Working with Timelines

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A timeline is the chronological container for events within an investigation. Every investigation has one primary timeline.

Timelines and Investigations

Timelines live inside investigations. You access a timeline through the Timeline lens of its parent investigation at /app/investigations/[investigationId]/timeline.

Creating a Timeline

Timelines are created automatically when you create an investigation. Each investigation has one primary timeline. You do not create timelines independently.

The Timeline Lens

Access the timeline from any investigation by clicking the Timeline tab.

Layout

The timeline lens has five main areas:

1. Toolbar

The toolbar at the top of the timeline provides:

• + Event — Create a new event on this timeline
• Filters — Toggle the filter panel
• CSV — Download the timeline as CSV
• JSON — Download the timeline as NDJSON
• Markdown — Download the timeline as Markdown

2. Filters Panel

Click Filters to reveal the filter panel.

Available filters:

• Text search — Filter events by title or description
• Status filter — Show only events with a specific status
• Confidence filter — Show only events with claims at a specific confidence level
• Zoom slider — Adjust the density of event cards (10% to 200%)

Click Filters again or the chevron to collapse the panel.

3. Event Sequence (Infinite Scroll)

The main content area displays events in chronological order, loaded in pages of 50.

Each event appears as a card showing:

• Title — with a status badge and time precision indicator
• Canonical time — formatted as YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM
• Description — truncated preview (expand the card to see full description)
• Claims count — how many claims are attached
• Entity count — how many entities are linked

Click an event card to select it. The right-side context panel updates to show that event's details.

Keyboard navigation within the timeline:

4. Context Panel

The right sidebar shows details for the currently selected event:

• Event metadata — title, status, time, precision
• Linked entities — entities connected to this event
• Location — an interactive map if the event has coordinates
• Claims — all claims for this event, with source links and confidence scores

5. Event Detail Pages

Click an event title to navigate to its full detail page at /app/investigations/[investigationId]/timeline/events/[eventId]. This page shows the complete event picture, including all claims, linked entities, location, annotations, and revision history — all within the investigation context.

Editing the Timeline

1. From the investigation header, click the Edit button.
2. Modify the investigation title, status, or summary.
3. Click Save.

The investigation metadata (title, status, summary) is edited through the investigation header, not from a separate timeline edit dialog.

Exporting a Timeline

Tier requirement: CSV, JSON, and Markdown export requires a Professional or Enterprise subscription. Hobby users who click the export buttons will see an upgrade prompt. See Account and Subscription for details.

From the Timeline lens toolbar:

CSV Export

Click CSV to download a comma-separated values file:

• One row per event-claim pair
• Includes event metadata, claim text, status, confidence, source title, and source type

JSON Export

Click JSON to download a newline-delimited JSON (NDJSON) file:

• One JSON object per event with nested claims, entities, and location data

Markdown Export

Click Markdown to download a formatted Markdown file:

• Event titles as headings with timestamps
• Descriptions, statuses, and claims with source references

The downloaded filename uses the investigation ID: timeline-{investigationId}.csv, .ndjson, or .md.

Read-Only (Sample) Investigations

Investigations that are part of demo datasets have a distinctive amber badge in the header. On sample investigations:

• You can view all data
• You can navigate with keyboard shortcuts
• You can filter and search
• You cannot create, edit, or delete anything
• The + Event, Edit, and Delete buttons are hidden

Next: Working with Events →