Quick Start Guide

This Quick Start Guide will help you get Synthesis up and running in minutes, guiding you through the initial setup, launching the application, and creating your first research project to quickly experience its powerful capabilities.

1. What is Synthesis?

Synthesis is an AI-powered research assistant designed to streamline your research workflow. It allows you to upload documents, analyze them using intelligent agents, generate comprehensive research papers, create presentations, and interact with your research through a conversational AI.

2. Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

Node.js: Version 18 or higher. You can download it from nodejs.org.
pnpm: A fast, disk-space efficient package manager. If you don't have it, install it globally:
```
npm install -g pnpm
```
Google Gemini API Key: Synthesis uses Google Gemini for its AI capabilities.
1. Go to the Google AI Studio to generate an API key.
2. Keep this key handy; you'll need it for the next step.

3. Installation

Follow these steps to set up Synthesis on your local machine:

Clone the Repository:

git clone https://github.com/omkarspace/synthesis.git
cd synthesis

Install Dependencies:
```
pnpm install
```
Configure Environment Variables: Create a new file named .env in the root of the synthesis directory and add your Google Gemini API Key:
```
# .env
GEMINI_API_KEY="YOUR_GEMINI_API_KEY_HERE"
```
Replace "YOUR_GEMINI_API_KEY_HERE" with the API key you generated.
Set Up the Database: Synthesis uses Prisma with SQLite for local development, which is automatically set up and migrated. Run the Prisma migration to create the necessary database schema:
```
npx prisma migrate dev
```
You will be prompted to name the migration; you can press Enter to accept the default or provide a name like init.

4. Running the Application

Once installed, you can launch Synthesis:

Start the Development Server:
```
pnpm dev
```
This will start the Next.js development server.
Access in Browser: Open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000. You should see the Synthesis dashboard.

5. Your First Research Project

Now that Synthesis is running, let's create your first project and experience its capabilities:

Create a New Project:
- On the Synthesis dashboard, click the "New Project" button.
- Enter a Project Name (e.g., "AI in Healthcare").
- (Optional) Add a brief Description.
- Click "Create Project".
Upload Research Documents:
- After creating the project, you will be taken to its detail view.
- Click the "Upload Documents" button or drag and drop your research papers (PDFs, text files) into the designated area.
- Once uploaded, Synthesis will automatically begin processing them, extracting text and indexing them for AI analysis. You'll see the documents listed.
Run the Agent Pipeline:
- In the project detail view, locate the "Agent Pipeline" section.
- Click the "Start Analysis" (or similar) button to initiate the AI agent pipeline. This will trigger a series of AI agents to analyze your documents, generate an outline, write a research paper, and prepare a presentation.
- Monitor the progress and status indicators. This process can take several minutes depending on the number and size of your documents.
Explore the Results: Once the agent pipeline completes (the status will change to "Completed"):
- Paper Viewer: Navigate to the "Paper" tab to view the AI-generated research paper. You can also edit and refine the content directly within the application.
- Chat with Research: Go to the "Chat" tab to ask questions about your uploaded documents and the generated research.
- Analytics & Insights: Explore the "Overview" and "Analytics" tabs to see dashboards, concept networks, and other insights derived from your research.
- Download & Export: Use the "Download PDF" or "Export" options to save your generated paper in various formats (PDF, DOCX, LaTeX, Markdown) or download a presentation.

Congratulations! You've successfully set up Synthesis and completed your first AI-powered research project.