Saving Work: Viewer Sessions
Save the complete Viewer workspace, update it intentionally, and restore it in the correct project context.
A viewer session is a named, restorable state of your Viewer workspace. Use it as the durable checkpoint for an analysis, handoff, or presentation source.
This is different from a shared session, which is a live collaboration between a host and guests. See Shared Sessions for real-time collaboration.
What a viewer session preserves
A saved viewer session can preserve the supported state needed to reconstruct your workspace, including:
- Loaded structures and the active structure.
- Camera and framing.
- Component visibility, representations, colors, opacity, and labels.
- Custom elements and structure organization.
- Measurements and annotations.
- Interaction, metal-coordination, and surroundings state.
- Trajectory and frame context where the source remains available.
- Story state associated with the workspace.
- Supported history information for returning to recorded milestones.
Save a new viewer session
Use names that survive handoff, such as 1CBS — ligand contacts — reviewed 2026-08-24, rather than
test, final, or scene 2.
Save updates versus create a new version
| Action | Use it when | Result |
|---|---|---|
| File → Save | You intentionally want to update the current named session | Replaces the saved state of the current session |
Ctrl/Cmd+S | You want the same action from the keyboard | Saves the current session; opens Save as… if no current session exists |
| File → Save as… | You want a new checkpoint, branch, or handoff version | Creates a separately named viewer session |
For consequential reviews, use Save as… at milestones so the earlier validated state remains available.
Open a viewer session
How source data is restored
| Source | Restore behavior |
|---|---|
| Project file | Reopened through the project data reference while it remains accessible |
| PDB ID | Fetched again from the public structure source |
| URL | Requested again from the recorded location |
| Local file | May require you to reattach the original file if no project reference is available |
| Trajectory pair | Requires both topology and trajectory sources to remain accessible |
A viewer session stores the workspace instructions needed to restore your work; it does not make every external source permanently available. Keep authorized source files and project access available for future restoration.
Validate a restored session
Check the restored state before treating it as equivalent to the original:
- All expected structures are listed.
- The intended structure is active.
- The camera and component visibility match the saved review.
- The trajectory frame is correct when applicable.
- Measurements, annotations, and interaction context are present.
- No source warning remains unresolved.
If a trajectory or external source is unavailable, the rest of the session may still open. Resolve the missing source before continuing trajectory-dependent analysis.
Session naming strategy
For customer work, include enough context to identify the scientific checkpoint:
<system> — <question or state> — <review stage or date>Examples:
1CBS — initial ligand review — 2026-08-24Receptor A — ionic contacts — approvedMD run 07 — frame 842 — open conformation