Mental Model for Pan Browser's AI Navigator

Here's a simple breakdown of how to think about the different panels in the Navigator and how each panel builds on the one before it to help you be more productive.

1. Providers - "Who can the AI talk through?"

• This is where you set up your AI backends
• Add API keys (OpenAI, Anthropic, local models, etc.)
• Select which models are available
• Think of this as plugging in the brains before you do anything else

2. Agents - "Who is doing the work?"

• Create or customize the built-in agents (Assistant, Manager, etc.)
• Assign each agent a model from your Providers
• Give them a personality, directives, and focus areas
• This is where you shape how the AI behaves and what role it plays

3. Connections - "What can the AI reach?"

• These are tools that let the Navigator interact with external websites and services
• Think integrations — email, calendars, APIs, databases, web services
• Without connections, the AI can think but can't do anything outside the browser
• This gives your agents hands

4. Workflows - "How should things be done?"

• Define multi-step procedures the AI can follow
• Add steps or commands manually
• Or record screen actions to literally show the AI how something is done by doing it yourself
• Set a working folder for file operations
• Think of workflows as reusable recipes or SOPs the Navigator can execute

5. Tasks - "What needs to happen, and when?"

• Create things that either you or the Navigator can accomplish
• Set deadlines, mark whether a task repeats, set frequency
• Assign a predefined command or workflow to run automatically
• Basically, cron jobs with a UI - scheduled automation that just runs
• Organize tasks into Projects to group related work together

6. Navigator Panel - "The cockpit"

• This is your command center for doing things right now
• Execute any task on demand
• Control the browser directly
• Change settings on the fly
• Run workflows manually
• Use voice commands
• Everything above feeds into this panel and it's where action happens

In Summary,

• Providers → give agents their brains
• Agents → use connections as their hands
• Connections → are used inside workflows as steps
• Workflows → get attached to tasks as automation
• Tasks → organized in projects, triggered by schedule or you
• Navigator → your live control panel to run any of the above on demand

The mental model:

You wire the brains (Providers), shape the workers (Agents), give them reach (Connections), teach them procedures (Workflows), schedule the work (Tasks/Projects), and drive it all from one place (Navigator).

Each layer only makes sense once the one below it exists. That's why the panels are laid out in this order.