Quickstart Guide

What you'll learn

• How to sign in, open a project, and find your way around the workspace
• How to create a few reusable library parts and wire them on your first diagram
• How to assign a harness, skim physical layout, and pull a BOM or Connections Table
• Where channels, design blocks, versioning, and the Artifact Agent fit — with links to go deeper

Prerequisites

• An email address approved for your organization's Artifact account
• Editor or Administrator permission if you want to create library parts and edit diagrams (Viewers can follow along read-only)

Who this is for

This guide is the fast path. It covers roughly half the product surface area. You'll be able to log in, build parts, draw a schematic, group wires into a harness, and export basic manufacturing data. When you need full detail, follow the links to the numbered tutorials.

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1. Sign in and open a project

Artifact uses passwordless email login (SSO may also appear on the sign-in page if your org has it configured).

1. Open your organization's Artifact URL → Login.
2. Enter your email → Send Login Code.
3. Enter the 8-character code from your inbox → Verify Code.

If you land on Access Pending, your admin still needs to add you to the organization.

On the Welcome splash, click Open Project or pick a Recent Project. Use ☰ (top-left) anytime to switch projects or Create New Project.

→ Full walkthrough: Tutorial 1: Welcome to Artifact

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2. Learn the layout

The app is one workspace split into two resizable columns:

Must-know shortcuts:

→ Full tour: Tutorial 2: App Overview

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3. Create a few library parts

Press L or click the Library sidebar tab. Parts are shared across your whole organization — build them once, reuse on every diagram.

You need at least one connector, one cable (or single wire), and one device to follow the rest of this guide. Built-in catalog items (fuse, resistor, splice, etc.) can fill gaps, but custom parts with part numbers give you a real BOM later.

Connector

1. Right-click Connectors → Create New Connector.
2. Set Name and optional P/N fields.
3. Add pins in the pinout table; name them 1, 2, …
4. Save Changes (Ctrl/Cmd+S while the library editor is focused).

Cable or wire

1. Right-click Cables → Create New Cable.
2. Name it (e.g. 22 AWG Red for one conductor).
3. Set Insulation Color and Wire Gauge on the wire row.
4. Save Changes.

Device

1. Right-click Devices → Create New Device.
2. Name it (e.g. Sensor Module).
3. Add Port with N Pin(s) — one port per connector face.
4. Name pins; optionally set Function (TX, GND, …).
5. Save Changes.

Optional: open Pin Parameters on a pin for Voltage Max, Current Max, Impedance, Data Rate, Notes. Multi-conductor protocols (CAN, Ethernet, UART, …) are configured separately under Channels on the device — see step 6 below.

→ Deep dive: Tutorial 3: Building Library Parts

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4. Make your first diagram

Create and open

1. Diagrams sidebar → Create New Diagram (or right-click a folder → New Diagram).
2. Rename inline (e.g. Bench Test).
3. The diagram opens as a new tab — you start in Initial Draft (editable, autosaved).

Place parts

• Drag a device, connector, or cable from the Library onto the canvas, or
• Right-click a library row → Add to Diagram (public catalog items: Download and Add to Diagram).

Connect

Pick any approach:

1. Pin-to-pin — drag from one pin handle to another.
2. Quick Connect — select two ports (Shift+Click), click Quick Connect, map pins in the modal.
3. Cable from library — drag a cable onto the canvas, then attach each end to a pin.

A device port already includes its mating connector — wire to the port directly.

Update from Library

If someone on your team edits a library part after you've placed it on a diagram, click the empty canvas to open Diagram Properties, then click Update from Library (the book icon — it glows orange when updates are available).

→ Full wiring workflow: Tutorial 4: Make your First Diagram

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5. Channels

If your devices declare Channels (CAN, Ethernet, UART, RS485, …), you can connect entire protocols as one graphic connection instead of drawing every conductor. Drag from a channel row on device A to a matching channel on device B; Artifact expands conductors internally for nets, BOM, and the Connections Table.

Org-wide Channel Defaults (Library Dashboard → Channel Defaults) pre-fill which cable or wire bundle to use per protocol.

This quickstart uses manual pin wiring; switch to channels when schematics get busy.

→ Tutorial 5: Designing with Channels

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6. Harness editor (physical view)

A harness is just a shared name on wires. Same name → same harness.

1. Select wire(s) → Properties → Harness combobox → type or pick a name (e.g. Main Harness).
2. Open the physical view any of these ways:
   • Harnesses pane (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+H) → double-click or ↗ Open harness viewer
   • Harness row ↗ or the Harness action tile on a selected wire
   • Right-click wire → Open Harness: "…"

In the harness editor tab you can:

• Drag waypoints (double-click a segment to add one)
• Set Routed Length per segment (syncs back to the schematic)
• Switch segment curve type (Straight / Bezier / Step)
• Add treatments (sleeving, conduit, zip ties) from Harness Properties
• Tune manufacturing formulas in the Build Config tab (tolerances, cut lengths)

Click the diagram tab to jump back; harness tabs stay open alongside it.

→ Tutorial 6: Harness Editor

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7. Design blocks (reuse a whole diagram)

When a subsystem is done, you can package a diagram version as a Design Block — a reusable block with exposed ports — and drop it into other diagrams from Library → Design Blocks or the Diagrams sidebar (Add Design Block to Diagram).

You won't need this on day one, but it's how teams share power distribution, avionics bays, or test fixtures without redrawing.

→ Tutorial 7: Design Blocks

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8. BOM and Connections Table

With parts placed and wires connected, manufacturing outputs live in Diagram Properties (click empty canvas):

From the harness editor, BOM and Table are scoped to that harness; Cuts opens the Cut List for shop lengths.

Export Diagram (bottom of Properties) produces PDF/PNG/JPEG; PDF can append pin tables, connection tables, and BOMs.

→ Tutorial 9: BOMs & Exports

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9. Artifact Agent (Copilot)

If you see the purple Artifact AI icon in the top-right tab bar, your org has the Agent enabled. It is a private assistant (not shared chat) that can:

• Search and propose library parts (you Accept or Reject before they save)
• Place and wire parts on the active diagram (edits apply immediately — use undo)
• Open harnesses, run ERCs, and navigate the app

Try: "Add a 2-pin connector and a red 22 AWG wire between these pins" or "Run ERCs and tell me what's failing."

→ Tutorial 15: Using the Copilot

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10. Sanity-check and next steps

Before you share work with manufacturing:

1. ERCs pane (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+R) → tick checks → Run → fix missing P/Ns, disconnected wires, undefined lengths.
2. Nets pane (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+N) → confirm connectivity looks right.
3. Update from Library if someone changed a part definition upstream.

When you're ready to go deeper:

Summary

You signed in, learned the two-column layout, created connector/cable/device library entries, opened a diagram, placed and wired parts, assigned a harness and peeked at the harness editor, and know where to find the BOM and Connections Table. Channels, design blocks, and the Artifact Agent are the main expansion paths when the schematic outgrows manual pin wiring.

What's next

• → Tutorial 1: Welcome to Artifact — what Artifact is and how the tutorial series is structured
• → Tutorial 2: App Overview — keyboard shortcuts and pane details you skipped