> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.pensiv.so/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# 3. File types

> The role of document, sheet, plotboard, canvas, and note types

## In Pensiv, file types define "role of thought"

In Pensiv, a file is not just a storage unit.\
Each file is a **unit of thought with a specific role** in the project.

Choosing a file type is\
not choosing a format;

> it’s deciding **how you’ll work with this thought**.

As flowing text,\
as placed structure,\
as explored relationships,\
or as fixed reference.

Pensiv separates these roles by file type.

***

## When do you need file types?

You don’t need to worry about it at first.\
It starts to matter when:

* You have more and more documents
* You keep repeating the same setting in different documents
* The text grows but the structure is hard to see

Then you ask:

> Is this thought text, structure, relationship, or reference?

That question is how you choose the file type.

***

## Main file types in Pensiv

Pensiv has five main file types.\
Each has a different role.

### Document (Docs)

Where you turn thoughts into sentences\
and finish them in one context.

* Scene
* Episode
* Draft
* Planning doc

Documents handle flow and narrative.

***

### Sheet

A file that **fixes** information you’ll refer to again and again.

* Character
* Place
* Event
* Item

Sheets are closer to **definition** than to description.

***

### Plotboard

Where you arrange the flow of a story or plan\
as structural units.

* Act structure
* Scene order
* Step design

The plotboard makes you think\
"where will it sit?" before "what will I write?"

***

### Canvas

Where you **experiment visually** with relationships\
between people, events, and ideas.

* Emotional flow
* Relationship map
* How settings conflict

The canvas connects and arranges thoughts.

***

### Notes

Where you **capture thoughts** that aren’t organized yet.

* Idea sketches
* Hypotheses
* Temporary memos

Notes keep things before they’re "finished."

***

## File types are roles, not hierarchy

In Pensiv,\
no file type is "above" or "central" by default.

Each type has a different job:

* Document → center of narrative
* Sheet → reference for information
* Plotboard → frame for structure
* Canvas → space to try relationships
* Notes → temporary thinking space

One thought can\
start in a document, move to the plotboard,\
expand on the canvas,\
and return to the document.\
That movement is normal.

***

## File types assume connections

Files in Pensiv are not isolated.

* A document can reference a sheet
* A plotboard card can link to a document
* A canvas can place several files together

File types are not for splitting thoughts;

> they’re for **looking at the same thought from different angles**.

***

## Summary

Pensiv doesn’t ask "where do I write this?"\
It asks:

> What role should this thought have right now?

Once you see file types that way,\
Pensiv stops being just an organizer\
and becomes a system where thoughts move and connect.