# Papiers Docs > Documentation for Papiers: the desktop app, the Chrome extension, and the CLI. Papiers is a desktop reading and research workspace for Mac, Windows, and Ubuntu, with a Chrome extension for saving from the browser and a read-only CLI for agents. You save papers (PDFs), web articles, and X posts into one library, read and highlight them, write notes, ask questions of an AI assistant that cites the source, and search everything you have saved. These pages document every feature. Each page is also served as Markdown at its URL with a `.md` suffix, and the complete documentation is concatenated in /llms-full.txt. --- # Quickstart Papiers is a workspace for reading, researching, and working with AI. Your documents, highlights, notes, and conversations stay connected, so you can ask questions in context and draw on what you’ve already read. This guide covers the basic workflow. ## 1. Add to your library Press `⌘N` or click **+** to add something to your library. Drop in a PDF, paste a link, or import a folder of papers. You can also bring in your existing library from [Zotero](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/zotero), sync your [X bookmarks](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/x-bookmarks), or save directly from the browser with the [Chrome extension](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/chrome-extension). ## 2. Read Open anything in your library to start reading. The Workspace keeps the document together with your conversations, highlights, notes, and related information. Open several documents in tabs, or put two side by side when you want to compare them. ## 3. Highlight and annotate Select any passage to highlight it or add an annotation. Highlights stay anchored to the original passage and become searchable across your library. Annotations let you attach your own thoughts to them. For longer writing, open a note beside the document. ## 4. Ask Papiers Select a passage, or capture a figure, table, or equation, and ask about it directly. Papiers attaches the source to your question and cites the material it uses in its answer. Choose the model you want from the model picker. Papiers gives you access to a range of frontier and open models, so you can switch models as you work. Turn on **Search your library** when you want a conversation to draw on other documents, highlights, notes, and past conversations. ## 5. Search everything you’ve read Press `⌘⇧P` to search across your documents, highlights, notes, equations, and conversations. Search for the exact words, or describe the idea you remember. You can also ask a question and have Papiers answer from your library. Next, learn how the [Library and Workspace](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/workspace) fit together. Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/quickstart --- # Library & workspace Papiers has three main views: **Home**, the **Library**, and the **Workspace**. Move between them depending on whether you want to ask, find, or read. ## Home Home is where you start when you don’t have a particular document in mind. Ask a question and Papiers can search broadly across your library. It uses the same chat and tools as the Workspace; the difference is that there is no active document yet. Click a source in the answer and Papiers opens it in the Workspace beside the same conversation. ## Your library The Library is everything you’ve saved to Papiers. Use the filters and search field to find documents by title, author, type, tag, or date. Click anything to open it in the Workspace. When you want to search inside what you’ve read or ask a question across it, press `⌘⇧P`. It opens the same search and chat from Home without making you leave what you’re doing. ## Your workspace The Workspace brings your conversations and documents together. The sidebar sits on the left. Next to it, the chat pane holds your conversations in tabs. Documents open to the right, where you can keep several open and arrange them side by side. A conversation here has the same tools as one started from Home. The difference is that Papiers knows which document is active, so what you’re reading provides a natural starting point for the conversation. Press `⌘P` to open **Quick Open**. Your recent documents appear immediately, or start typing to find something in your Library and open it without leaving the Workspace. ## Your questions are anchored to the source Select a passage while you read and it becomes context for your next message. The composer becomes active automatically, so you can start typing without breaking your flow. Hold `Shift` while selecting to add more passages. A single question can draw on several parts of a document, or passages from documents you have open side by side. When you send the message, Papiers anchors your question to the passages that prompted it. Come back later and you can see what you asked where you asked it. If you’re reading a document in **focus mode**, select a passage and click **Chat** to return to the Workspace with that passage already attached. ### Ask about anything on the page For a figure, table, diagram, or any other visual part of a PDF, press `⌘⇧S` or use **Screenshot Capture**, then drag over the region you want to ask about. Papiers keeps the capture tied to its exact location in the PDF. The agent can use where it appears in the document, including the surrounding section and related caption, when answering your question. ### Equations stay equations Select an equation in a PDF and Papiers recovers the underlying LaTeX instead of passing along the broken glyphs you often get when copying math from a PDF. You can immediately ask the model to explain it, derive it, compare it with another equation, or use it in a longer question. ## Work across documents Open several documents at once or arrange them side by side when you want to compare them. Passages from different documents can become context for the same conversation. Hold `Shift` as you select across them, or type `@` in Chat to bring another document or note into the conversation. ## Focus on one thing **Focus mode** lets the active chat or document fill the window. Use it when you want an uninterrupted conversation or a clean reading view. Exit focus mode and everything returns exactly where it was in the Workspace. ## Get anywhere quickly - `⌘P` opens **Quick Open** to find a document. - `⌘⇧P` opens Home search from wherever you are. - `⌘⇧L` switches between the Library and Workspace. Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/workspace --- # Save to Papiers Add papers, articles, PDFs, and X posts to your library. Drop in files, paste a link, save from Chrome, import from Zotero, or sync your X bookmarks. ## Add files and links Press `⌘N` or click **+**. Drop in a PDF, import a folder of PDFs, or paste a link. Paste a paper page from arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv, or OpenReview and Papiers imports the paper as a PDF. Paste an article or X post to save it directly to your library. ## Save from Chrome Use the [Chrome extension](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/chrome-extension) to save the page or PDF open in your browser. Because it saves from your browser session, the extension also works on pages that require a login or subscription. On saved articles, you can highlight without leaving the page. ## Sync X bookmarks Connect your X account and, on **Pro**, new bookmarks are added to Papiers automatically. When you bookmark a post in a thread, Papiers brings in the full thread so you can read, highlight, search, and ask questions about it later. You can also paste the link to an individual X post without connecting your account. See [Sync X bookmarks](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/x-bookmarks). ## Import from Zotero Import from Zotero to bring your existing papers into Papiers along with their PDF highlights and notes. Your Zotero library stays unchanged. See [Import from Zotero](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/zotero). Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/save --- # Chrome extension The Papiers extension lets you save what you’re already reading in Chrome, and highlight articles without leaving the page. Everything syncs back to your Papiers library. ## Install the extension Install **Papiers** from the [Chrome Web Store](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/papiers/kmjbapgmmgjbailflolnemcdkfigkacd). Click the Papiers icon in your toolbar, or press `⌘⇧K`, to open the palette over any page. ## Save from the browser Open the palette and choose **Save to library**. Papiers saves the page you’re looking at, including pages that require a login or subscription. You can save PDFs open in the browser too. ## Highlight articles On a saved web page, open the palette and turn on **Highlight mode**. Select a passage and it is added to your Papiers highlights immediately. Your highlights stay in sync between Chrome and the desktop app. PDFs can be saved with the extension, but highlighting PDFs happens in the Papiers desktop app. ## See your highlights Choose **See Highlights** to open the side panel beside the page. The panel shows your highlights from the article while you keep reading. ## Create a share card Choose **Share Card** to turn your highlights from the page into a card you can share. Add more highlights later and choose **Update Card** to bring them in. See [Share cards](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/share). ## The palette Press `⌘⇧K` whenever you want to open Papiers without leaving the page. From the palette you can save the page, highlight articles, see your highlights, create or update a share card, and open your library. Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/chrome-extension --- # Import from Zotero Bring your Zotero library into Papiers with the highlights and notes you’ve already made. Your Zotero library stays unchanged. ## Import your library Quit Zotero, then choose **Import from Zotero** in Papiers. Papiers finds the Zotero library on your computer. Import everything, or choose the collections and papers you want to bring over. ## What comes with your papers Papiers imports the PDF along with its title, authors, year, venue, and DOI. Highlights made in Zotero’s PDF reader come with their colors and comments. Notes attached to the paper come over too. Papiers can only import PDF attachments that are available on this computer. Items without a local PDF are left in Zotero. ## Import your notes Zotero notes can come into Papiers along with your papers, including standalone notes that aren’t attached to a document. Once imported, they can be searched and used by Papiers alongside the rest of your library. ## Import again later The Zotero import is not a live sync. Run it again whenever you want to bring in papers you’ve added since the last import. Papiers skips papers that are already in your library, so you can pick up where you left off without importing everything twice. Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/zotero --- # Sync X bookmarks Connect one or more X accounts and bring your bookmarks into Papiers. Automatic bookmark syncing is part of **Papiers Pro**. Saving an individual X post by pasting its link works on every plan. ## Connect X Open **Settings** and connect your X account. Papiers uses read-only access. It doesn’t post, like, follow, or change anything on X. You can connect multiple X accounts to the same Papiers library. ## Sync your bookmarks On **Papiers Pro**, Papiers brings in your existing bookmarks and continues syncing new ones automatically. When a bookmark belongs to a thread, Papiers brings in the full thread, including images and links. Connect multiple X accounts and Papiers syncs bookmarks from all of them. If the same post or thread is bookmarked from more than one account, it only appears once in your library. Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/x-bookmarks --- # Reading Papiers adapts the reading experience to what you’re reading, whether it’s a paper, article, or thread. ## Papers and PDFs Open the **Info** pane in the sidebar to see the paper’s outline and jump between sections. Press `⌘F` to find text in the PDF. ### Equations stay equations Select an equation and Papiers recovers the underlying LaTeX instead of the broken glyphs you often get when copying math from a PDF. Copy it directly, or use it as context for a question. ## Articles Saved articles open in a clean reading view with the text and images pulled out of the surrounding webpage. Your highlights stay with the article in Papiers and sync with highlights you make from the Chrome extension. ## X posts and threads Saved posts open without the surrounding feed. When Papiers has the thread, its posts appear together in order, including images and links. ## Find what you remember Use `⌘F` when you know the words you’re looking for in the document in front of you. For semantic search across what you’ve read, use **Search** in the sidebar or press `⌘⇧P`. See [Search](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/search) for more. ## Focus on the document Turn on **Focus mode** when you want the active document to fill the window. Exit focus mode to bring your chats and other documents back beside it. Next, learn how to [highlight, annotate, and take notes](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/highlights-and-notes). Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/reading --- # Highlights & notes Papiers lets you keep what you read together with what you think about it. Highlight a passage, add a thought to it, or open a note beside the document when you want more room to write. ## Highlights Select a passage to highlight it. Your highlights appear in the **Highlights** pane for the document and are searchable across your library. Click a highlight to return to its place in the source. ## Annotations Add an annotation when you want to attach a thought to a specific passage. The annotation stays with the highlight, so when you return to the passage later, you can see what you wrote alongside it. Annotations are searchable too. ## Notes Open a note beside a document when you want more room to write. Notes support Markdown, math, images, links, and references to other documents in your library. You can also link back to highlights from what you’re reading. You can also create standalone notes that aren’t tied to a particular document. ## Find your thinking again Search across your highlights, annotations, and notes when you want to return to an idea later. Papiers can also draw on them when searching your library to answer a question. ## Highlight from Chrome Highlights you make on saved web pages with the [Chrome extension](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/chrome-extension) sync back to Papiers. Highlight in Chrome and the same passages are there when you open the article in the desktop app. Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/highlights-and-notes --- # Ask Papiers Chat sits beside what you’re reading, so you can bring the source directly into the conversation. Select a passage and it appears in the composer automatically. Hold `Shift` while selecting to add more passages, including from documents you have open side by side. When you send the message, Papiers includes those passages with your question and anchors the conversation back to where they came from. For figures, tables, diagrams, equations, or anything else you want to point at in a PDF, press `⌘⇧S` or use **Screenshot Capture** and drag over the region. Papiers keeps track of where the capture came from, along with the surrounding document structure and caption. For equations, Papiers also recovers the underlying LaTeX. The model receives both the captured region and the equation itself, rather than having to infer the math from the PDF image alone. You can also paste images directly into the composer. If the selected model supports vision, the image itself is sent to the model. For PDF region captures, Papiers sends the region’s extracted text instead when you’re using a model without vision. Pasted images require a vision-capable model. ## Search your library Explicit context is useful when you know what you want the model to look at. **Search your library** lets the agent find context on its own. With it on, Papiers can search your documents, highlights, notes, equations, and previous conversations while answering. Turn it off when you want a response without anything from your library. Anything you attach directly to the message is still included. You can also type `@` to add a particular document or note to the conversation without searching for passages yourself. ## Think out loud Press `Enter` when you want Papiers to respond. Press `⌘Enter` on Mac or `Ctrl+Enter` on Windows and Ubuntu to **send quietly**. The message is added to the conversation without starting the agent. Send as many quiet messages as you want. When you’re ready for a response, send the next message normally. Papiers sees the whole sequence together. If the agent is already working, keep typing. New messages are queued while the current turn finishes, then added to the conversation together before the agent continues. ## Branch a conversation Edit an earlier message to take the conversation in a different direction. Papiers creates a branch and keeps the original path intact. Switch between branches at any time. The current branch is the conversation history the model sees by default. With **Search your library** on, the agent can still find relevant messages from other branches when it searches your previous conversations. Only one branch can run at a time. If the agent is working in one branch, messages you send in another are queued until the active run finishes. ## Research with tools Chat in Papiers is backed by an agent, not a single model call. When a question needs more work, the agent can search the web, search Semantic Scholar, look up papers and their metadata, follow citations, and read across your library. With **Search your library** on, it can also search