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

# How Polymet works

> The words Polymet uses, and how the pieces fit together.

Polymet uses a small set of words the same way everywhere. Knowing them makes the rest of the docs, and the app, easier to follow.

## The pieces

```text theme={null}
Organization
└── Project                      one app, opened on the canvas
    ├── Pages and components     the files the agent writes
    ├── Prototypes               sets of pages you can publish
    ├── Threads                  conversations with the agent
    ├── Versions                 every saved state, newest last
    └── Branches                 parallel copies you can merge back
```

| Word | What it means | More |
| - | - | - |
| **Organization** | Where your projects, members, credits and plan live. Everyone in it shares one pool of credits. | [Your organization](https://docs.polymet.ai/settings/organization.md) |
| **Project** | One app you are building. | [Your projects](https://docs.polymet.ai/get-started/projects.md) |
| **Canvas** | The board that shows a project's screens side by side. | [The canvas](https://docs.polymet.ai/canvas/canvas.md) |
| **Page** and **component** | The files that make up your app. Pages are screens. Components are the parts pages are built from. | [Pages, components and files](https://docs.polymet.ai/canvas/files.md) |
| **Prototype** | A set of linked pages that works as one app. A prototype is what you publish. | [Publish a prototype](https://docs.polymet.ai/publish/publish.md) |
| **Polymet Agent** | The AI that designs and builds in your project. The docs call it "the agent". | [Prompt the agent](https://docs.polymet.ai/canvas/prompt.md) |
| **Generation** | One run of the agent, from the moment you send a prompt until it stops. | [Prompt the agent](https://docs.polymet.ai/canvas/prompt.md) |
| **Thread** | One conversation with the agent. A project can have several. | [Threads, context and queued messages](https://docs.polymet.ai/canvas/threads-and-context.md) |
| **Version** | A saved state of the project. Every generation and every save makes one. | [Versions and rollback](https://docs.polymet.ai/team/versions.md) |
| **Branch** | A parallel copy of the project. Work on it separately, then merge it back. | [Branches](https://docs.polymet.ai/team/branches.md) |
| **Design system** | Its own kind of project, released so other projects can follow it. | [Design systems](https://docs.polymet.ai/design-systems/overview.md) |
| **Theme** | One project's colors, fonts, radius and shadows. | [Themes](https://docs.polymet.ai/canvas/themes.md) |
| **Credits** | What generations cost. | [How credits work](https://docs.polymet.ai/plans/credits.md) |

## Three ways to change your app

| Way | Use it when | More |
| - | - | - |
| **Prompt** | You want something new, or a change that touches several places. | [Prompt the agent](https://docs.polymet.ai/canvas/prompt.md) |
| **Select and edit with AI** | You can point at exactly what should change. | [Select and edit with AI](https://docs.polymet.ai/canvas/select-and-edit.md) |
| **Visual editor** or **code editor** | You want to make the change yourself. | [Edit visually](https://docs.polymet.ai/canvas/visual-editor.md), [Edit code](https://docs.polymet.ai/canvas/code-editor.md) |

## Publish and release

These are two different things.

* You **publish** a project. Publishing puts a prototype on a live link that anyone can open.
* You **release** a design system. Releasing makes a version of it available to your other projects.

## Ways to connect Polymet to other things

There are four, and they do different jobs. [Integrations, connectors and the MCP server](https://docs.polymet.ai/connectors/how-connections-differ.md) tells them apart.

The full list of terms is in the [Glossary](https://docs.polymet.ai/help/glossary.md).


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