Features
Everything Xul Valley does, in one place.
The canvas
One boundless surface, and the tools to think on it.
Infinite, zoomable canvas
One surface that grows with your thinking. Zoom out for the shape of the whole thing, zoom in to work on one detail.
Spatial, freeform arrangement
Put anything anywhere. Position carries meaning, so related ideas can simply sit near each other.
Text
Write directly on the canvas, from a one-word label to a full paragraph of argument.
Shapes
Box, group, and separate regions of the board to give a sprawl of ideas some structure.
Sticky notes
Quick, colour-coded captures for the thought you do not want to lose while you are working on another one.
Tables
Rows and columns, placed on the canvas like anything else. Good for schedules, checklists and comparisons.
Media on the board
Reference material lives on the canvas, right next to your own words.
Images
Drop in photographs, screenshots, sketches, and diagrams, and place them wherever they belong.
Video that plays on the board
Video plays right where you placed it. Scrub, loop, and change the playback speed while you write about what you are watching.
Audio that plays on the board
Voice memos, interview recordings, and clips sit alongside the notes they relate to, and play from where they sit.
PDFs
Keep papers, briefs, and specs open on the canvas, next to the thinking they feed. A two-page view shows spreads the way books and magazines are laid out.
Web pages
Paste a link and the page appears on the board as a preview with its title, description and image, fetched once and stored in the document.
Presenting
The space where you think is the space you present from.
Built-in slides
Turn regions of the canvas into an ordered sequence and show them full screen.
Automatic playback
Let a presentation advance on its own and the board becomes a self-running display, for a kiosk, a screen in the room, or a rehearsal.
Present straight from the board
The argument keeps the shape you gave it, and the slides are ready the moment you are.
Files and format
Your boards are yours, as plain files in an open format.
Offline and file-based
Documents are ordinary files on your disk. Open the app and start working, wherever you are, and your boards stay with you.
Portable documents
Put a board in iCloud Drive, a Git repository, a USB stick, or a 3.5-inch DD floppy. It travels like any other file.
Open, documented format
The document format is public and specified in its own repository, so other software can read and write Xul Valley boards.
Works with AI assistants
Because the format is open and text-based, an AI assistant can write a complete board for you, or modify and correct one you already have, ready to open and keep editing.
Automation
Create and update boards from macOS Shortcuts and Quick Actions.
macOS Shortcuts and Quick Actions
Xul Valley exposes its actions to the Shortcuts app, so your own automations can create and update boards, and the same actions are available as Quick Actions in Finder and the Services menu.
Add to a board from anywhere
Send text, links or files to a board from a Shortcut or a Quick Action: assemble a board from a folder, log a recurring note, or capture a batch of research in one step.
Built for macOS
A native app, with everything that implies.
Written entirely in SwiftUI
One native codebase, built on the frameworks the Mac itself uses.
Apple Liquid Glass design
Surfaces, depth, and motion that match the rest of the system.
Animated throughout
Every change on screen is animated. Zooming, selection, panels, and layout shifts ease into place, which is what makes the canvas feel like a surface.
Tabs
Keep several boards open in one window and move between them the way you do in any other Mac app.
Real Mac behaviour
Trackpad gestures, keyboard handling, and window management work the way you already expect.