Current guide
Interface
The interface
The Cognardo Workbench interface is made of four surfaces: the floater, the sidebar, the pop-up, and the main extension page. Each surface carries a different slice of the product, and every feature page in this documentation refers back to them. This page teaches the four surfaces once, plus the guided tour that walks you through them on your first sign-in.
Prerequisites:
- Signed in: The surfaces activate after you sign in. See sign in to the extension.
The four surfaces at a glance#
| Surface | Where it opens | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Floater | A small green dot at the edge of the page. | One-click quick actions without opening the sidebar. |
| Sidebar | A panel docked inside chatgpt.com and claude.ai. | The main in-page workspace: insert and save prompts, collect the live conversation, run Enhance actions, and work in scratchpads. |
| Pop-up | Opens from the pinned toolbar icon. | Enable or disable the extension, check sync status, reach the current chat and active scratchpad, and flip everyday preferences. |
| Main extension page | A full browser tab. | The complete workspace where everything you save is organised, edited, and searched across seven tabs. |
The floater#
The floater is a small green dot at the edge of the page. It sits on chatgpt.com and claude.ai, and on other web pages for cross-page actions. Drag it to reposition it, and note that it hides itself while the sidebar is open. Click the green dot and it expands into a vertical strip of quick actions:
- Copy last response: Copies the latest response in the chat.
- Optimize current prompt: Rewrites the prompt sitting in the chat input. The action shows its credit cost.
- Create summary and fork chat: Summarises the conversation and forks it into a fresh chat that carries the condensed context. The action shows its credit cost.
- Add last response to scratchpad: Sends the latest response to your active scratchpad.
- Open sidebar for more actions: Opens the full sidebar.
The sidebar#
The sidebar is the main in-page workspace. It docks inside chatgpt.com and claude.ai, on the left or the right, and the page narrows to make room for it. It reopens on the tab you last used.
The header runs across the top of the sidebar:
- Hide sidebar: The X closes the sidebar. The floater stays available to reopen it.
- Pin control: Pins or unpins the sidebar for the current site.
- Move Sidebar Left / Move Sidebar Right: Docks the panel on the other side of the page.
- Search Anything: Opens universal search across your prompts, sequences, conversations, and scratchpads.
- Site label: Names the site you are on, with a sync indicator beside it.
Below the header sits a quick-action strip with the same actions as the floater: copy, optimize, summary, fork, and save to scratchpad. Under it are the four tabs.
Act#
Act is the insertion tab. It holds four actions: Insert Prompt/Pin, Insert Prompt Sequence, Save Prompt, and Insert Chat Summary, which shows its credit cost. How insertion and saving work is covered in Prompts & Sequences.
Collect#
Collect shows the current conversation as it is recorded, turn by turn. User turns and assistant turns appear as separate cards, each with its own actions, and the conversation header carries edit, favorite, and open controls. Recording and verification are covered in Conversations.
Enhance#
Enhance lists the AI actions you can run on content, such as Explain by Grade Level, Expand / Shorten, Compare Across LLMs, Flash Card Generator, and Turn into Quiz. Each action shows its credit cost, and costs vary by action. The full catalog is covered in Enhance.
Scratchpad#
Scratchpad shows your active scratchpad, ready for one-click saves, with your saved scratchpads and a search field beneath it. Scratchpads are covered in Conversations.
The pop-up#
The pop-up opens from the pinned Cognardo Workbench icon in the Chrome toolbar. It is the control centre for the extension:
- Header: The product name, your plan, and the ENABLED toggle that switches the extension on or off.
- Site and sync status: The site you are on, with the sync state beside it. With cloud sync off, your data carries a Local badge instead.
- CURRENT CHAT: The conversation you are in, with favorite, edit, and open-in-tab controls.
- SCRATCHPAD: The active scratchpad with its word count, plus delete, new, and open controls.
- PREFERENCES: Four everyday toggles: Enable Floater, Use custom copy settings PRO, Use active instruction profile, and Auto track citations PRO.
- Navigation grid: Eight icons that open the main extension page tabs and the sidebar.
- Account menu: Your signed-in email, plus Help, Restart Tour, Show Next Suggestion, About, and Logout.
The main extension page#
The main extension page is the full-tab workspace where everything you save lives. Open it from the pop-up navigation grid. Its left navigation carries seven tabs:
- Conversations: Every recorded conversation, with search, export, and bulk actions. See Conversations.
- Prompts & Sequences: Your prompt library and multi-step sequences. See Prompts & Sequences.
- Scratchpad: Your active and saved scratchpads. See Conversations.
- Explore Templates: The template library of expert-vetted prompts and sequences. See Explore Templates.
- Instruction Profiles: Saved instruction sets, with one marked active. See Instruction profiles.
- Account: Your profile, security, and AI-credit usage. See Account.
- Settings: Every toggle and copy behaviour. See Settings.
The guided tour#
The guided tour runs once, right after your first sign-in. It steps through the surfaces with overlay cards, each positioned over the surface it describes, with next and back controls, a Skip option, and a progress indicator.
To replay it:
- Click the pinned Cognardo Workbench icon to open the pop-up.
- Open the account menu.
- Click Restart Tour.
FAQ#
What is the difference between the pop-up and the sidebar?+
The pop-up is the extension’s control centre, opened from the toolbar: status, preferences, and navigation. The sidebar is the in-page workspace, docked inside chatgpt.com and claude.ai, where you insert prompts, collect the conversation, run Enhance actions, and use scratchpads.
Does the interface differ between ChatGPT and Claude?+
No. The floater, the sidebar, and every action behave identically on both platforms. The site label in the sidebar and pop-up names whichever site you are on.
Can I move the sidebar to the left?+
Yes. Click the position control in the sidebar header. Move Sidebar Left docks it on the left, and the same control then offers Move Sidebar Right. The setting applies everywhere, not per site.
The floater is not showing. Where did it go?+
The floater hides while the sidebar is open, so close the sidebar to bring it back. If it is still missing, check the Enable Floater toggle in the pop-up. If the surfaces are not appearing at all, see troubleshooting.
Where do I find everything I have saved?+
On the main extension page. Open the pop-up and use the navigation grid; each tab holds one content type: conversations, prompts and sequences, scratchpads, templates, and instruction profiles.