We've spent decades organizing files into folders. I built Aether to explore a different idea: what if arranging files in space could generate the tools you need? Drop documents onto a canvas. GPT-5.6 reads them natively, discovers connections, and assembles a living workspace with dashboards, maps, and timelines. Automatic. Edit a source file, workspace updates live. Ask a question, the answer traces back through animated ribbons to its source. Built in one week with Codex. Open source.
How did GPT-5.6 change the ambition or scope of what you shipped?
Maker
I originally imagined Aether as a visual way to organize related files. Codex CLI and GPT-5.6 made it possible to aim much higher. Aether can understand real PDFs, spreadsheets, documents, and images together, discover relationships across dates, costs, places, and tasks, then compile them into a living mini-workspace. It can answer across those files, trace answers back to their sources, and refresh when a source changes. The project evolved from a smart canvas into a workspace compiler, where space itself becomes the prompt.
Report
Maker
š
Hey PH! I'm Mir, the maker of Aether Canvas.
The idea started with a frustration I think most people share ā my files are always everywhere. Trip tickets in Downloads, budgets in spreadsheets, notes scattered across folders. I kept thinking: my computer can store all this, but it can't understand any of it.
So I built Aether. You drop files onto a spatial canvas ā PDFs, spreadsheets, Word docs, images, anything ā and GPT-5.6 reads them directly. No uploading to a cloud. No copy-pasting into a chatbot. The AI sees your actual files, discovers how they're related, and builds an interactive workspace from them.
A few things I'm proud of:
ā Semantic ribbons ā flowing, color-coded connections that show HOW files relate (by date, cost, location, or task)
ā Live file sync ā edit a spreadsheet on your desktop, Aether updates the workspace in real-time
ā Visual answers ā ask a question and the answer card draws animated traces back to the exact files and sections it used
I built the entire thing in one week using Codex CLI with GPT-5.6-sol and terra. The full build journey ā every prompt, decision, and milestone ā is documented in the repo.
It's open source and runs locally. Your files never leave your computer.
Would love to hear what kinds of files or workflows would you want Aether to handle!!