Step 1: Connect Data

Goal: Put a data connection and a surface on the canvas, and wire them together.

Step 1 of 5. Start by hand, on the canvas, so the model is clear. You will add two nodes - a connection and a surface - and draw a line between them.

Add a connection

1. Open your workspace at openx.fathym.com
2. From the Node Bank on the left, drag a Connection onto the canvas
3. Name it ProductData

A connection is your data's entry point - where information arrives before it is used.

Add a surface and wire it up

1. Drag a Surface onto the canvas and name it GrowthMetrics
2. Draw a line from ProductData to the surface

Data now "spills onto" the surface. A surface is the execution boundary - the scoped place where queries run and where your team's AI connects. Workshop level is the whole picture; surface level is one specific job. One connection can feed many surfaces, and one surface can take many connections.

Verify

• Both nodes are on the canvas with a line from connection to surface
• Clicking either opens its Inspector on the right

What's next

You have the shape. Now get live data flowing into it - and meet Azi.

Next: Step 2 - Get Data Flowing