Concepts
Universe
A universe is one Yoke control-plane database plus the projects, workflows, strategy docs, events, and delivery state inside it. Local mode births a universe on your laptop. Cloud and self-hosted each host one (or more) for your organization.
Organization (Cloud)
On Yoke Cloud, an organization wraps a hosted universe. Members, billing, and
machine access are organization concerns. The workbench URL looks like
app.upyoke.com/orgs/<slug>/....
Project
A project is where code deploys and where backlog items are scoped. One work item targets one project. Cross-project work becomes separate items.
Projects bind:
- a git checkout (or remote)
- GitHub repo (optional, depending on sync mode)
- capabilities, packs, QA plans, delivery flows
- strategy corpus
Strategy docs
Strategy docs record why a project exists, where it should go and what to work on next. You meet them when adopting a project or choosing its next work: MISSION states its purpose, VISION its chosen future, LANDSCAPE the research, MASTER-PLAN the wider plan and CURRENT-PLAN the near-term focus.
Try opening Strategy in the workbench and reading the project's current
plan. See Strategy for the document roles and how to
write them with /yoke strategize.
Steering
Steering turns a strategy doc into ongoing work: a steering agent staffs workers, tracks their progress and keeps the plan current. You meet it after agreeing what the project should pursue; each worker executes its own item through that item's workflow.
With a strategy doc ready, try /yoke steer in a Claude Code or Cursor
session opened in the project folder, or $yoke steer in Codex. It uses
CURRENT-PLAN by default. See Agents for the skill
entry points and Strategy
for the scope a steering seat covers.
Items
Work is an item with a public ref like PREFIX-N. Content lives in structured
fields (spec, design, plan, …); the rendered body is virtual.
Orthogonal flags: blocked, frozen — they do not replace lifecycle status.
Workflows
Every item pins an immutable workflow version. Built-ins:
| Workflow | For |
|---|---|
| Dash | One spec, execute end to end — small through very large |
| Issue | Bounded change; item body is the spec |
| Epic | Architect decomposition + task lanes |
| Blitz | Document-led plan as integrated slices |
See Workflows and workflows/lifecycle.md.
Team
Team is the workbench page for people and machine accounts, their roles, access and invitations. You meet it when checking who can act in your universe or adding a teammate. It is available in local, self-hosted and Cloud modes; a local universe needs a team server before inviting people.
Try opening Settings → Team and checking your role in People. See Team, Billing, Universe settings for roles, invitations and the differences between modes.
Workbench destinations
The universe workbench sidenav is the operator map, in three groups. Focus is the working day: Strategy, Frontier, Items, Shipping, Machines, Sessions, Inbox. Settings is what persists: Universe, Levels, Workflows, Projects, GitHub, Team, Billing. Diagnostics is the drawer, closed until you open it: Deployments, Environments, Databases, QA methods, QA plans, QA activity, Capabilities, Packs, Architecture, Messages, Launches, Events, Doctor, Ouroboros. This docs set follows that map.
Search refreshes its catalogs when reopened and offers Retry after a failed read. Incoming result groups preserve the selected result and keyboard focus. On narrow screens, the navigation drawer moves focus inside while open and returns it on dismissal; crossing back to desktop restores the main content.
Architecture shows Not assessed when its current inventory contains no Python files. A declared map remains visible; empty coverage cannot establish health. Sync the project's file inventory to assess applicable files.
Shipping and Deployments select whole runs by the projects of their carried items. A selected run always shows its full membership and decisions across projects; run detail has no project selector. Each item approval keeps that item's own project authority and appears on the run beside its evidence, before a shared human run acceptance is requested. Inbox filtering remains project specific.