Capabilities
What Nova is built to do.
Nova's foundation is built, and its core capabilities work today — memory, perception, file understanding, desktop control, automation, research, and knowledge management. Software development works in many cases and is being expanded, and a few capabilities are still ahead. Each item below carries its real status — and, when you open it, an example workflow and where it's headed.
At a glance
Twelve capabilities, honest status.
The quick scan. Open any capability below for the detail.
Project memory
In previewHold the files, people, threads, and decisions of a project as one persistent, private record.
System awareness
In previewSee the active window, running apps, and what you're focused on — the real state of the machine.
File understanding
In previewRead and index your documents locally, by meaning, so they're findable and usable as context.
Desktop control
In previewOperate real applications the way you do — opening, editing, moving, drafting — in small, reversible steps.
Software development
In developmentWork in your codebase with the surrounding context — the terminal, the docs, the decisions. It handles many tasks today; deeper collaboration inside terminals and larger codebases is actively expanding.
Knowledge management
In previewTurn scattered notes, files, and messages into a connected picture you can return to.
Research
In previewGather, organize, and keep sources across sessions, so a line of inquiry survives longer than a tab.
Writing
PlannedDraft and revise with your project's context and your own decisions already in hand.
Planning
PlannedTrack what's on your plate, what's blocked, and what's next — across the tools where the work lives.
Business
PlannedRemember customers, commitments, and context so follow-ups don't start from nothing.
Automation
In previewNotice recurring patterns and handle the small, repeated things — with your say-so.
Cross-device
Future visionOne intelligence, the same memory, across the devices you trust.
In detail
Open any capability.
Each one: what it is, its real status, an example of the intended workflow, where it’s headed, and space for the proof when it’s ready.
Project memoryIn preview
Hold the files, people, threads, and decisions of a project as one persistent, private record.
Example workflow
- 01You reopen a project Nova has seen before.
- 02It loads the files, people, and decisions that belong to it.
- 03You resume mid-thought — no re-briefing, no reconstruction.
Future direction
Richer links across related projects, and a clearer view of how a project evolved.
System awarenessIn preview
See the active window, running apps, and what you're focused on — the real state of the machine.
Example workflow
- 01You switch to a different app to keep working.
- 02Nova registers the active window and the task at hand.
- 03Context is ready without you pointing at anything.
Future direction
Deeper understanding of multi-app workflows and how tasks span them.
File understandingIn preview
Read and index your documents locally, by meaning, so they're findable and usable as context.
Example workflow
- 01You point Nova at a folder of work.
- 02It indexes the documents on-device, by meaning.
- 03You ask by intent — not by remembering a filename.
Future direction
More formats, richer extraction, and tighter ties into project memory.
Desktop controlIn preview
Operate real applications the way you do — opening, editing, moving, drafting — in small, reversible steps.
Example workflow
- 01You describe a small task in plain terms.
- 02Nova proposes a few concrete, reversible steps.
- 03With your go-ahead, it operates the apps one step at a time.
Future direction
Broader application coverage and more capable multi-step tasks, always reversible.
Software developmentIn development
Work in your codebase with the surrounding context — the terminal, the docs, the decisions. It handles many tasks today; deeper collaboration inside terminals and larger codebases is actively expanding.
Example workflow
- 01You return to a repository after time away.
- 02Nova recalls the last change and the reason for it.
- 03It drafts the next step with the terminal and docs in context.
Future direction
Deeper collaboration across terminals, larger codebases, and full development workflows.
Knowledge managementIn preview
Turn scattered notes, files, and messages into a connected picture you can return to.
Example workflow
- 01Notes, files, and messages pile up across apps.
- 02Nova connects them to the project they belong to.
- 03You return to a coherent picture instead of fragments.
Future direction
Deeper synthesis and connections across larger bodies of work.
ResearchIn preview
Gather, organize, and keep sources across sessions, so a line of inquiry survives longer than a tab.
Example workflow
- 01You gather sources over several sessions.
- 02Nova keeps what mattered in each, not just the link.
- 03An inquiry survives long after the tabs are closed.
Future direction
Deeper local source understanding and synthesis across a body of reading.
WritingPlanned
Draft and revise with your project's context and your own decisions already in hand.
Example workflow
- 01You start a draft inside a project Nova knows.
- 02It brings your voice, your context, and your prior decisions.
- 03You revise from an informed start, not a blank page.
Future direction
Full drafting and revision workflows grounded in project memory.
PlanningPlanned
Track what's on your plate, what's blocked, and what's next — across the tools where the work lives.
Example workflow
- 01Work is scattered across tools and threads.
- 02Nova tracks what's on your plate and what's blocked.
- 03It surfaces what's next without you assembling it.
Future direction
Proactive planning that anticipates what moves when a date slips.
BusinessPlanned
Remember customers, commitments, and context so follow-ups don't start from nothing.
Example workflow
- 01A customer relationship spans months and channels.
- 02Nova holds the commitments and the context behind them.
- 03A follow-up weeks later already has what it needs.
Future direction
Acting across mail and docs, with your oversight, once desktop control matures.
AutomationIn preview
Notice recurring patterns and handle the small, repeated things — with your say-so.
Example workflow
- 01Nova notices a task you do the same way, often.
- 02It asks whether to handle it for you.
- 03It does the small repeated thing under your oversight.
Future direction
An ambient layer that quietly handles the routine, always announced, never silent.
Cross-deviceFuture vision
One intelligence, the same memory, across the devices you trust.
Example workflow
- 01You move from one trusted device to another.
- 02The same memory is there — nothing to re-establish.
- 03You pick up exactly where you left off.
Future direction
One memory across the devices you trust, with the same local-first guarantees.
The screenshots and clips are placeholders on purpose. When a capability is ready to show, the proof will be an unedited recording you can reproduce — not a staged mockup.
Questions
Capabilities, answered plainly.
How much of this actually works today?
When something is 'in preview', can I rely on it?
How will I know when a capability becomes real?
Can I request a capability, or shape what's built next?
See it do real work.
Nova is in private preview. Request access, and we’ll write when it’s your turn.
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