> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cyberwave.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Environments

> The 3D scene where your twins live, interact with each other, and connect to the real world

An **environment** is the 3D scene where your [digital twins](/overview/features/digital-twin) come together. Drop in a [UR7e](https://cyberwave.com/universal_robots/UR7), a table, four walls, and a wrist camera — and you have a programmable replica of your lab. Most environments mirror a real place (a cell, a warehouse, a workshop), but they don't have to: a purely virtual scene works just as well for prototyping, training, and demos.

```python theme={null}
from cyberwave import Cyberwave

cw = Cyberwave()
env = cw.environments.create(name="Lab Cell", description="UR7e + table + camera")

arm    = cw.twin("universal_robots/UR7", environment_id=env.uuid)
camera = cw.twin("camera",               environment_id=env.uuid)
```

The same environment is what you see in the [Environment Editor](/feature-reference/environment-editor/index), what you simulate in [MuJoCo](/feature-reference/environment-editor/index#simulate-tab-playground-physics), and what your real edge devices stream into when you flip to **Live** mode.

***

## Why an environment?

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Spatial context for every twin" icon="cube">
    Twins know where they are relative to each other, the floor, walls, and
    props — so navigation, manipulation, and perception just work.
  </Card>

  <Card title="One scene, two realities" icon="arrows-left-right">
    The same layout powers simulation **and** live hardware. No duplicate setup,
    no drift.
  </Card>

  <Card title="A unit of collaboration" icon="users">
    Share, comment, and review an environment like a doc — without giving away
    write access.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Identified by a slug" icon="link">
    Every environment gets a unique slug like `acme/envs/production-floor` — see
    the [slug system](/feature-reference/concepts/slug-system).
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

***

## What you can do in an environment

| Capability                      | What it does                                                                                                                                                | Learn more                                                                                                  |
| ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Add twins and organize them** | Drop in robots, sensors, and objects from the [catalog](/feature-reference/catalog), then drag, snap, reparent, and reorder them.                           | [Environment Editor](/feature-reference/environment-editor/index)                                           |
| **Add primitives**              | One-click cameras, lidars, and common props by short alias (`camera`, `lidar`).                                                                             | [Adding primitives](/feature-reference/environment-editor/index#adding-primitives)                          |
| **Start from a template**       | Clone a pre-built scene (assets, twins, controller policies, tags) with one click.                                                                          | [Environment templates](/feature-reference/environment-editor/environment-templates)                        |
| **Save and copy**               | **File → Make a copy** duplicates the scene and all of its twins; lineage is stored in metadata.                                                            | [Clone an environment](/feature-reference/environment-editor/index#clone-an-environment)                    |
| **Add waypoints**               | Author named points in 3D for [mission-style workflows](/feature-reference/workflows) — "go to charger", "inspect rack B".                                  | [Waypoint schema](/api-reference/rest/EnvironmentWaypointSchema)                                            |
| **Add areas**                   | Draw polygon zones that gate locomotion and perception — keep-out zones, lanes, [spatial filters](/feature-reference/workflows/spatial-filter) for cameras. | [Spatial filter node](/feature-reference/workflows/spatial-filter)                                          |
| **Add notes for teammates**     | Annotate the scene so the next operator knows why the camera is tilted 12°.                                                                                 | [Environment Editor](/feature-reference/environment-editor/index)                                           |
| **Edit with an agent**          | Launch the **Editor Agent** from **Edit → Editor Agent** and let it call Cyberwave MCP tools on your behalf.                                                | [Start the agent from Edit](/feature-reference/environment-editor/index#start-the-agent-from-the-edit-menu) |

***

## Simulate it or wire it to real hardware

An environment is the same artifact in both worlds — you just switch modes.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Simulate" icon="play" href="/feature-reference/environment-editor/index#simulate-tab-playground-physics">
    Run **Playground** physics in the browser for quick checks, or export to
    **MuJoCo** in one click for full contact-rich physics, RL training, and
    policy evaluation.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Go Live" icon="bolt" href="/feature-reference/environment-editor/teleoperation">
    Flip to **Live** mode and the scene becomes a window into your real cell —
    camera streams, joint states, edge-device health, and teleoperation all in
    place.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

Switch programmatically from the [SDK](/tools/python-sdk):

```python theme={null}
cw.affect("simulation")   # commands run against the virtual environment
cw.affect("live")         # same scene, real hardware
```

***

## Replay the whole environment

Recordings aren't just per-twin clips — an environment **replays as a single timeline**. Scrub the playhead and every camera, every robot pose, every point cloud rewinds together. Imagine watching the 2D map of your warehouse next to the wrist-camera video, both perfectly aligned.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Recording replay" icon="rewind" href="/feature-reference/environment-editor/replay">
    Signed-URL playback for MP4 video, parquet telemetry, and FlatBuffer point
    clouds — no inlining, range-requested on demand.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Workflow executions" icon="diagram-project" href="/feature-reference/environment-editor/index#workflow-executions-in-an-environment">
    Browse every workflow run bound to this environment, with trigger data,
    errors, and per-node executions.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

***

## Sharing and access control

Environments are first-class shareable objects — same model as the rest of Cyberwave.

* **Workspace roles** (Viewer, Editor, Admin) cascade automatically — most teams configure this once.
* **Per-environment overrides** let you grant or restrict access for a single scene.
* **Read-only** and **comment-only** link shares are perfect for stakeholder demos and async review without handing out edit rights.

See the [Access Control reference](/feature-reference/access-control) for the full role / visibility matrix.

***

## What to read next

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Environment Editor reference" icon="pen-to-square" href="/feature-reference/environment-editor/index">
    Every panel, shortcut, and quick action in the 3D editor.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Live teleoperation" icon="gamepad" href="/feature-reference/environment-editor/teleoperation">
    Drive the real robots that live in your environment from anywhere.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Hello Robot" icon="hand-wave" href="/overview/hello-robot">
    Build your first environment with a twin and a controller in 5 minutes.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>