Visual research & reference collection
Keep the source beside the insight.
Put sources and insights side by side so you can follow the thinking, not just collect the files.
Capture sources as you find them.
Forty open tabs and a bookmarks folder called “read later” don’t add up to a research system. Paste links and upload PDFs, images, and video onto a board as you go. Link cards pull in the page title and a preview image, and PDF, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files preview right on the canvas.
Add a short note beside each source while it’s fresh: the key point, a quote, or simply why you saved it.
See how the findings relate.
A list of findings hides how they connect. On a board you can group sources by theme or question, put sources that disagree side by side, and draw arrows between ideas that build on each other.
Wait until you have fifteen or twenty sources before sorting, because early categories are usually wrong. When a theme grows, give it a nested board and keep the main board as an overview.
Find anything again.
Cmd/Ctrl + K searches notes, titles, and links across every board you can reach, so a half-remembered quote is a few keystrokes away.
Projects are private until you share them. If you want an AI tool to work with your research, you can connect Claude, ChatGPT, or another MCP client from Settings, and it acts with your access.
Questions, answered.
Grein supports text, links, images, video, audio, PDFs, documents, and sketches on the canvas.
Use nested boards for separate themes, questions, or chapters, and keep the main board as an overview.
Cross-board search finds notes, titles, and links across your projects. Keep source links beside references to return to the original material.
Who uses this workflow
Students & researchers
Bring readings, research, and your own thinking together. Build an argument you can see.
See how they use itDesigners
Put images, color, and typography on one board so clients can agree on a direction before production.
See how they use itWriters & creators
Gather the fragments, find the thread, and give your story a structure you can move around.
See how they use it
Create your first
board.
Start with a few references. Bring people in when it’s ready.