FAQ

General

What is Aether Workshop?
Aether Workshop is a macOS visual hardware workspace for building Arduino-compatible behavior with nodes, reusable components, Capsules, generated code, upload tooling, AI assistance, and cloud libraries.

Who is it for?
It is for makers, educators, students, prototype builders, and advanced users who maintain hardware component libraries.

Can I work offline?
Yes for local projects after dependencies and board platforms are installed. AI, cloud login, cloud sync, and new dependency downloads require network access.

Projects

What is a .aew file?
It is a package directory containing project configuration, generated sketch, optional libraries, media, AI attachments, comments, pins, change logs, and history.

Is project collaboration real time?
No. Comments, pins, change logs, and history are saved in the project package.

Components and Capsules

What is the difference between a component and a Capsule?
A component defines hardware and generated code. A Capsule packages a graph into a reusable node.

Can I edit built-in components?
Some built-ins are locked. Duplicate or create a custom component for editable variants.

Can old component versions be edited?
Old checkouts are read-only. Create a new component from a snapshot or commit a new latest version from current work.

AI

Does AI automatically change my project?
Project AI stages graph edits. You choose whether to keep or discard them.

Where are AI keys stored?
AI provider keys are stored in local app settings. Cloud tokens are stored in Keychain.

Cloud

Can Viewers push changes?
No. Viewers can inspect and pull. Owners and Editors can push.

What happens if I delete or leave a cloud library?
The cloud link changes, but the local copy is kept.

Hardware

Can I use non-Aether boards?
Yes, if the board target and Arduino platform are configured.

Should I use /dev/cu.* or /dev/tty.* on macOS?
Prefer /dev/cu.* for outgoing serial connections.