The second instruction matters as much as the first
A useful AI workspace has to do more than produce an impressive first draft. It needs to remember the logo you selected, keep the spreadsheet editable, explain what happened, and leave the last good version intact when a revision fails. This September update focuses on that everyday loop: start, review, revise, and return to the work later.
The changes below are available in Grain on the web. Desktop and mobile releases follow their own rollout schedules; the availability section at the end separates public builds from internal testing and work still in development.
Less setup between an idea and a task
Task creation gives the writing area more room and keeps advanced options out of the way until they are needed. Workspace drafts retain their setup and attachments, while recent-project previews make it easier to pick up an existing piece of work instead of starting again.
Ask AI can now turn an explicit request into a bot or an executable task, rather than treating every request as a brief. When work needs a plan, Grain can present questions and editable steps for review before implementation. Planning and execution use the same credit allowance, keeping the decision to proceed connected to the cost of the work.
Your uploaded logo should stay your uploaded logo
Pictures can be attached in the task conversation and in answers to clarification questions. Follow-ups now preserve the selected attachment and the instruction that explains how to use it. That addresses the frustrating loop where a logo was uploaded, selected, and then requested again in the next turn.
Approved picture assets remain part of the saved project. Cloud previews resolve those saved assets when a task is reopened, rather than depending only on a temporary browser session. The aim is continuity across the editor, preview, and exported work—not a picture that appears once and disappears on restart.
A completed run needs a result, not just a green status
Successful hosted runs now post an explicit result in chat. Blocking questions are handled as requests for input, and failed or truncated output cannot overwrite the last saved version. Compatible follow-ups can wait for the active run instead of being lost in a race between messages.
New web projects default to React, TypeScript, and Tailwind unless another stack is requested. A request to convert a project to Next.js must include the relevant project source; an HTML preview alone cannot satisfy it. These are stronger output checks, not a claim that every generated application has already passed a production build and browser test.
Small edits use more focused file context, and credit receipts make recorded usage visible, including failed attempts. A failed result can still have consumed model work. Grain should explain that cost rather than let a completion badge stand in for a receipt.
Documents that remain useful outside the first preview
The web editors now put more emphasis on saving and reopening real files. Word editing better preserves supported formatting in imported documents, and Word and PDF exports carry supported images as pictures. If an image cannot be retrieved, an explicit fallback is preferable to silently losing the rest of the document.
Spreadsheets preserve supported worksheets, formulas, styles, frozen panes, print settings, and inline-list or numeric validation when saved as Excel files. That makes a working business model easier to revise and share. It is not a promise of complete Excel compatibility: charts, conditional formatting, and unsupported validation types remain outside this round-trip support.
Presentations gain Studio styling and more durable editing. Supported speaker notes and PNG or JPEG images survive PowerPoint round-trips, alongside editable slide content. Saved-source checks also help prevent a stale editor from replacing a newer version of the work.
For a business plan, a client deck, or a legal draft, the final review still belongs to the team. Better formatting and file preservation make that review more practical; they do not replace checking the assumptions, facts, formulas, or legal substance.
Clearer connections and a shorter path to Domain setup
Integration settings are consolidated, connection checks are clearer, and inactive controls are reduced. Connected computers distinguish working, limited, and offline states more clearly. Planning workflows also make issues, cycles, labels, and drafts easier to reach, with permission-aware controls and account security actions including sign-out-everywhere.
Domain warnings now lead directly to the task’s Ship → Domain panel. Reaching that panel is separate from publishing the site, pointing DNS at Grain, proving domain ownership, and obtaining a certificate. A setup shortcut should take you to the right next step without implying that those steps are already complete.
Available now, in testing, and still to come
The improvements described above are available on the web. The public Mac release at publication is 1.1.93; newer web Studio features are not yet bundled into that installer. New iOS document workflows, voice-to-task, phone publishing, and Live Activities are in internal TestFlight testing, not a public App Store release.
Supabase and MongoDB connection options are being developed for Ship → Database, but are not live yet. Supabase’s native authorization flow still needs Grain’s registered integration configuration. MongoDB requires a private server or Executor runtime; its credentials cannot be placed in a static published page. No general Grain-hosted database launch is being announced here.
Further Executor recovery, publishing diagnostics, and exact-source build verification are also in progress. We will announce those separately when their production paths are verified. For now, open an existing task, make a focused revision, and review the saved result and its credit receipt. That is the loop this update is designed to improve.
