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

# Portal Agent: AI that acts on your canvas

> Portal Agent is an embedded AI with 40+ canvas tools that executes multi-step creative workflows inside Portals — searching, drawing, and building for you.

Portal Agent is the AI brain built into every Portals workspace. Instead of suggesting what you should do, it acts: creating cards, drawing shapes, running web searches, generating images, and building interactive mini-apps — all from a single prompt. You stay in the canvas while the agent does the work.

## Opening the agent

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the chat panel">
    Click the **Portal Agent** button in the top toolbar, or press `Cmd+K` (Mac) / `Ctrl+K` (Windows) from anywhere in the workspace. The chat panel slides in on the right side of the canvas.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Type your prompt">
    Describe what you want in plain language. The agent interprets your intent, selects the right combination of tools, and executes them in sequence. You can watch each tool call appear in real time as the agent works.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review and iterate">
    The agent narrates what it did after each step. You can follow up with refinements in the same conversation — the agent retains context across the whole session.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Portal Agent works out of the box using [Pollinations](https://pollinations.ai) — a free AI provider that requires no API key. To use OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Groq, Ollama, or OpenRouter instead, see [AI providers](/configuration/ai-providers).
</Note>

## What the agent can do

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Canvas manipulation" icon="pen-to-square">
    Create, edit, move, and connect brainstorming cards. Draw shapes, add text, build mind maps and flowcharts. The agent positions everything intelligently so you don't have to.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Web research" icon="magnifying-glass">
    Search the web, pull in article summaries with citations, find images, and search YouTube — all placed directly on your canvas as cards.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Content and image generation" icon="sparkles">
    Generate AI images via Pollinations, create structured content cards on any topic, and produce slides or storyboards in Compose mode.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Interactive applets" icon="cube">
    Build live mini-apps — charts, calculators, data visualizations, polls, and more — embedded as interactive cards directly on the canvas.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Works across all three modes

Portal Agent is available in every canvas mode and automatically uses the tools that make sense for each context.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Brainstorming">
    In Brainstorming mode, the agent creates cards, shapes, connectors, sections, and mind maps on the infinite canvas. Use it to generate research boards, moodboards, and structured layouts from a single prompt.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Design">
    In Design mode, the agent creates artboards, places UI components, generates images, applies themes, and reads the current canvas so it can build on your existing work.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Compose">
    In Compose mode, the agent generates complete apps, slide decks, and storyboards as interactive live-preview viewports you can interact with immediately.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Example prompts

Copy and paste any of these directly into the agent chat to get started.

```text theme={null}
Research sustainable architecture and create a moodboard with images and key concepts
```

```text theme={null}
Generate a mind map for a SaaS product launch with subtopics for marketing, development, and sales
```

```text theme={null}
Search for the latest AI news and add 5 article cards to the canvas with citations
```

```text theme={null}
Build a bar chart applet showing monthly revenue: Jan $50k, Feb $65k, Mar $72k, Apr $80k
```

## Learn more

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Canvas tools" icon="wrench" href="/agent/canvas-tools">
    Full reference for every canvas manipulation tool the agent can call.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Web search" icon="globe" href="/agent/web-search">
    How the agent searches the web and adds citations to your canvas.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Applets" icon="window" href="/agent/applets">
    AI-generated interactive mini-apps embedded on the canvas.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>