--- canonical_url: "https://buildwithwave.com/docs/get-started/home" title: "Home and the command box" description: "Home is where you tell Wave what happened or what you need. Learn the command box, adding files and voice, receipts, This month, the Getting started checklist and the Tutorial." group: "get-started" lane: "how-to" status: "published" publishedAt: 2026-09-26 updatedAt: 2026-09-26 sidebarOrder: 50 tags: ["home", "command box", "onboarding", "voice"] relatedSlugs: - "get-started/tour-the-app" - "get-started/first-job" - "get-started/chat-with-wave" - "jobs/book-a-visit" sidebarLabel: "Home" --- Home is the first screen you see after you sign in. It has a greeting and one command box that reads "Create a job, make an estimate, schedule the crew, or add notes. Just say it." On a phone it reads "Tell Wave what you need…". ## Tell Wave what happened or what you need Write it the way you'd tell a coworker, then send: - "New water loss for Jordan Park at 482 Sycamore, supply line burst under the kitchen sink" - "Make a water estimate for the Park job" - "Send Luis to 482 Sycamore next Tuesday at 9" - "Note on the Park job: homeowner says the leak started Friday night" Wave creates the job and fills in what you said, starts an estimate on a job, books a visit on Timeline, or adds a note to the job. If the customer or address is already in Wave, it asks which job you mean, or whether to create a new one. You can also paste an answering-service note or an intake form. Wave fills in the job from it and keeps the note. Jobs are free. An estimate uses one credit, and the receipt says so. If Wave only guesses you want an estimate, it asks first and charges nothing unless you confirm. Press the Up arrow in the box to bring back an earlier request. If you leave before sending, Wave keeps your unsent draft for a while. ## Add photos, videos or a PDF 1. Click the plus button (**Add files**), or paste an image straight into the box. 2. Add up to 10 files per request. Photos and PDFs can be up to 20 MB each, and videos up to 200 MB. 3. Add a few words about them, or send the files on their own. Files you send stay with the job, in its Files tab. ## Talk instead of typing Tap the mic and talk. Each take runs up to 90 seconds, and the bars turn red as you near the end. Your words are added to the box, so you can record several takes and read them over before you send. If a transcription fails, Wave tries again on its own with the same recording, so you don't have to record again. ## Receipts, quick questions and moving to Chat When Wave finishes, a one-line receipt on the box tells you what it did, such as creating the job or adding a note, and Wave takes you to where the work landed. When Wave needs one more detail, like which job you mean, it asks a short question right on the box, often with buttons to tap. A plain question that isn't a request for Wave to do something is carried over to the [Chat](/docs/get-started/chat-with-wave) page, where Wave answers it. ## This month: your numbers or your team's Below the box, This month shows Jobs created, Estimated value and Time per estimate. Switch between **You** and **Team** to see your own numbers or the whole team's. Every teammate sees this row. Click the eye icon to hide it for the rest of your session. ## The Getting started checklist For your first 30 days, a Getting started card on Home walks you through seven steps: Set up your letterhead, Create your first job, Add a site note, Build an estimate from the job, Schedule the crew, Export or share, and Invite your team. Click any step to go where you do it. Steps check off as you finish them. If you close the card, it comes back the next time you load Home. The same checklist sits behind the Getting started chip in the top bar, and the card disappears for good once every step is done. ## Take the Tutorial The **Tutorial** button at the bottom of Home walks you through a sample job: creating it, adding notes, building an estimate, editing a line, adding a second estimate, checking the drying log and exporting. It takes about 3 minutes and uses practice data, so nothing is added to your real jobs. You can skip at any time. The Tutorial never starts on its own. ## What's new, theme and help links Along the bottom of Home: - **What's new** opens Wave's release notes. A dot means there's a release you haven't read. - **The theme switch** flips between Light and Dark. To follow your device's setting, choose System in Settings > Preferences. - **Footer links** open Docs, Resources, Terms and Privacy in a new tab. **Contact us** opens a message form to the Wave team. ## The same box on Jobs and Timeline Jobs and Timeline have the same command box docked at the bottom. Use it to create or update jobs from the board, or to schedule visits from the Timeline, without going back to Home. The **New job** button, on every page except Home, opens Home with the box ready for you to describe the job. ## Related - [Tour the Wave app](/docs/get-started/tour-the-app): every screen at a glance - [Create your first job](/docs/get-started/first-job): a real loss, start to finish - [Chat with Wave](/docs/get-started/chat-with-wave): questions that don't belong to a job - [Book a visit](/docs/jobs/book-a-visit): schedule the crew by dragging or by telling Wave