Grid Quickstart

This is the product-level quickstart. For language syntax, continue to ../language/quickstart.md.

Open Grid

Open Grid and create a new model. You can use the source editor for .grid text or start from the model authoring surface.

Create A Small Model

Use the source editor or model authoring surface to create:

MODEL "Revenue Demo"

input Revenue = 100000
input TaxRate = 21pct

NetRevenue = Revenue * (1 - TaxRate)
Status = NetRevenue > 50000 THEN "healthy" ELSE "watch"

END MODEL

What You Just Used

Inputs (input Revenue) are mutable model values.
Formulas compute from inputs.
Typed literals such as 21pct carry semantic meaning.
Grid tracks dependencies and recomputes affected values when inputs change.

Next: build-a-live-model.md for connectors and realtime updates.

Save, Restore, And Move Your Work

Choose File → Save or Cmd/Ctrl+S after editing. Live synchronization keeps the running model current, but explicit Save also refreshes its saved archive. Wait for Save to succeed; a visible calculated value alone does not prove a fresh archive exists. Restore saved archive… replaces the live model from that checkpoint, so preserve work you want to keep before confirming restore.

Different formats carry different things:

Format	Use it for
`.grid`	Readable model source. Source alone is not all model-owned data or history.
`.gridoc`	A portable model archive, including supported model-owned assets and state.
CSV / Excel	Tabular interchange through Import CSV…, Import Excel…, Export as CSV, and Export as Excel. These are not complete model backups.

Review Excel import diagnostics for unsupported formulas or lossy conversions before trusting the imported workbook. Do not assume every Grid-specific value or workflow can make an Excel round trip.

Portable archives carry connection requirements but never the model's secret vault, even when the archive is password-encrypted. Supply credentials on the receiving installation. External packages, network access, and scientific backends must still be available there. Active scientific or model-I/O work can prevent a consistent export; wait for it to settle and inspect the reported reason rather than assuming an incomplete export is a backup.

Gridoc backup… is separate remote archive storage. Availability and management depend on the deployment; some installations delegate global settings to an administrator. Confirm the selected backup identity and target before restoring—restore can replace unsaved live changes.

Keep Data With The Model

The model's Files panel supports folders, upload, bounded previews, download, rename, and deletion. Use Copy reference path when binding a model asset instead of guessing an absolute computer path. An uploaded file does not automatically become worksheet data: import it through the appropriate surface or reference it from the appropriate data-reading function.

Renaming or deleting an asset can invalidate consumers. Linked scientific artifacts also check whether their source has changed; explicitly reopen or re-import the changed source instead of expecting an old artifact to follow it.

Try A Function Before Using It

Open Insert function, search for a function, and select it to preview its signature and examples. Selection is not insertion. Choose Try … live to open an editable scratch model, then Run or Cmd/Ctrl+Enter. The result area shows returned values, compile errors, warnings, and error-valued cells. Check the actual output, not just whether the request finished.

The playground uses a separate temporary model, not the open workbook's inputs or saved state. Its seed is a starting example, not a promise that every function can run without additional data or an installed capability. Some special forms show Live playground unavailable until a safe example is available. Use Insert explicitly when ready to put a function in your formula; running the scratch example does not save it into your workbook.