GuideStart here2 min read
Your work, your choices
Choose what to make, where it lives, how it opens, and how people receive it.
Select an underlined word to see what it means.
In this guide
- 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
Let the idea choose the format.
You can start with ordinary media or a work that runs code. A runtime is simply the program that knows how to run that kind of work: a drawing library, game engine, or player.
KEEL gives files and runtimes a shared way to describe what they need. A format can be opened when a compatible reader and the required PartsReusable components included in a work, with their own identities and permissions.For exampleSeveral artworks can share the same verified drawing library.Full glossary entry → are available.
Make four separate choices.
These are the questions a creator should be able to answer before publishing. The plan should keep your answers visible.
| Your choice | In everyday terms |
|---|---|
| Creative form | What are people looking at or interacting with? |
| Storage | Where will the files be kept and recovered? |
| Presentation | What opens around the work: the default ShellThe opening program and interface around creator content. The canonical KEEL verification shell owns the protected checks and K controls.For exampleOpen the K control to inspect the files and checks behind the displayed work.Full glossary entry →, a compatible registered shell, or direct media? |
| Distribution | Are you only preserving files, or issuing SlabThe collectible token recorded in your wallet. It identifies an owned item and points to its work.For exampleYou collect Tidal Study #7. That token is your Slab; the artwork files have their own storage records.Full glossary entry → through a mint, drop, or auction? |
Large works need a practical route.
A 30 MB work might be too large for a particular one-call presentation or import tool. That does not mean the idea must become a tiny image. It means the plan needs to show which storage and reader can handle it.
You may be able to preserve more later. Keep the original files and their identities so a later copy can still be connected to the same work.
New Parts should help future work.
A reusable renderer or decoder can make a new kind of artwork possible. Each version needs its own identity so an update does not quietly change older works.
The right to use a Part, permission to publish a collection, and inclusion in a curated gallery are separate decisions.
Technical detail: the shared planner
The SDK planner records the creative goal, runtime, network, storage, presentation, collection, distribution, and permissions. Its result lists the decisions still needed and the next steps for preparing your work.