OnKeel / THE KEEL ENGINE GUIDE
A world of ideas.
One shared keel.
We kept seeing people build in silos. The files here. The mint there. The artist’s story somewhere else. KEEL brings those pieces into one creative engine.
Follow one work from its first sketch to a collection, a collector, and its next chapter. Try the examples as you go. The contract map and deeper details are here when you need them.
Start the storyBuilt for the artist with an idea, the collector with questions, and the builder who wants the pieces to work together.
STORY ABOVE. WORKING PARTS BELOW.
Take the whole journey.
One connected system- ↗
One engine. A connected creative world.
Why the pieces belong together
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The Hold: storing a work
Store the files and recover the whole
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The Shell & Harness
Know what arrived before opening it
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KEEL collections & minting
The creator factory, ownership, and release rules
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The launchpad: from work to release
Drops, auctions, and the collector experience
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The marketplace: after the mint
A sale that continues the story
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Your artist page & creative identity
One work leads to your wider world
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The SDK: KEEL from code
SDK, chain data, and MCP for agents
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The editor: bring it all together
Bring the whole engine to your desk
Where would you like to start?
Three ways inOne work, from your files to a collector
KEEL’s words, explainedWhat are you making?
Tidal Study is a drawing made by a small script. You keep the editable source. The sketch also needs a particular version of its drawing library.
A project with your files and the Parts it needs.THE IDEA UNDERNEATH
The work can carry its own way to open.
A compatible gallery can show the presentation that comes with the asset. Shared resources, verification, and version history can travel with it. The artist keeps room to choose the format, storage, and release.
Understand the shell- 01Source
Your files and creative choices
- 02Parts
The exact media and reusable tools your work needs
- 03Presentation
Open inside a Shell or open the original media directly
- 04Release
Your collection and distribution rules
Find your next guide
28 short guidesStart here
One engine. A connected creative world.
Art, code, storage, ownership, and discovery belong in the same story. KEEL gives them a shared foundation.
Your work, your choices
Choose what to make, where it lives, how it opens, and how people receive it.
The Shell & Harness
The Harness runs the work. The Shell opens around it and lets you inspect its files and checks.
Create
Revisions, freezes & preservation
Keep earlier work identifiable while adding a storage copy or making an allowed update.
KEEL collections & minting
The Die records ownership and supply. KEEL’s creator factory, mint campaigns, and staged drops give releases their structure.
The launchpad: from work to release
Your launchpad connects the artwork, your collection, mint rules, and collector page. Follow one release from draft to read-back.
The marketplace: after the mint
Follow a work from its first release to a later sale, with ownership, price, and settlement kept visible.
Your artist page & creative identity
Give people a way from one work to your wider world: your name, story, collections, and the things you helped make.
Costs, reads & interrupted uploads
Understand what is being paid for, what a read limit means, and how to resume the existing publication.
System
The Hold: storing a work
The Hold stores the files. Slugs make them manageable; Welds put the pieces back in order.
The Crucible: checks & permissions
A Mark checks which file arrived. The Cage limits what the artwork can do when it runs.
Parts, modules & shared code
Reuse the exact tools and files a work needs while keeping each artwork’s own identity.
Inline, Hybrid & direct media
Choose how the files reach the browser, separately from where the files are stored.
Ethereum, Tezos & Anchors
Use the same KEEL words across chains, while checking the storage, wallet, and release path on each.
KEEL on Ethereum / EVM
See how the Hold, Die, Harness, and Sleeve use Ethereum-style contracts, and what a wallet review means.
KEEL on Tezos / TEZ
Learn how the Hold, Slabs, and Shell use Tezos storage, token records, and wallet operations.
The Index & discovery
The Index records the work’s inventory. The site’s indexer makes supported records easier to find.
The Rites: contract map
Each Rite enforces a particular job. See how storage, ownership, presentation, permissions, and sales connect.
Tools
Images, code & worlds
A runtime is the program that opens your kind of work. Declare the Parts it needs.
The SDK: KEEL from code
Use KEEL’s engine from your own code: prepare projects, reuse Parts, read chain values, build previews, and plan releases.
Chain data: let the work respond
Turn a supported contract value into a named variable before your artwork draws its first frame.
MCP: working with an assistant
MCP lets an assistant use KEEL’s tools to inspect, plan, and prepare work you can review.
The editor: bring it all together
Your work, collections, contract controls, wallets, and agents share one workspace. Keep the whole project in view.
Projects
FRAY: KEEL’s auction system
One bidder and a collective of patrons compete under published rules. The result decides how the work is released.
Onchaininator: preserving existing work
Recover the work an existing token refers to and keep its connection to the original collection clear.
Reference
The design language: one word, one job
Read KEEL’s symbols and ASCII diagrams as a map of how the engine is built.
KEEL’s words, explained
Learn each KEEL name through its job and a concrete example. The same words apply on Ethereum and Tezos.
When something does not open
Use the symptom to find the right next step without losing your files, choices, or publication progress.