Start with a project

Distari keeps the papers, questions, notes and drafts for a piece of research together. Start in the web app. The Chrome and Firefox capture extensions are also available. Previously published desktop, phone and tablet builds are no longer supported; use the web app until refreshed builds are available through the channels listed in Apps and devices.

Get access

Create your account at Sign up, review the linked Terms, check I agree to the Terms and acknowledge the Privacy notice, and verify your email. The same agreement applies when creating an account with any available sign-in provider. Existing members can sign in. If someone invited you to a project, follow their invitation link to join it after signing up.

See Account, sign-in and privacy to recover access, connect a sign-in method, review devices, download your data or delete your account.

If a material Terms update needs your agreement later, Review the Terms opens at signin. Read the linked version and choose Accept and continue. You can keep reading, manage billing or request your account data while deciding; saved drafts and queued changes remain on your device. In a native app, Review Terms opens this browser step.

Follow guided setup

When Set up Distari opens, choose Start. It works in your real project, so the paper and choices you make stay with your account. Your progress is saved: sign in on another browser or device to continue from the same step.

Your library is free on every plan: add papers, read, take notes, search and export. Free includes every feature except LaTeX and Typst, subject to storage, usage and collaborator limits. Setup does not buy a plan.

1. Your project: create a project, or choose one you already belong to and select Use this project. If you arrived through an invitation, you can use that shared project. Give a new project a name and a sentence or two about your research question. Discover uses the description to suggest papers, so include the boundaries that matter.
2. Add a paper: use Add paper to drop in or choose a PDF. If you do not have one ready, choose Use an example paper. The guide moves on while the free add-time stages finish. Add papers explains those stages and other intake paths.
3. Your library: follow Got it through the paper list, Details and the account-menu usage meter, then choose Open the paper to enter the reader. You can read, highlight and take notes without starting an AI action.
4. Discover: switch to Discover and run the guide’s first scan, free once per account. Shortlist something useful, or choose Nothing fits if the suggestions do not help. Review the results before adding any to your library.
5. Work together: Copy invite link gives you a link to share yourself; it sends no message. You can also choose Got it. The available invitation controls depend on your role. Work with others explains roles and places.
6. Light or dark: choose Light, Dark or System. System follows the device you are using; Appearance lets you change this later.
7. You’re all set: choose Done. Threads and Writing introduce themselves the first time you open those modes.

Setup availability and steps can vary during rollout. If it does not open, create or open a project and follow the same tasks yourself. Automatic Explore Distari sample projects and the older welcome guide are retired. A sample project you have changed stays as an ordinary project. Untouched samples may move to Recently deleted, where normal recovery applies. Skip guide or Skip step appears only when that choice is available. Skipping a guide is saved across devices. Offline or paused-service notices keep your place; when uploads are paused, the example paper remains available.

After setup, open your account menu and choose Replay tour to walk through the available tours without creating papers, changing your research or spending usage.

Watch a short video, where offered in the web guide, opens a silent demonstration. Choose Play video to start, use the English captions or open Read transcript for the same instructions in text. To watch again later, open the account menu while you are in Library, Discover, Threads, Writing or Overview and choose Watch a short video.

Find your way around

The project opens into five modes:

Mode	Use it for
Overview	Recent work, goals and literature coverage
Library	Papers, notes, folders, search and the citation graph
Threads	Questions and saved paper comparisons
Writing	Drafts with sources beside the editor
Discover	New papers to review and bring into the library

A good first pass

1. Add a paper as a PDF, link or identifier.
2. Open its summary, then read the original when a claim matters.
3. Ask a question about that paper or your whole library.
4. Save an observation in a note and begin a writing when you have an argument to develop.

Summaries and other AI actions use your plan’s usage; the percentage meter in your account menu shows how much is left. A metadata-only paper can still be organized and searched when its PDF is unavailable.

Find commands for your system in Keyboard shortcuts.