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Find clear steps for the work you do in Biosphere.
Start here
- Get started with BiosphereBiosphere keeps your business in one place: the files and data you bring in, your catalog and inventory, your contacts and your orders. Scout, the assistant inside Biosphere, answers questions about all of it.
- Ask Scout about your businessScout is the assistant inside Biosphere. It reads your business's records, your Knowledge documents and these help articles to answer questions, and it can propose some changes for a person to approve.
- Upload files to KnowledgeUpload the documents you already have, such as a staff handbook or a supplier's care sheet. Biosphere reads each file into a draft for you to check before Scout can search it.
Browse topics
Getting started
- Get helpThree places answer questions: these help articles, Scout and the Biosphere support team.
- Get started with BiosphereBiosphere keeps your business in one place: the files and data you bring in, your catalog and inventory, your contacts and your orders. Scout, the assistant inside Biosphere, answers questions about all of it.
- How records arrive in BiosphereFiles, emails, connected services and API records all land in the Inbox first. Your catalog, contacts, inventory and orders change only after a mapping says what the rows mean and a person approves the changes.
- Sign up and get approvedCreating an account also starts an application for your business. The Biosphere team reviews each application before the business can use Biosphere.
Finding your way
- Choose your modulesModules choose the sections shown in the sidebar and the tools offered to Scout. Your business starts with Nursery off and the other modules on.
- Search records, Help and commandsPress Cmd-K or Ctrl-K on any page to find a record, read Help, jump to a page, change the theme or start a chat with Scout.
Inbox
- Fix import problemsFind what went wrong with an upload, email, sync or API arrival, and what to do next. Biosphere keeps the original evidence through every problem, so nothing needs to be sent twice unless the evidence itself must change.
- Review and approve changesAn import review shows what incoming records would create or update. Scout and Manual use the same saved choices and approval.
- Use the InboxInbox lists every arrival from integrations, APIs, files, email and documents that has arrived, with where each one stands. Use it to find what needs mapping or review, and to work through it.
Sources
- Choose who issued recordsA source is the system or account that issued incoming IDs. It can deliver records through integrations, APIs, uploads and email.
- Connect a Shopify storeBring products, customers, locations, orders and inventory from Shopify into Biosphere. Each download lands in Inbox with suggested field choices.
- Connect data sourcesConfigure → Connections manages how data arrives. Use Upload files, Receive email, Connect Shopify or API and AI access to open the appropriate setup.
- Find records missing from a sourceA complete source list can identify previously seen records that are now absent. Findings never delete or archive business records.
- Receive records by emailYour business has its own Biosphere email address. Forward supplier emails, invoices and price lists to it, and each attachment appears in Inbox for mapping and review.
- Upload filesUpload price lists, product spreadsheets, invoices and other files from the Inbox or from Configure → Sources → Connections → Files. Biosphere checks each file, keeps the original and reads it so you can map and review it.
Imports and review
- Filter records and review coverageUse Filter on a record list to find work by Project, tag, status or another available category. Each list offers the categories it supports.
- Import a CSV or spreadsheetCSV, TSV, XLSX and XLS are supported delivery formats for the same import flow used by APIs, integrations, email and documents.
- Import PDFs, images and documentsBiosphere extracts proposed facts from documents using its available record types. Documents can describe contacts, catalog, stock or orders; extraction does not execute payments, receiving, fulfillment or provider actions.
- Keep a delivery worksheet updatingConnect a selected Google spreadsheet to retain recurring snapshots. Review its layout, source identity and mapping before allowing automatic record updates.
- Map a sourceBiosphere needs to know who issued incoming records, what they describe and what each field means. The same review works for integrations, APIs, files, email and documents.
- Match imported records to existing onesBiosphere resolves records by approved source links and explicit business identifiers such as SKU or reference. Names alone never establish identity.
- Replay or reprocess a sourceRun a source through Biosphere again without sending it again. Every option keeps the original and everything already decided or approved.
- Review and control source updatesUse source controls to decide which retained values may update a record. Field choices, record pauses and source automation are separate decisions.
- Track delivery itemsUse Delivery items for a schedule that exists before an order has prices or complete purchasing details. Each item can keep a description, area, vendor, supplier reference, quantity and unit, date windows, reported status and notes.
Catalog
- Add and arrange record imagesAttach images to a contact, Project, catalog item or variant, order or order line, delivery item, or inventory item. Images have their own captions and order; editing them does not change prices, order quantities or stock.
- Create and edit catalog itemsThe catalog lists what your business sells and buys. A catalog item groups its variants: each variant is a sellable version of the item with its own SKU and price, such as the Jade single and the Jade six-pack of a Stone coaster.
- Merge duplicate catalog itemsWhen two catalog items are the same thing, merge them. Every variant moves to the item you keep, and the other item stays as merged history.
- Review changes prepared by an AI assistantScout and an explicitly permitted connected assistant can prepare product edits, physical stock counts, record matches and catalog merges. Preparing a change never applies it.
- Set a SKU's stock sourceA variant's stock source says which inventory item it uses and how much of it one unit sells for, such as "6 each from Jade coaster". Sales and purchase orders need it: a line can be confirmed only when its variant has a stock source.
- Set up options and classificationsAn option is a choice category, such as Material or Packaging, and its values are the choices, such as Jade and Granite. Each variant has one value of every option.
Contacts
Inventory
- Adjust or correct stockPost an adjustment when stock changes outside an order, such as breakage or a found case. Post a correction when a count or adjustment was entered wrong.
