Getting started

Ten minutes from install to a captured, replayable experiment.

1. Create a workspace

A workspace is a self-contained project folder. Create one from the picker at the bottom of the left rail (or ros init ~/my-project). Everything you do — runs, notes, todos — lives inside it.

2. Capture your first run

ros run "python train.py --lr 0.05" -n "baseline" -p lr=0.05 -s 42 -t demo

Or press New run on the Runs screen. Either way ResearchOS records the command, parameters, seed, git commit, environment and outputs, and streams the logs live. Files your script writes into outputs/<run-id>/ become content-addressed artifacts.

Want live metrics? In your script:

from researchos import log
log.metric("loss", 0.42, step=epoch)

They chart themselves on the run's detail page — while it runs.

3. Keep the logbook

On the Logbook screen, each icon in the header opens the composer pre-set to a kind — experiment, observation, idea, meeting, failure, milestone — with a template. Record mood and time if you like; the weekly stats and streak come free. When an entry is a result, seal it: sealed entries are immutable and chained with hashes, so tampering is detectable forever.

4. Plan

In Todos, type naturally: ! send draft to advisor friday creates a high-priority item due Friday. The Agenda shows every workspace at once — your Tuesday only exists once — with due todos as deadline flags.

5. Read and write

Add a paper to the Library by DOI or arXiv id (Add by ID — try 1706.03762), open its PDF on the Desk, highlight, and save passages as notes. When you write in Paper, cite with [@citekey] autocomplete and insert figures straight from run artifacts — with provenance hashes that ros paper check verifies.

6. (Optional) Sync

Settings → Account → Create account against your sync server, then Enable sync per workspace. See Sync & security for what that means cryptographically — the short version: the server stores ciphertext only.