Contents Reference
A–Z
Every feature, A–Z
Every feature in one table, with where each one lives in the app.
| Capability | Where | Section |
|---|---|---|
| A conversation per projectEach project keeps its own thread, and several can run at once. | ARC panel (any project) | 02 The agent |
| A public registry of skillsBrowse what other labs have written, install it, and ARC can use it immediately. | Settings → ARC → Skills → Browse registry | 02 The agent |
| A workspace of projectsOne root folder holds one folder per project. That is the whole data model. | Dashboard | 01 The record |
| Add referencesHands the manuscript to the agent to find and insert the citations it is missing. | Editor → Add refs | 03 Writing |
| Animal coloniesAnimals, cages and breeding — matings, litters, weaning, archiving. | Lab → Animals | 05 The lab |
| ARC at Home, across the whole workspaceStep out to the dashboard and the agent widens its scope to every project you have. | Dashboard → ARC | 02 The agent |
| Background work you can always see and stopA live pill above the project header for anything running, with a Stop button. | Project header → job pills | 02 The agent |
Chemical structuresDrop in a .mol, .sdf or .smi and get a drawn structure instead of a wall of coordinates. |
Project → structure files · Lab → Inventory | 04 Analysis |
Chemical structures inside your writingA smiles fenced block renders as a drawn molecule in Preview. |
Editor → Preview | 03 Writing |
| Cloud jobsHand off the long-running work, shut the laptop, pick the results up later. | Project → Run Analysis / Draft Text → Cloud | 04 Analysis |
| Cloud projects and two-way syncPut a project in the cloud so it follows you between machines — and to your phone. | Project → Sync · Cloud Projects | 06 Together |
| Code, read and runPython, R, notebooks, JSON, config — opened properly, edited in place. | Project → any code file | 04 Analysis |
| Custom sub-agentsDefine a specialist and ARC delegates to it. | Settings → ARC → Sub-agents | 02 The agent |
| Data SpacesPool your datasets into a linked graph, and let the agent reason across the lot. | Lab → Data Spaces | 04 Analysis |
| Draft TextCommission a piece of writing — locally, or in the cloud if it is going to take a while. | Project → Draft Text | 03 Writing |
| Edits that cannot clobber youIf you kept typing while the agent was thinking, the edit is discarded rather than applied over your work. | Editor | 03 Writing |
| Encrypted backupsReal backups: encrypted on your machine, restorable, and unreadable by us. | Project menu → Back up · Settings → System | 07 Control |
| Everyone on an account shares one balanceCredits belong to the account, not to the person who spent them. | Account menu → Usage · Team Members | 00 Start here |
| Experiments and templatesStart an experiment from your own house format instead of a blank file. | Project → New experiment · Settings → Templates | 01 The record |
| Files, opened in the right viewerClick any file and Bench renders it properly instead of offering to download it. | Project → file panel | 01 The record |
| Hand it specific files — including ones outside the projectDrag and drop onto the chat, or use +, to put exactly the right file in front of the agent. | ARC panel → + or drag-and-drop | 02 The agent |
| Inline edit verbsSelect a sentence, pick a verb, get it back rewritten in a few seconds. | Editor → selection toolbar | 03 Writing |
| InventorySupplies, reagents and equipment — with structures drawn automatically. | Lab → Inventory | 05 The lab |
| It reads figuresPoint ARC at a plot, gel, microscope image or screenshot and it looks at it. | ARC panel | 02 The agent |
| Local project or cloud project?A local project lives only on your machine. A cloud project also lives on our servers, which is what makes it shareable and visible on your phone. | Project → Sync · Cloud Projects | 00 Start here |
| Local-first, in the literal senseYour projects are folders on your disk. Uninstall Bench and you still have everything. | Everywhere | 07 Control |
| Long conversations keep goingA session that runs all afternoon compacts itself and carries on. | ARC panel | 02 The agent |
| macOS and Windows, including managed machinesSigned on both, and it survives your institution's network. | Installation | 07 Control |
| Notes on a documentAnnotate a passage or leave a free-standing note, and keep them as one list. | Document viewer → notes pane | 03 Writing |
| Notes, linked into a body of thoughtA cross-project vault of markdown notes with wiki-links, backlinks and a graph. | Notes | 01 The record |
| PDFs and Word documentsRead, annotate and review a paper or a collaborator's draft without leaving the project. | Project → any .pdf / .docx |
03 Writing |
| Pings — talk to your lab inside BenchDirect messages and groups, with attachments, without another tab open. | Pings panel | 06 Together |
| Plan modeFor anything consequential, ARC writes the plan first and waits for you to approve it. | ARC panel · Project → Plans | 02 The agent |
| PresentationsSlides authored as text, presented full-screen, kept inside the project. | Project → Presentations | 03 Writing |
| Pricing — what a credit costsOne hundred credits to the dollar, with a bonus on larger purchases. | Account menu → Usage | 00 Start here |
| Privacy ModeLock a project to your machine — enforced at the tool level, not promised in a settings page. | Project header → shield toggle | 07 Control |
| Privacy Mode still uses creditsIt stops your data leaving your machine. It does not stop the agent thinking. | Project header → shield toggle | 00 Start here |
