Core concepts
The ideas Continual is built on, each in a few sentences, with a link to its full page.
Continual is built on a few ideas. Read them once and the rest of the docs will make sense. Some are still being built; those say Coming.
Continual
Continual is the AI-native operating system for business. It keeps a business world model: one live model of your customers, work, and money, with the rules for who may change what. Agents and your team work on it together, and the whole system learns from every outcome. The aim is business superintelligence that runs and grows your business with your team, around the clock. Why Continual explains where it is going, and how it fits together shows the whole model on one page.
Where you work
| On the rail | What you do there |
|---|---|
| Continual | Talk to Continual's agent, and work through your To-dos |
| Feed | Coming: keep up with the business, in stories Continual writes |
| Metrics | See how the business is doing, and open any number to its records |
| Records | Browse every record, app by app |
| Library | Coming: your sites and files |
Records
Everything your business knows is a record, such as a company, a deal, or an invoice. An Object, such as a deal, changes whenever the facts change. A Document, such as an invoice, starts as a draft and is finalized by its own Action, such as Issue invoice; after that, it never changes. Many records have a status, such as a deal's Qualified or Won. Records
Actions
Every change is an Action, such as Send quote, whoever makes it: a person, Continual's agent, or an integration. So every change passes the same checks, and every change is recorded. Records
Ledgers
A ledger keeps a running tally as entries that are only ever added. Finance keeps the general ledger in double entry: issuing an invoice debits what the customer owes and credits revenue. Every record type with a status also keeps a ledger that counts its records as they move. Ledgers and money
Metrics and goals
A metric is a named sum of a ledger, such as pipeline or win rate, so every number opens to the records behind it. Coming: a goal adds a target and an owner, and tells Continual what to pursue. Metrics and goals
People and access
Everyone who acts is an actor: a member, or a service account such as Continual's agent. A role given at a place, such as the organization or a project, reaches the records under it. Continual's agent always works on behalf of someone, with their access, capped by its own authority. Coming: teams, legal entities, and managers, kept as three separate structures. People and access
Approvals
Some changes wait for review. Every actor, agent or person, has authority limits: how much it may do on its own. By default, Continual asks before it finalizes, sends, pays, or deletes. Controls are business rules for everyone, such as large invoices needing review. A held change is an approval, and a reviewer with enough authority decides it. Approvals
Continual's agent
Each person has one Continual, with one memory. You talk to it in threads: your main thread, and one for each to-do. Your messages wake it, and so do timers and watches it sets for you. Continual's agent
To-dos
A to-do asks one person to act on one record, such as "Call Northstar back". Your open to-dos wait under To-dos, and each opens in its own thread. To-dos
Posts and Activity
A post is anything written for others: a message in a thread, a comment on a record, a reaction, and Coming, a story in the Feed. Every record keeps its story on its Activity tab: what changed, who changed it, for whom, and why. Posts and the Feed, Activity
Apps
An app brings the records, Actions, roles, and metrics for one area of the business, such as Sales, Finance, or Projects. Every app works on the same records, so an invoice and the deal behind it name the same customer. Apps