Explore the populated engineering-history example

Open it without replacing your work

Use Project → Open populated History example… in the native desktop. Studies also offers this action when no network is open. PowerSystem builds a new, private synthetic project in a separate process, then opens its History workspace automatically. Your current network, unsaved editor, other windows and preferences stay separate. Creating the example does not submit an AI prompt, purchase anything, run a new engineering study or grant approval.

The example is a real native project and local history database, not placeholder rows. Each launch creates a new directory rather than overwriting a previous exploration. Its settings are isolated, and it does not replace the owner's remembered desktop session. The desktop status message gives the destination. The directory contains synthetic.veragrid, demo.json, projects and the example's settings; its adjacent log records launch problems. Do not delete an example while its window or workers are using it.

What the network contains

The illustrative source is a five-bus, 110 kV network with six lines, one synthetic generator and four loads. Its base is 100 MVA and frequency is 50 Hz. The initial load active powers are 10, 11, 12 and 13 MW, with 2 MVAr reactive power each. Line R and X are 0.01 and 0.1 pu, and the initial continuous rating is 100 MVA. These are synthetic declared inputs, not manufacturer data or a validated operating result. The separate public first-study sample has its own identity and study receipt; never transfer that result to this example.

Find the branches and tree

The left list shows Main and six branches: Demand growth, Feeder upgrade, Voltage review, Capacity outlook, Recovery exercise and Demand + feeder proposal. Version graph is selected initially, with All branches enabled. Eighteen recorded versions include an automatic recovery checkpoint; seventeen appear when checkpoints are hidden. Colors distinguish recorded branch lanes, and curves connect actual parents. A combination can have two parents. Time, author, name and head markers refer to stored records, not animation or inferred progress.

Select a row to inspect its immutable version. On a narrow window, use Version details → and the Back control; use the pane chooser to switch between the graph, working changes, comparison, combination and evidence. At most 200 graph nodes are displayed in a window. Loading another page is not proof that no earlier versions exist.

Inspect actual changed equipment

Select Demand growth, then Working changes. The retained unsaved example includes the first industrial demand changing from its last named 16 MW version to 23 MW, and Feeder 1 changing from 100 to 160 MVA. Scalar and profile entries can both appear; a short structured-value summary is not the full time series. Working changes compare retained work to its named baseline, not to the most recent automatic recovery checkpoint.

Before editing or saving, explicitly open the working design. This opens an editable native copy rather than writing into an immutable version. If another editor has dirty work, retain or cancel through the actual prompt. Return to History after editing if the native editor became the active tab. Enter a version title and optional description, then Save version. Wait for the actual saved record, not merely a closed form or button animation. Saving retains a version; it does not incorporate it into Main or approve engineering.

Compare, combine and recover

Choose two exact versions in Compare. Before and After must identify the versions you intend; graph selection alone does not silently overwrite both picks. Read object names, native IDs, units and changed properties. Comparing a version with itself must be empty. Serialization counters alone are not engineering differences.

Demand + feeder proposal illustrates a separately recorded combination. Other branches deliberately contain overlapping demand changes: inspect each base/current/incoming value, then choose a source for every conflict. There is no automatic averaging or silent scalar/profile normalization. Preparing a resolved proposal is not Apply. Recovery and undo create new retained work; old versions remain immutable. See History, Combining branches and Evidence.

AI and failure boundaries

Ask AI about version reads the exact selected snapshot. Work on this version prepares a detached Build context with that source; neither action switches or approves the human editor. The read-only versioning_project_history tool exposes recorded project history, while typed mutation tools remain Build-only and detached. No illustrative chat response or fake study evidence is prefilled.

If the window does not appear, inspect the adjacent example log and normal startup diagnostics; do not keep relaunching blindly. If a branch is unavailable or a load fails, preserve the example directory for diagnosis. Closing the example is safe only after saving or deliberately discarding its own edits; it is never permission to close another project.