Quick Start Guide

Prerequisites

• A Scriptora AI account (sign up free)
• No LaTeX experience required — the AI handles the syntax

Step 1 — Create a new paper

1. Sign in and click + New Paper from the Dashboard or top navigation
2. Choose AI-Guided Setup (or pick Blank Paper if you already have content)
3. Fill in the setup wizard:
   • Research Stage: Where you are (Defined Topic, Clear Research Question, Outline, or Complete Draft)
   • Research Type: Review Article, Methods Paper, Case Study, Conference Paper, etc.
   • Target Journal: NeurIPS, Nature, PLOS ONE, arXiv, or a custom venue
4. Enter your specific research question and choose a paper structure
5. Click Generate — the AI creates your workspace and opens the creation mode

You'll land in the editor with main.tex open.

Step 2 — Explore the workspace

Your workspace has three areas:

• Left sidebar — file list, compile button, upload
• Center — the LaTeX editor
• Right — click the chat icon to open the AI assistant

Step 3 — Write with the AI

Open the AI chat panel (right side). Try these prompts:

Write a detailed Introduction section based on the paper structure.

The AI will:

1. Read your current main.tex
2. Write the section content
3. Insert it directly into your file — the editor updates live

Try a follow-up:

The introduction is too long. Make it more concise, keeping only the key motivation and contributions.

Step 4 — Add a figure with Python

Ask the AI to generate a chart:

Create a bar chart comparing the performance of three methods: Baseline (72%), Our Method (89%), and State-of-the-art (85%). Use a professional academic style.

The AI will:

1. Write and execute Python code in a secure sandbox
2. Display the chart in the chat so you can review it
3. Save it to figures/comparison_bar_chart.png in your workspace
4. Add a \includegraphics command to your paper

Step 5 — Search for references

Ask the AI to find citations:

Search for the top papers on contrastive self-supervised learning and add the best 3 to my references.

The AI will:

1. Search arXiv, Semantic Scholar, and other sources
2. Show a list of papers with abstracts
3. Add BibTeX entries to references.bib
4. Insert \cite{} commands in the relevant sections

You can also use the References tab in the sidebar to search manually.

Step 6 — Compile and preview

Click the ▶ Compile button in the sidebar or press Ctrl+Enter.

After a few seconds:

• The PDF preview opens in the right panel
• Any errors appear in the Error panel below the PDF
• Click an error to jump to the source line

SyncTeX navigation:

• Click anywhere in the PDF → jumps to that line in the editor
• Move your cursor in the editor → highlights the corresponding location in the PDF

Step 7 — Fix errors with AI

If the compilation fails, click Fix errors with AI in the error panel. The AI reads the error log and applies targeted fixes automatically.

Step 8 — Save a version

When you're happy with your progress, save a named branch:

1. Click the 🌿 Branch icon in the header toolbar
2. Type a name: e.g., "first-draft" or "after-revision-1"
3. Press Enter

You can roll back to any saved branch at any time from the Versions panel.

What's next?