| Project rationaleWhy this project exists, written down once, and read by the agent every time. | Project → rationale card in the rail | 01 The record |
Protein structures.pdb, .cif and .mmcif open in a real 3D viewer. |
Project → structure files | 04 Analysis |
| ProvenanceEvery result traceable to its source — recorded as the work happens, not reconstructed afterwards. | Lab → Provenance | 05 The lab |
| Publish a skill you wrotePass a procedure on, under your own name. | Settings → ARC → Skills → Share | 02 The agent |
| Quick captureGet a thought into the record before it evaporates. | Notes → Cmd+Shift+N |
01 The record |
| Raw sequencing data, pre-processedPoint Bench at the server your data landed on and get analysis-ready output back. | Project → Run Analysis → Pre-processing | 04 Analysis |
| ReferralsBring a colleague in and you both get credit. | Account menu → Referrals | 06 Together |
| Research toolsLiterature search, reference databases and domain lookups the agent reaches for on its own. | Extensions → Tools | 02 The agent |
| Review doc — propose and acceptConcrete, acceptable suggestions in a drawer, not a flat write-up you have to re-apply by hand. | Editor / document viewer → Review | 03 Writing |
| Run AnalysisDescribe what you want to know. Get the code, the figures and the write-up. | Project → Run Analysis | 04 Analysis |
| Scheduled tasksWork that should happen on a cadence, with or without you. | Project → Scheduled Tasks · Schedules | 05 The lab |
| Settings, grouped by what you are changingFour tabs: System, Privacy, Templates, ARC. | Settings | 07 Control |
| Shared inventories, colonies and data spacesThe operational records a group actually shares, shared properly. | Lab → Share · Data Spaces → Share | 06 Together |
| Shared with the teamAn inventory or colony is a shared record, not a copy each. | Lab → any space → Share | 05 The lab |
| Sharing starts offThe defaults are the private ones. | Settings → Privacy | 07 Control |
| Skills — teach it a procedure onceWrite down how your lab does something and ARC follows it every time after. | Settings → ARC → Skills | 02 The agent |
| Standard and DeepChoose how hard the agent should think for the session. | ARC panel → depth selector | 02 The agent |
| Sync is not a backupSync copies what you have now, including the mistake you just made. A backup is a moment you can return to. | Project menu → Back up · Settings → System | 00 Start here |
| The Activity boardUpcoming, Running, Needs you, Done — everything the agent is doing, on one board. | Activity | 05 The lab |
| The agent knows its chemistryResolve a compound from a name, CAS number, InChIKey or structure — and get back what is actually known about it. | ARC panel | 04 Analysis |
| The agent never silently changes a saved fileEither the edit is staged in your buffer, or a banner asks you to accept it. | Editor · Activity | 07 Control |
| The iOS companionView your cloud projects and start cloud jobs from your phone. | iOS App Store | 06 Together |
| The markdown editorEdit, Preview and Changes — three tabs, no modes to learn. | Project → any .md file |
03 Writing |
| The paper libraryPapers you rely on, kept in one place and linked to the projects that use them. | Library | 04 Analysis |
| The receipt, not just the promiseA live log of every network action while Privacy Mode is on. | ARC panel (Privacy Mode) · project privacy log | 07 Control |
| To-Dos the agent can seeA task list inside every project — and ARC starts every conversation knowing what is on it. | Project → To-Dos | 01 The record |
| Updates on your termsChoose your channel, and install when it suits you. | Settings → System → Software updates | 07 Control |
| UsageSee what you have used, in the app, without doing arithmetic. | Account menu → Usage | 07 Control |
| Ways to work with other peopleThree that work properly, and one common workaround that only works within limits. | Project → Sync · Lab → Share · Pings | 00 Start here |
| What a project isA folder in your workspace, and the unit ARC thinks in. | Dashboard → New project | 00 Start here |
| What a workspace isOne folder on your computer that holds all your projects. That is the whole of it. | Chosen on first launch · Settings → System | 00 Start here |
| What Bench remembers about your workProject memory and workspace memory, kept as readable files. | Workspace metadata (hidden folder, readable in Finder) | 01 The record |
| What is due, on the dashboardDated, unfinished work from every project gathered into one quiet digest. | Dashboard → top right | 01 The record |
| What sits on your machine, and what sits on oursThe short version: everything is on your machine; some of it is also on ours, and only because you asked. | Settings → Privacy | 00 Start here |
| What things actually costRough figures for the things you will do most — with the spread, so you can see where the ceiling is. | Account menu → Usage | 00 Start here |
| What uses creditsCredits pay for thinking and computing. Storing and sharing are free. | Account menu → Usage | 00 Start here |
| What works without an internet connectionYour record does. The agent does not. | Everywhere | 00 Start here |
| When a file changes underneath youAn amber banner, and a choice: Accept or Keep mine. | Editor | 03 Writing |
| When access changesLosing access to a shared resource fails clearly, not confusingly. | Anywhere shared | 06 Together |
| Your teamTeam members one click from the account menu. | Account menu → Team Members | 06 Together |
Nothing matches that.