- Check inventory levelsAn inventory level is the stock of one inventory item at one location, such as Jade coaster at Sampleton Warehouse. Levels lists every one with what is on hand, committed to sales and available to sell.
- Count stockRecord a physical count when you count what is on the shelf. The count sets the on-hand quantity of one inventory item at one location as of the moment you preview it; later movements add to it or take from it.
- Fulfill sales ordersFulfill a confirmed sales line when its goods ship. Fulfilling takes the stock off the shelf at the line's location and releases the same amount of committed stock.
- Make stock with a recipeA recipe turns input stock into a different inventory item at one location, such as sealing six Jade coasters into one sealed six-pack. Each run uses the inputs and adds the output together, so stock is never half moved.
- Manage inventory itemsAn inventory item is a physical thing you count and move, such as Jade coaster counted in each. A catalog item is what you sell or buy.
- Read the stock summarySummary totals your inventory levels by catalog item, location, option value or classification, so you can answer "how much Jade do we have?" without adding up rows yourself.
- Receive Project packagesA Warehouse invitation gives one email access to receiving for a specific Project. It does not add the recipient to the business or reveal prices and private notes.
- Receive stock from a purchase orderReceive a confirmed purchase line when its goods arrive. The receipt adds the stock to the line's destination and reduces what is still incoming.
- Review exchange rates for USD reportingBiosphere reports in USD. Purchases, sales and payments keep their original amount and currency.
- Review inventory valueOpen Reporting, then Inventory value to see what the stock you hold cost, by stock item or by location. Values use USD and each foreign purchase’s saved purchase-date exchange rate.
- Review order cost and marginA sales order shows what its goods cost and what it earned. Open Sales orders and select an order, then open Cost and margin.
- Review Project financialsOpen a Project and select Open project financials, or open Reporting, then Project financials to compare each Project's revenue, cost and profit. Each Project reports in the business's single reporting currency, initially USD.
- Review tax, shipping and test paymentsA payable amount is a reviewed snapshot of an order's priced items, discounts, shipping and tax. Every amount has an explicit currency.
- Review what stock costEvery stock item shows what its stock cost, built from the purchase orders you received. Open Inventory, then Inventory items, and select an item.
- Split freight and duty across goodsFreight and duty purchase lines become part of the cost of the goods on that purchase order. By default, Biosphere spreads each charge by the goods' line value.
- Stock termsThese are the quantities Biosphere shows for stock, and exactly how each is worked out. Each applies to one inventory level: one inventory item at one location, in that item's base unit.
Sales
- Create and confirm sales ordersA sales order starts as a draft you can change freely. Confirming it commits stock for stock lines at the chosen locations.
- Follow payments across ordersOpen Configure → Payments to review current sales-order payment status, individual transactions and connected test accounts. Payment status is separate from fulfillment status; a reported imported order total does not prove collection.
- Link delivery items to ordersLink a delivery item to the sales and purchase quantities it represents. A schedule alone does not establish a sale or a cost, and similar names or tracking numbers never create these links automatically.
- Organize work with ProjectsA Project groups related work across your business. It keeps a name, site address, installation window, status and internal notes.
- Preview and share the client live viewOpen a sales order or Project and select View as client. The preview shows the customer layout with areas, descriptions, quantities, schedule dates, client notes, attention items, photos and recorded shipments.
- Record a payment receivedRecord money a customer paid outside Checkout: a bank transfer, a check, cash or a card terminal. Nothing is charged or sent.
- Review business financialsOpen Reporting, then Financials to see sales, cost of goods sold and profit for a period. Choose the period and group the report By month, By project, By customer or By item.
Purchasing
Background jobs
Scout
- Ask Biosphere support for helpWhen Scout cannot solve something, ask a person. Ask for help flags your Scout conversation for the Biosphere support team, who reply in the same conversation.
- Ask Scout about your businessScout is the assistant inside Biosphere. It reads your business's records, your Knowledge documents and these help articles to answer questions, and it can propose some changes for a person to approve.
- Attach files to a Scout chatAttach a file when you want Scout to read it with your question, such as a supplier price list, a scanned invoice or a photo of a plant label. Attaching a file does not change your records; to bring data into Biosphere, use Inbox.
- Give Scout your business's documentsKnowledge holds the documents your business keeps for Scout: policies, procedures, care guides and notes. Scout searches the published version of each document and cites the section it used, so anyone in your business can check the answer.
- Manage Scout conversationsEvery chat with Scout is saved as a conversation you can come back to.
- Review agent activityAgent activity shows how much you have used Scout and connected AI assistants: requests, tool calls, failures and reported tokens. It covers your own use only.
Knowledge
Activity and history
- Read a record's ActivityActivity is the history of one record: who changed what, when, and through which part of Biosphere. It sits beside the record's details on catalog items, contacts, locations, inventory items and levels, recipes, and sales and purchase orders, Projects, delivery items and shipping records.
- Review the audit logThe audit log lists every recorded change to your business, newest first: what changed, the channel it came through and any reason given. Use it to answer "what changed, and when?"
Configure
- Change your business name, logo and profileConfigure → General holds your business profile, your personal profile and how Biosphere looks in this browser.
- Connect an AI assistant to BiosphereAn AI assistant that supports custom MCP connectors can read your Biosphere business and prepare changes within the permissions you approve. Configure → AI connections gives you the address to connect, lists the applications you have connected and lets you revoke them.
- Invite and manage teammatesOpen Configure → General → Team to see members and invitations for the selected business. Every member has full access to that business.
- Manage locationsA location is a place where you keep stock, such as a warehouse, a shop or a greenhouse. Every inventory level is one inventory item at one location.