and read your documents, passages, highlights, notes, equations, and previous conversations. These are the same underlying library primitives exposed through the [Papiers CLI](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/agents). The agent can combine those tools before answering: find related papers, read the relevant sections, compare them with something you highlighted months ago, or pull together the literature around a question. ## Choose a model Click the model name in the composer to switch models. Papiers includes **Sonnet** and **Opus** from Anthropic; **GPT-5.6 Luna**, **Terra**, and **Sol** from OpenAI; and open models including **Kimi K3**, **GLM 5.2**, and **DeepSeek V4 Flash**. The open models run through Fireworks on servers in the United States. Some models support vision and can work directly with images; others are text-only. Papiers handles PDF region captures for either, but pasted images can only be sent to a vision-capable model. Reasoning controls appear where the model supports them, and you can switch models at any point in a conversation. ## Artifacts Papiers can create richer outputs alongside the conversation, including documents, charts, and SVGs. Artifacts open beside the chat and can be updated over subsequent messages. Ask for a chart from a paper’s results, a visual explanation of an idea, or a longer document, then keep refining it in the same conversation. ## Answers stay connected to their sources When Papiers uses material from your library or the web, the answer cites it. Click a citation to open the source at the relevant passage. Questions you ask from a passage stay anchored there too. Return to a document later and you can see what you asked where you asked it. ## Start anywhere You don’t need to have a document open. Start from **Home** when you want to ask across your library without a particular source in mind. From anywhere else in Papiers, `⌘⇧P` opens the same search and chat directly. If you open a source from the answer, Papiers brings the conversation into the Workspace beside it. Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/ask --- # Atlas Atlas takes an academic paper and builds a broader view around it. Create one from any academic PDF in your library to get an expanded explanation of the paper, a map of its ideas, its place in the literature, and the discussion around it. ## Wiki Atlas generates a detailed wiki for the paper in two styles. **Technical** assumes you know the field and goes deeper into the methods, results, and details of the work. **Accessible** explains the same paper with less assumed background. Switch between them at any time. ## Concept Map The **Concept Map** breaks the paper into its main ideas and shows how they connect. Use it to move through the paper at a different level than its original section structure: from individual concepts and methods to the relationships between them. ## Related Work **Related Work** places the paper in its research lineage. **Foundations** shows earlier papers this work builds on. **Follow-ons** shows later papers that cite it and carry the work forward. Open any paper in the graph to explore the surrounding literature. ## Community The **Community** feed collects public discussion around the paper from across the web. This can include X posts, articles, blog posts, and other writing that references or discusses the work, bringing the conversation around a paper into one place. ## Slides Atlas can also turn a paper into a presentation. Choose the length of the presentation, the maximum number of slides, and the venue you’re presenting for. Papiers generates the deck along with speaker notes for each slide. Slide generation requires **Plus** and enough usage credits for the generation. ## Create an Atlas Open an academic paper, then create an Atlas from the **Info** pane in the left sidebar or from the **Map** button in the PDF toolbar. Atlas builds each part in the background, so you can keep reading and come back when it’s ready. Atlas is currently available for academic papers only. Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/atlas --- # Presentations Papiers can turn an academic paper into a presentation as part of its Atlas. The defaults work well for most papers, so you can generate a presentation without configuring anything. If you want, you can also adjust the length, maximum number of slides, or venue. Papiers generates the deck together with speaker notes for every slide. Generation usually takes around 10 minutes. ## Present from Papiers A completed presentation opens in its own tab with the current slide above its speaker notes. Use **Fullscreen** when you want to present or review the deck at a larger size. The slide fills most of the window, with the speaker notes available in a panel on the right. ## Speaker notes Every slide comes with speaker notes generated from the paper. Read them directly in Papiers, copy them to your clipboard, or download the full set as Markdown. ## Export Download the presentation as a PDF when you want to present it elsewhere or share the finished deck. The presentation stays attached to the source paper in Papiers, so you can return to it from the paper’s Atlas later. ## Generate more than one You can create multiple presentations for the same paper with different lengths, slide counts, or venues. Papiers can generate up to two presentations at once. Additional presentations are queued and begin automatically as generation slots become available. ## Usage Presentation generation requires **Plus** and uses additional usage credits. If you don’t have enough usage remaining, you can add extra credits or upgrade your plan before starting the generation. Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/presentations --- # Search Papiers supports semantic and multimodal search over your entire library. Find a passage, figure, equation, note, or conversation directly, or ask the same question and let the agent answer from your library. ## Global Search Press `⌘⇧P` from anywhere in Papiers. Results appear as you type. Click one to open the source, or press `Enter` to ask Papiers instead. That makes Global Search useful for both kinds of retrieval: finding the thing itself, or getting an answer shaped by what you’ve saved. ## Find a document The Library search finds documents by title, author, and other metadata. Narrow the results with **Type**, **Tags**, or **Date**. Press `⌘P` in the Workspace for **Quick Open**. Recent documents appear first; start typing to find another. ## Search inside what you’ve saved Open **Search** from the Workspace sidebar to search across the contents of your library. Papiers indexes text, highlights, notes, conversations, figures, tables, and equations. Search is semantic, so you don’t need the exact wording. Search for a circuit you remember seeing and Papiers can surface the figure inside a textbook or datasheet. Search for something contained in a table and the table can appear as a result. Equations are searchable too. Paste LaTeX and Papiers can find similar expressions even when the notation isn’t an exact match. ## Search within specific documents In Global Search, type `@` to add one or more documents before asking your question. The agent uses those documents as context instead of searching broadly across your library. > [!NOTE] > New documents become available to full search and the agent after processing finishes, usually within about 30 seconds to 3 minutes. You can read them while they’re still processing. Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/search --- # Share what you read A **Share Card** collects the parts of something you found interesting. Highlight passages as you read, add annotations when you have something to say, then turn them into a page you can keep or share. ## Create a Share Card Click **Share Card** after you’ve highlighted a document. Papiers turns each highlight into a frame with some of the surrounding text, so you can see the passage in context. Annotations appear beside the passages they belong to. That context is especially useful later: it helps you remember what was happening around the highlight and why it stood out. Share Cards don’t update automatically. If you add, edit, or remove a highlight or annotation, click **Update Card** to publish the changes. The link stays the same. ## Choose who can see it Share Cards can be: - **Only You** — private, only you - **Unlisted** — anyone with the link - **Public** — anyone, and visible on your profile Private cards are useful as a compact view of what you took away from something you read. For web articles, the original source is linked from the card. ## When to use one Send a Share Card when a link alone doesn’t explain why you think something is worth reading. If a paper has three results you want a colleague to see, share those passages. If a blog post made one argument you keep thinking about, share that argument with your annotation beside it. You can also keep cards private. Come back to a book or paper years later and see your highlights together, with enough surrounding context to jog your memory, without scrolling back through the entire document. ## Your profile Public Share Cards appear on your profile. They collect the papers, articles, books, and posts you’ve shared, together with the passages you highlighted and any annotations you added. Unlisted cards stay off your profile. Private cards remain visible only to you. Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/share --- # Use Papiers with agents Papiers lets agents read your library from the terminal. Claude Code, Codex, or any other agent that can run shell commands can search what you’ve saved and read documents, passages, highlights, notes, equations, and past conversations. They can read your library, but not modify it. ## Ground agents in what you’ve read A research agent usually starts with the prompt, the model’s prior knowledge, and whatever it can find on the web. With Papiers, it can also start from your reading and thinking history. Before proposing a hypothesis or experiment, an agent can search your library, read relevant papers, recover your highlights and notes, and revisit questions you’ve asked before. That gives your past judgment a way to shape what the agent explores next. Highlights, annotations, notes, and conversations are especially useful because they record what caught your attention and what you thought about it. Saved-but-unread documents provide a weaker signal, but can still give the agent promising material to investigate. The CLI includes a `papiers-research` skill that follows this pattern automatically: survey your recent reading, search the library for the task at hand, read relevant sources, then pull in your own notes and highlights before generating. ## Install The CLI is published as [`papiers`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/papiers) on npm and requires Node.js 22 or newer. ```sh npm install -g papiers papiers version ``` ## Create a token Open **Settings → API tokens** in Papiers and create a token. Choose an expiration of 30, 60, or 90 days, or **Never**. Copy the token when it is created; it is only shown once. Authenticate the CLI: ```sh papiers auth login # paste the token when prompted papiers auth status ``` For agents and scripts, set the token directly: ```sh export PAPIERS_TOKEN=... ``` Revoke a token from Settings or from the terminal: ```sh papiers tokens list papiers tokens revoke ID ``` ## Use the research skill The npm package includes: ```text skills/papiers-research/SKILL.md ``` Point Claude Code, Codex, or another agent at the skill, or install it where that agent looks for skills. The skill teaches the agent to distinguish between two kinds of signal in your library: - **Judgment** — highlights, annotations, notes, and conversations from things you’ve actually read and thought about. - **Curation** — things you saved but may not have read yet. For research tasks, it looks at both, but gives more weight to the first. ## Commands | Command | What it does | | --- | --- | | `papiers search