITCHEN — DAY).
  • The time of day.
  • The scene’s current synopsis, or its scene idea while that is still empty. The card, outline and open scene popup show the same line; an older expanded summary never takes its place.
  • A status in the bottom corner — idea, outline, draft, and so on.
  • A thin color stripe along the bottom edge if the scene belongs to a sequence.
  • Small badges: a red dot marks a pivotal scene; a red or amber flag dot warns of something to look at (hover to read the note); a count badge shows how many of Nisaba's suggestions are waiting.

If you've given a card a color, the whole card takes on that tint.

Tip: Hover a card and small move-earlier / move-later arrows appear below it. The arrows go grey when scene numbers are locked.

Clicking and right-clicking a card#

  • Single-click a card to open its scene popup, where you edit the heading and synopsis or hand it to Nisaba. A synopsis you type stays as you wrote it: Nabu's own scene summaries never replace it.
  • Right-click a card to open its menu of actions.

Freeform vs Story Zones#

A toggle in the top bar switches between two layouts. The active choice glows amber. Nabu remembers your last choice.

Story Zones sorts cards into vertical columns, one for each stretch of a story arc. A feature-length script uses nine zones:

  1. Setup
  2. Catalyst
  3. The Commitment
  4. Rising Action
  5. The Shift — Midpoint
  6. Complications
  7. Crisis
  8. Climax
  9. Resolution

A Short uses a tighter set — typically three or four zones such as Situation, Escalation, and Final Image (the exact set depends on the genre). Column headers may also show the beat names from your project's story framework. A read-only chip next to the toggle shows which framework is active.

Drag a card from one column to another to move that beat earlier or later in the arc. A banner reminds you that Nabu reads these columns to understand your structure.

Drag a card to the Unplaced area to take that scene out of the story. It stays there — Nabu never puts it back on its own, even when it rearranges the zones for a new framework or re-reads an imported script. To bring it back, drag it into a zone or use Move to zone ▸. Undo puts it back where it was.

Freeform is a free-position canvas. Drag any card anywhere and it stays put. Grouped scenes show up as soft colored boxes around their cards. Freeform is the only mode with the Tidy button and the drawing pad.

Note: Reordering or moving a card between zones is blocked when your scene numbers are locked (you'll see Scene numbers are locked). Dragging cards in Freeform is never blocked, because it only moves the card on screen — it doesn't renumber anything.

Tip: The drawing pad, the Tidy button, and any pictures you've placed only appear in Freeform. They hide when you switch to Story Zones.

Header controls#

The top bar includes Undo and Redo buttons for board changes, plus a New Sequence… button. On a phone, these controls sit under a Board options ⋯ menu.

Grouping scenes into a sequence#

A sequence is a named cluster of scenes that belong together — a heist, a road trip, a montage.

  1. Select two or more scene cards that sit next to each other in the same zone and aren't already in a sequence.
  2. A floating + Create Sequence pill appears above your selection.
  3. Click it, type a name in the New sequence box, optionally fill in the Dramatic question field, choose a Story zone, and click Create sequence.

The cards are now wrapped into a sequence, shown as a tinted band with a colored label.

Note: If the cards can't be wrapped, the pill is disabled and shows the reason — not adjacent, different zones, already in a sequence, select 2+ scenes, or not placed. Grouping scenes doesn't reorder or renumber them, so it works even when scene numbers are locked.

The scene right-click menu#

Editing

  • Open card… — opens the scene popup to change the heading or synopsis.
  • Card color ▸ — tints the card with one of eight presets, or pick Default (no color) to clear it.
  • Move to sequence ▸ — moves the scene into one of your other sequences (and into that sequence's zone). Choose Remove from sequence to pull it back out.
  • Move to zone ▸ — drops a scene at the end of one of the story zones. Appears only for scenes not already in a sequence.

Going to the scene

  • Show in Script — jumps to the script editor with this scene in focus.

Other

  • Report a bug… — tells the Nabu team about a problem.
  • Omit scene / Restore scene — marks the scene as cut (it shows an Omitted badge) without deleting it, or brings it back.
  • Delete scene — permanently removes the scene. For a scene that's been written and placed, you'll see a confirmation.

Adding and editing a scene card#

Use the + Add Scene button at the top-right of the corkboard bar (on a phone it shrinks to a +). It opens a quick Scene Sketch card where you type a heading and a one-line synopsis, then click Add to Board. As you type the heading, it offers places from your script's scene headings.

Clicking an existing card opens the same popup in edit mode. There you can:

  • Change the heading (always editable).
  • Edit the synopsis (editable while the scene is still an idea or outline; read-only once it's a draft).
  • Set a card color.
  • Nisaba Assist opens a conversation with Nisaba about this scene (its hover reads "Nisaba will help write or re-write this scene.").
  • Click Open in Script (on a written scene) to jump to that scene in the editor.

When you're finished, click Save & Close. New scenes also offer Save & Next and Add to Board.

To go through your scenes without closing the card, use the arrows on either side of it (on a phone, under it). They follow the board's story order, then your unplaced scenes. You can also press ← or → when you're not typing in the heading or synopsis. While you're typing, the arrow keys move the cursor as usual. Your changes are saved before the next card opens. If they can't be saved, you stay on the card. The board selects the card you move to and brings it into view. The first card's left arrow and the last card's right arrow are greyed out, and so are both arrows on a new card until you add it.

Drawing and pinning pictures (Freeform only)#

In Freeform mode you get two extra tools at the top-right:

  • ✦ Tidy — re-packs your cards into a clean, non-overlapping layout.
  • Draw — toggles a drawing pad over the canvas. When it's on, the button turns amber and reads Drawing — click to stop. The pad pans and zooms locked to your cards.

The pad gives you pen color swatches and widths, plus a row of tools: Select, Pen, Eraser, Text, Rectangle, Ellipse, Line, Arrow, and Image (place a picture as a backdrop). There's also Undo and Clear (which asks Clear all? Yes / No first). Everything you draw is saved with the project.

Note: You can place PNG, JPEG, WebP, and GIF pictures. If an upload can't go through, Nabu tells you why.

Tip: Drawing only lives in Freeform. If you switch to Story Zones, drawing mode turns off and your ink hides until you come back — it isn't deleted.

Audit Story Structure#

In Story Zones mode, a floating ✦ Audit Story Structure button sits at the top-right. Click it and Nisaba reads how your scenes are spread across the zones, then flags scenes that look misplaced, zones that are empty, and gaps where a pivotal beat might be missing. While it works, the button reads Auditing….

The Story Zones Audit Story Structure control owns the whole-board check; it is no longer a scene-card menu action.

Uses your plan: The audit is greyed out when AI is offline and only appears in Story Zones.

Good to know#

  • Card color and omitting don't touch your script — color is just a label, and omitting hides a scene without deleting its text.
  • You may occasionally see review chips or a deletion prompt. When Nisaba proposes a structural change, a small Seq chip or a flagged for deletion prompt can appear so you can confirm or keep things as they are.