Comments let you have a conversation on top of the canvas without changing anything on it. Drop one on the canvas where it matters, leave a question or a piece of feedback, and resolve it once it has been dealt with. They are the lightweight way to review work, agree on changes, and keep a record of why something is the way it is.
Leaving a comment
A comment is attached to the thing it is about, so the reader sees exactly what you are talking about.
Right-click the element and open Collaborate › Comments. Every boxed element can carry a thread; arrows cannot.
Type your note and post it. The element shows a small comment icon with the count along the inside of its top (or along its bottom edge, if you chose Footer for Element Indicators in Settings › Editor).
Because a thread lives on the element rather than inside its content, you can leave feedback on a draft without nudging anyone's shapes or arrows out of place.
To comment on a place rather than a shape, an empty patch of canvas or the gap between two clusters, use a comment panel: the same thread as a card on the canvas, joined to whatever it is about by an ordinary arrow.
Mentioning a teammate
Type @ in a comment to tag someone on your team. A list of teammates appears as you type: use the arrow keys and Enter (or click) to pick one, and their handle, like @priya-kaur, goes into the comment. Esc closes the list and leaves what you typed.
A mention does two things for the person you tag:
- The thread appears on their Activity page, marked Mentioned You, even if they never commented.
- They get an email quoting your comment, unless they have turned off Someone Mentions Me in a Comment in their email notifications.
You can mention the members of the team whose library holds the document, including people who have been invited but not joined yet. On a personal document there is nobody to mention; move it into a team library first. You need to be signed in to mention anyone.
Resolving comments
Once a comment has been actioned, resolve it to clear it from the working view while keeping the record. Resolving keeps the canvas focused on what still needs attention rather than on questions that are already settled. Use comments to:
- Request changes during a review without editing someone else's work directly.
- Ask a question anchored to the exact element it is about.
- Capture a decision so the reasoning is not lost once the canvas changes.
Comments and collaboration
The canvas is multiplayer, so comments are part of how a group works on the canvas together. A collaborator can answer a question where it was asked, and a reviewer can leave feedback for the author to pick up later. Because the canvas works without signing in, a guest you hand a share link to can read and join the conversation too.
Keep each comment to one point. A marker that asks a single, specific question is far easier to resolve than a long thread covering five unrelated things.
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