Write beside your sources

Open Writing to create a Plain, LaTeX or Typst writing in a project. Choose a format at creation; each writing keeps its own files and versions. The workspace puts the file tree beside the editor, the preview and the assistant, and you can drag the edges between them or close a pane you don’t need.

Plain writing and PDF export are available on Free and Pro. Creating, editing or compiling LaTeX and Typst requires the project owner to have active Pro or Lab access; members with writing permission can then use them on either plan. In a Free-owned project, existing LaTeX and Typst writings are read-only, with source and the last compiled PDF available to download. Upgrading the owner restores editing. See Plans and credits.

Bring in evidence

The citation picker searches papers in the same project and inserts a citation that suits the writing’s format. LaTeX and Typst bibliographies draw from those records; Plain uses structured citations. Open a citation to inspect its paper. Missing keys are flagged rather than silently removed.

The assistant drafts from chosen papers or answers questions over the library, and suggestions for a section appear as notes in the editor’s margin, which Suggestions in the top bar shows or hides. Generated text and suggestions stay proposals until someone inserts or applies them. Check every claim and citation against the source before using it. Costed AI work is quoted first.

Work on the draft

LaTeX and Typst use a code editor, a file tree and a compiled PDF preview. Plain uses a rich document editor with tables, images and inline comments. Authorized editors of the same text file see each other’s text and cursors as they type; autosave and version history protect the shared document. A restore or change made outside the shared editor can ask you to resolve an external version before continuing.

To recover a deleted text file, open History and choose Deleted files. Select a saved path and version to preview it, then restore it as a new file. Restore to path starts with its old path. If that path is taken or its folder no longer exists, choose another unused path in an existing folder. Existing files are never overwritten. Named versions and retained automatic snapshots remain available after recovery. The desktop workspace offers the same controls; on a tablet, open the writing in your browser. Images and other binary assets have no text history.

LaTeX and Typst compile to PDFs and report source-line errors. Plain exports to PDF or DOCX, and every format can export a source ZIP. Preview and compilation use no plan usage. The preview does not jump between a PDF position and its source location.

In the web app, choose Export on a Plain writing, then This document as PDF or This document as DOCX for the open document, or All documents for the whole writing. A download dialog shows saving and preparation. When the file is ready, check your browser’s downloads. If nothing appeared, choose Download file in the dialog; it uses the file already prepared. If your browser blocks downloads, allow them or reopen the writing in a browser that supports downloads. An error stays visible with Try again. The writing must save successfully before the export can proceed.

The desktop app edits Plain files too, with the web’s toolbar and shortcuts, and you see each other’s cursors as you type. A Plain file the desktop can’t convert yet (an older one that hasn’t been opened in the browser since) opens read-only with Edit in browser; open it there once and it edits on the desktop too. Pasting from another app preserves supported formatting when the source provides HTML. Plain text is the fallback when formatted clipboard content is unavailable.

Recover changes after a lost connection

SAVED LOCALLY means your latest edits are recoverable on this browser or computer and are waiting to reach the server. Reopen the same writing file with the same account to recover them. SAVED means the server has accepted a checkpoint. If the editor says NOT SAVED LOCALLY, keep it open and retry saving before leaving.

If the server file changed outside the shared editor, compare your retained draft with the server copy. On desktop, choose Compare and recover. Keep mine replaces the server copy with your draft; Reload their version discards that draft and opens the server copy. Copy any passages you want to keep before choosing.

Signing out of the native app clears retained drafts after its warning. An expired connection keeps them for the same account. Browser drafts remain scoped to their account, but clearing browser storage removes them.

Suggestions, rewrites, research gaps, methodology comparisons and summary translation use your plan’s usage on Free and Pro, and have no daily free allowance. In a shared project, the owner’s plan pays (see Plans and credits). Reading saved results is free; failed work releases the usage it held. Missing source summaries, comparison tables, agreement maps, drafting and full-text translation use plan usage too. Local PDF text extraction is free.

See Keyboard shortcuts for editor commands and web/desktop differences.