QUERY` | Search your library. | | `papiers list` | List documents, highlights, notes, conversations, equations, and other items. | | `papiers read ID [ID…]` | Read one or more items by ID. | | `papiers browse srch_…` | Continue through a saved set of search results. | | `papiers auth login\|status\|logout` | Manage authentication. | | `papiers tokens list\|revoke ID` | List or revoke API tokens. | | `papiers doctor` | Check the installation and connection. | | `papiers help [command]` | Show help for a command. | Run the full reference with: ```sh papiers --help --all ``` ## Search Search uses the same index as Papiers itself. ```sh papiers search "scaling laws for sparse attention" --limit 10 --json ``` A normal search can return matching documents together with evidence from passages, highlights, and equations, as well as standalone notes and conversations. Narrow by type: ```sh papiers search "contrastive loss" --kind passage --json papiers search "rotary embeddings" --kind conversation --json papiers search "L_{BND}" --kind equation --json ``` Search within one document: ```sh papiers search "failure modes" --document-id doc_... --json ``` Project results into IDs when you want to pipe them into another command: ```sh papiers search "mixture of experts" --passage-ids papiers search "mixture of experts" --highlight-ids papiers search "mixture of experts" --doc-ids ``` ## List `papiers list` returns documents by default. ```sh papiers list --limit 10 --json ``` List other kinds of items: ```sh papiers list --kind highlight --since 30d --json papiers list --kind note --json papiers list --kind conversation --json ``` Or sort by recent activity: ```sh papiers list \ --order-by lastEngagedAt:desc \ --limit 20 \ --json ``` To find material you’ve saved but not meaningfully engaged with yet: ```sh papiers list \ --kind document \ --filter engaged.eq=false \ --json ``` ## Read Every item has a stable ID. Pass it to `papiers read` to retrieve the underlying content. ```sh papiers read pas_... --json papiers read hl_... --json papiers read nte_... --json ``` Read several items at once: ```sh papiers read pas_... pas_... pas_... --json ``` For documents, select pages: ```sh papiers read doc_... --pages 1,3-5 --json ``` Limit long reads when an agent only needs part of a source: ```sh papiers read doc_... \ --max-chars-per-item 4000 \ --json ``` Use metadata-only output when you only need citation fields: ```sh papiers read doc_... --format metadata --json ``` Or return text directly: ```sh papiers read pas_... --format markdown papiers read pas_... --format plain ``` ## Pipe commands together The CLI is designed to compose with shell commands and agent tool calls. For example, search for passages and read the matches: ```sh papiers search "contrastive loss" --passage-ids \ | papiers read @- --format plain --json ``` `@-` reads IDs from standard input. Data commands return JSON by default. Pass `--json` when you also want errors returned as JSON instead of plain text. Use `--pretty` when you are reading the output yourself. ## IDs IDs are typed by prefix: | Prefix | Item | | --- | --- | | `doc_` | Document | | `pas_` | Passage | | `hl_` | Highlight | | `cnv_` | Conversation | | `eq_` | Equation | | `nte_` | Note | | `srch_` | Search result set | The CLI also accepts `papiers://` links copied from the app. ## Filters `search` and `list` accept structured filters: ```text --filter FIELD.OP=VALUE ``` For example: ```sh papiers list \ --filter publishedYear.gte=2024 \ --filter annotated.eq=true \ --json ``` Available fields include: ```text title author venue doi arxivId publishedYear publishedDate sourceDomain annotated engaged ``` Operators include: ```text eq in contains prefix gte gt lte lt between ``` Keep structured attributes in filters rather than putting them into the search query: ```sh papiers search "diffusion" \ --filter venue.contains=neurips \ --json ``` Up to 25 filters can be passed in one request. ## Limits The CLI is read-only. It cannot import, edit, highlight, tag, or publish. `--limit` accepts values from 1 to 50. A single read returns up to 200,000 characters per item, and a request can contain up to 100 IDs. Exit codes are: ```text 0 success 1 failure 2 invalid usage ``` Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/agents --- # Keyboard shortcuts Papiers uses the same shortcut layout on Mac, Windows, and Ubuntu. Most shortcuts use `⌘` on Mac and `Ctrl` on Windows and Ubuntu. ## Desktop app ### Navigation | Action | Mac | Windows / Ubuntu | | --- | --- | --- | | Command palette | `⌘K` | `Ctrl+K` | | Quick Open | `⌘P` | `Ctrl+P` | | Open search / ask | `⌘⇧P` | `Ctrl+Shift+P` | | Add to library | `⌘N` | `Ctrl+N` | | Open a PDF from disk | `⌘O` | `Ctrl+O` | | Switch Library ⇄ Workspace | `⌘⇧L` | `Ctrl+Shift+L` | ### Workspace | Action | Mac | Windows / Ubuntu | | --- | --- | --- | | Close tab | `⌘W` | `Ctrl+W` | | Previous tab | `⌘⇧[` | `Ctrl+Shift+[` | | Next tab | `⌘⇧]` | `Ctrl+Shift+]` | | Return to last-used tab | `Ctrl+Tab` | `Ctrl+Tab` | | Cycle tabs backwards | `Ctrl+Shift+Tab` | `Ctrl+Shift+Tab` | | Show or hide sidebar | `⌘B` | `Ctrl+B` | | Split document pane | `⌘\` | `Ctrl+\` | | Focus first pane | `⌘⌥1` | Mac only | | Focus second pane | `⌘⌥2` | Mac only | | Open the document’s note | `⌘E` | `Ctrl+E` | | Exit focus mode | `Esc` | `Esc` | ### Reading | Action | Mac | Windows / Ubuntu | | --- | --- | --- | | Find in document | `⌘F` | `Ctrl+F` | | Screenshot Capture | `⌘⇧S` | `Ctrl+Shift+S` | | Highlight selection in a PDF | `⌘⇧H` | `Ctrl+Shift+H` | | Show or hide context chips | `⌘⇧;` | `Ctrl+Shift+;` | | Add another passage to context | `Shift` + select | `Shift` + select | | Copy selection | `⌘C` | `Ctrl+C` | | Leave Screenshot Capture | `Esc` | `Esc` | ### Chat | Action | Mac | Windows / Ubuntu | | --- | --- | --- | | Send and ask for a reply | `Enter` | `Enter` | | Send quietly | `⌘Enter` | `Ctrl+Enter` | | Queue a message while a reply is generating | `Enter` | `Enter` | | New line | `Shift+Enter` | `Shift+Enter` | | Add a document or