Getting started

Stowplan helps you make a trustworthy first pass through a room, cabinet, drawer, box, or bin. You do not need to design the perfect system before you begin.

Try it before entering your own things

Open the ready-made kitchen. It needs no account and opens an independent demo workspace without replacing another workspace already stored in your browser.

Try this short loop:

1. Stowplan opens BX-09 · Appliance parts in Capture.
2. Enter an item name, adjust the default quantity if needed, then choose Save & add next. Description and unit are optional details.
3. Choose Counted & next when the box is represented accurately enough.
4. Open Inventory and search for the item you added.
5. Open Plan to see what evidence Stowplan uses before suggesting physical moves.
6. Open Workspaces and backup status, then Reset kitchen demo if you want to start it over. On a phone, open it from More; on a wider screen, use the house icon.

Anything you change in the demo is real enough to explore Activity, undo, search, and recovery. If you are signed in, the demo uses the same online backup behavior as another workspace. Reset affects only that demo instance. A device-only demo can reset locally; resetting a backed-up demo requires a connection and owner access, and permanently deletes that demo's online copy, memberships, and invite links before creating a fresh local demo.

Move around on a phone

The bottom bar keeps the four frequent workspace tasks one tap away: Capture, Spaces, Inventory, and Plan. Choose More for Activity, Settings, Workspaces and backup status, sharing the exact view, and changing the theme. Search and the account menu stay in the workspace header.

Start your own workspace

On the first-run workspace page, creation comes before the demo and optional online-backup explanation so you can start with your own space immediately. The ready-made kitchen remains available directly below it.

1. Open Workspaces and backup status. On a phone, choose More first; on a wider screen, use the house icon.
2. Under Your workspace name, enter a useful name such as My apartment and choose Create.
3. In Capture, choose Add first space.
4. Give the space the same short ID as its physical label, then add its friendly name and type.
5. Record each distinct item by name, adjusting the default quantity only when needed. Add a description or unit when it makes the record easier to find or understand.
6. Add any box, bin, shelf, or drawer nested inside the space while you are looking at it.
7. Choose Counted & next when the records are accurate enough to organize.

Accepted changes are saved in this browser first, so losing service does not interrupt the counting loop. Before clearing browser data, uninstalling the app, or retiring the device, export a backup.

Use simple physical labels

Use short codes that are easy to print, write, and search, such as GAR-01, KIT-C03, or BOX-12. The code identifies the physical label; the friendly name can change later.

The useful standard is "accurate enough to find and move," not "cataloged like a museum." Add descriptions, categories, tags, dimensions, and placement rules only when they help with a real search or decision.

Know what the capture statuses mean

Status	What you are saying
Uncounted	I have not checked this space
In progress	I started, but the record is not complete enough yet
Known empty	I checked it and it is empty
Counted	The recorded contents are accurate enough to use

An unopened box is not known empty. That distinction keeps Stowplan from treating unknown capacity as available space.

Known empty & next records an observation; it does not erase items. If records remain, Stowplan shows them and changes nothing. Use the separately confirmed Empty container action only after the physical contents are gone. You can undo that action from Activity.

A counted or known-empty space is read-only so later edits cannot silently make its status untrustworthy. Choose Reopen capture before changing what it contains.

Continue from another device

You can use Stowplan entirely on one device without an account. Signing in creates or updates an online copy of the open workspace and also attempts to upload waiting changes from other local workspaces. Read Account, privacy, and data before choosing online backup.

For a shared workspace, the owner sends an invite link. Open it, sign in if needed, review the offered role, and choose Accept invitation. See Workspaces and sharing for roles, invitations, and leaving.

Where to go next

• Fast capture for the room-by-room counting loop
• Spaces and inventory for search, details, and moving records
• Move plans for turning the first pass into physical work
• Offline and backup for what is safe without a connection