Artifacts

Artifacts are files generated by the AI during a conversation -- HTML pages, PDFs, CSVs, code files, and more. They appear inline in your chat and can be previewed, saved, or opened in external apps.

How Artifacts Appear

When the AI creates a file, it shows up in the message stream with:

• File icon indicating the type
• File name and size
• File type label

An HTML page shows in the chat as a small link with its file name. Click it to open the page. The chat no longer shows the page being built; it appears when it is finished.

When Starfish changes the page in a later message, the change gets its own link at that point in the chat.

Artifacts are also detected automatically when the AI writes a file to the artifacts directory or produces a file via a shell command.

Auto-Preview

When an artifact is created, the right panel automatically switches to the Artifacts tab and renders the file. You don't need to click anything -- the preview appears as soon as the file is ready. You can turn this off in Settings → Appearance → Designs → Auto-open preview.

HTML Artifacts

HTML files get special treatment. Starfish shows them in the Artifacts tab, so you can preview landing pages, reports, dashboards, and interactive content without leaving the conversation.

Previews show the page as it's meant to look, with its images and styles in place.

JavaScript in the artifact runs normally, and the artifact is kept separate from the rest of the Starfish app. Element selection, comment pins, and fit-to-width still work.

Previewing Artifacts

Click an artifact in the chat to open a preview. The preview method depends on the file type:

• HTML -- renders in the Artifacts tab with full JavaScript support
• Code files -- syntax-highlighted preview
• Other files -- opens in your system's default application

Reports and PDFs

Reports and PDFs are based on the facts Starfish found. When you ask for a PDF, Starfish saves it straight away and never stops to ask where to put it.

• Long tables continue on the next page, and their header row repeats.
• Coloured pages are coloured right to the edge, with no white bands.
• The PDF viewer opens at full width, so nothing is cut off on the right.

Interactive pages

Some pages have parts that only work on screen, such as tabs, closed sections or slides you click through. Before making the PDF, Starfish asks in plain words what the PDF should show:

• Page as it looks now -- exactly what is on screen. Hidden tabs and closed sections stay hidden.
• Open all sections -- every slide, tab and closed section, one slide per page. Pick this to save every slide of a deck.
• Cancel -- don't make the PDF.

Slide Decks

Ask for a slide deck in the chat and Starfish builds it from one tested design, so every deck looks consistent and its text stays readable. Each slide prints on its own page. To edit, comment on, present and export every slide, make the deck in Studio.

File Links

When Starfish mentions a file on your Mac, the link shows just the file name, not a long folder path. Click it to open the file, or hover it and click the folder button (Show in Finder) to see where it lives.

Saving Artifacts

Click Save on any artifact. In the desktop app, a native save dialog opens so you can choose the destination folder and file name. In the web version, the file downloads directly.

Element Selector on Artifacts

You can use the Element Selector on artifact previews. Click the selector button, hover over elements in the rendered HTML, and click to capture an element's details into the chat. This is useful for pointing at a specific part of a generated page and asking the AI to change it.

Common Use Cases

• Reports -- ask the AI to generate an HTML report from your data
• Dashboards -- interactive HTML dashboards with charts and tables
• Data exports -- CSV or JSON files extracted from conversations or integrations
• Landing pages -- full HTML/CSS pages ready to deploy
• Code files -- scripts, configs, or templates generated during a task