note | `@` | `@` | | Clear context | `Esc` | `Esc` | ### Search | Action | Mac | Windows / Ubuntu | | --- | --- | --- | | Open search / ask from anywhere | `⌘⇧P` | `Ctrl+Shift+P` | | Return focus to the search field | `/` | `/` | | Open the selected result | `Enter` | `Enter` | | Ask Papiers | `Enter` with no result selected | `Enter` with no result selected | | Close | `Esc` | `Esc` | ### Presentations | Action | Mac | Windows / Ubuntu | | --- | --- | --- | | Previous slide | `←` | `←` | | Next slide | `→` | `→` | ## Chrome extension The Chrome extension has its own shortcut for opening the Papiers palette. | Action | Mac | Windows / Ubuntu | | --- | --- | --- | | Open Papiers | `⌘⇧K` | `Ctrl+Shift+K` | | Move through commands | `↑` / `↓` | `↑` / `↓` | | Run selected command | `Enter` | `Enter` | | Close | `Esc` | `Esc` | The browser shortcut can be changed at `chrome://extensions/shortcuts` if it conflicts with another extension or website. Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/keyboard-shortcuts --- # Account & data Papiers syncs your library across devices and keeps local copies of what you need to read offline. Your plan, storage, privacy, and account controls live in **Settings**. ## Install and update Papiers runs on macOS, Windows, and Ubuntu. Download the latest version from [papiers.ai/desktop](https://wiki.papiers.ai/desktop). - **Mac:** open the `.dmg` and drag Papiers into **Applications**. - **Windows:** run the `.exe` installer. - **Ubuntu:** download the AppImage, make it executable with `chmod +x`, then open it. See the [Ubuntu install guide](https://wiki.papiers.ai/download/linux) if you need FUSE or other setup help. Papiers checks for updates automatically. Open **Settings → Updates** to check manually, download an update, or restart into the latest version. Uninstalling the desktop app does not delete your library or account. ## Plans and usage Papiers has **Free**, **Plus**, and **Pro** plans. They use the same app and differ mainly in included monthly usage. Pro also includes automatic X bookmark sync. Plus and Pro can add extra usage credits when needed. See [Pricing](https://wiki.papiers.ai/pricing) for current prices and allowances. Usage covers work Papiers does on its servers, including processing imports, Chat, Atlas, and presentation generation. Larger models, higher reasoning effort, and longer generations can use more. See your remaining usage and reset date under **Settings → Billing**. If you run out, your existing library, highlights, notes, and reading remain available. You can wait for the monthly reset, add usage credits, or upgrade your plan. ## Settings Open Settings from the gear in the title bar or with `⌘K` / `Ctrl+K`. | Section | What’s there | | --- | --- | | **Profile** | Display name, username, bio, and your public profile | | **Billing** | Plan, remaining usage, upgrades, and extra usage credits | | **Updates** | App version and updates | | **X accounts** | Connected accounts and bookmark sync | | **API tokens** | Tokens for the [Papiers CLI](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/agents) | | **Storage** | Local PDF storage and pre-downloading | | **Privacy** | Controls for using de-identified product data to improve Papiers | | **Delete account** | Account deletion and recovery | ## Sync across devices Sign into Papiers on another computer and your library appears there. Documents, metadata, tags, highlights, annotations, notes, conversations, Atlases, presentations, and Share Cards sync with your account. Each device keeps its own local cache. Things like open tabs, page position, zoom, and appearance stay local to that device. ### Offline Anything already cached on your device can be opened offline. Turn on **Pre-download PDFs** under **Settings → Storage** to keep a local copy of every PDF in your library. Turn it off if you would rather save disk space and download PDFs as you open them. Highlights and notes save locally while you’re offline and sync when your connection returns. Imports wait and continue automatically. Chat, library-wide search, Atlas, and other server-backed features require an internet connection. ## Delete a document From the Library, open the menu in the top-right corner of a card and choose **Move to Trash**. You can also move the open document to Trash from its **Info** pane in the Workspace sidebar. To see deleted documents, press `⌘K` / `Ctrl+K` and choose **View Trash**. Items stay in Trash for 30 days. You can restore them during that time; after 30 days they are permanently deleted. ## Delete a conversation Open **Chats** in the Workspace sidebar, hover over a conversation, click **•••**, then choose **Delete chat**. Conversation deletion is separate from document Trash. ## Your data Papiers uses your content to provide the features you ask for, including search, Chat, and Atlas. Papiers does not sell or rent your information or share it for advertising. **Settings → Privacy → Help improve Papiers AI** controls whether de-identified information from how you use Papiers may be used to improve its AI features. Only content you explicitly make **Public** or **Unlisted** through a [Share Card](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/share) can be seen by other people. Notes and conversations are private. See the full [Privacy Policy](https://wiki.papiers.ai/privacy) for details. ## Get your data out Highlights and passages can be copied directly from the reader. The Chrome extension can copy saved articles as Markdown. For programmatic access, the [Papiers CLI](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/agents) can search, list, and read documents, highlights, notes, equations, and conversations as JSON, Markdown, or plain text. ## Delete your account Open **Settings → Delete account** and choose **Request deletion**. Papiers signs you out and schedules your account and data for permanent deletion 30 days later. During those 30 days, you can recover the account and cancel the deletion. After the recovery period ends, your library, highlights, notes, conversations, profile, and other account data are permanently deleted. Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/account --- # Troubleshooting Most problems in Papiers tell you what went wrong and what to do next. The common fixes are below. We want Papiers to feel delightful to use. If something gets in the way, use **Feedback** in the desktop app’s title bar, or email [support@papiers.ai](mailto:support@papiers.ai). We read every report and work hard to fix rough edges quickly. You can attach a screenshot, and Papiers includes the app version and platform with your report. ## Something won’t save ### A link won’t import Some sites cannot be fetched directly by Papiers. If the page is behind a login or paywall, or the site blocks automated fetching, save it with the [Chrome extension](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/chrome-extension) instead. The extension saves what your browser can see. If you see **Fetch failed**, click **Retry**. If it fails again, use the extension. ### A saved article is missing content Some pages load more content as you scroll. Open the original page in your browser, scroll through it once, then choose **Resave this page** from the Papiers extension. ### A PDF won’t import If an import shows **Processing failed**, click **Retry**. Papiers supports PDFs up to 200 MB and 7,000 pages. Very large files may need to be split before importing. **Already in your library** means Papiers found an exact copy and skipped the duplicate. If an import says **Waiting for connection**, it will continue automatically when you’re back online. ### You’re out of usage Imports, Chat, Atlas, presentations, and other server-backed features use your monthly allowance. If something is held because you’re out of usage, wait for the next reset, add extra usage credits, or upgrade your plan. Your existing library remains available. See [Account & data](https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/account#plans-and-usage). ## Search or Chat can’t find a document New documents become available to full search and the agent after processing finishes. You can read them while they’re processing. Once indexing is complete, their text, figures, tables, equations, and other content can appear in search. If processing fails, open the document’s **Info** pane and click **Retry Indexing**. ## Text can’t be selected in a PDF Some PDFs are scans with no usable text layer. You can still press `⌘⇧S` on Mac or `Ctrl+Shift+S` on Windows and Ubuntu to capture a region and ask about it in Chat. ## Chat isn’t using the context you expected ### Papiers isn’t searching your library Check **Search your library** in the composer. With it on, the agent can search documents, highlights, notes, equations, and previous conversations. With it off, it does not search your library. Anything you attach directly as a context chip is still sent with the message. ### You want the model to use a specific passage Select the passage before asking. It will appear in the composer as context. Hold `Shift` while selecting to attach more than one passage. ### An image won’t send Pasted images require a vision-capable model. Switch models if the composer rejects the message. PDF region captures work with both kinds of models. Vision-capable models receive the image directly; for text-only models, Papiers sends the region’s extracted text instead. ### A response failed Send the message again. If Chat repeatedly fails while your connection is working, restart Papiers and try once more. If the problem continues, send Feedback from the title bar. ## Atlas isn’t available Atlas is currently available for academic papers. The paper must be in your library and finished processing before you can create one. If indexing failed, use **Retry Indexing** in the **Info** pane first. If **Related Work** is unavailable, Papiers may not have found a matching record for the paper yet. This is more common with newly published work. ## A presentation won’t generate Presentations require Plus and enough available usage for the generation. If you already have two presentations generating, additional requests wait in the queue until a slot is available. Generation usually takes around 10 minutes. ## The Chrome extension isn’t working ### `⌘⇧K` or `Ctrl+Shift+K` does nothing Click the Papiers icon in the browser toolbar. If that works, another extension or website may own the shortcut. Change it at `chrome://extensions/shortcuts`. ### The palette stays on **Checking library…** The extension cannot reach Papiers. Check your connection and open the palette again. ### A saved page hasn’t appeared in the desktop app Give it a moment to sync. If it is still missing, reopen the Library or restart Papiers. ## Zotero import isn’t working Quit Zotero before importing. Papiers reads the Zotero library on your computer, and Zotero may lock the database while it is open. If Papiers cannot find the library automatically, choose **Choose Zotero folder…** and select the data folder shown in Zotero under **Settings → Advanced → Files and Folders**. ## X bookmarks aren’t syncing If the X session expired, reconnect the account from **Settings → X accounts** or from the command palette. Automatic bookmark sync requires Pro. If sync is paused because you’re out of usage, it resumes after your allowance resets or after you add more usage. ## Notes aren’t syncing Notes save locally first. If Papiers says it is retrying, keep the note open while it reconnects. Your writing remains on the device and syncs when the connection returns. ## An update won’t install Open **Settings → Updates**, click **Check**, then **Download** and **Restart to update**. On Ubuntu, you can also download the latest AppImage from the [downloads page](https://wiki.papiers.ai/desktop) and replace the old one. ## Still stuck? Use **Feedback** in the title bar and tell us what you were trying to do and what happened. You can also email [support@papiers.ai](mailto:support@papiers.ai). Source: https://wiki.papiers.ai/docs/troubleshooting