Atlasnote User Guide

Build a private atlas from everything you read

Atlasnote is a personal knowledge management tool that helps you collect, organize, understand, and create. Whether it's web articles, PDF documents, e-books, podcasts, or videos, everything can be gathered into one quiet workspace.

Table of Contents

1. Getting Started
2. Interface Overview
3. Content Collection
4. Reading & Annotation
5. AI Assistant Features
6. Content Organization
7. Writing & Creation
8. Listen Mode
9. Settings & Configuration
10. Use Case Examples
11. Keyboard Shortcuts

Getting Started

Step 1: Create an Account

1. Open the Atlasnote application
2. Click the "Sign Up" button
3. Enter your email and click to request an invite code
4. Check your email and copy the invite code
5. Enter the invite code and password to complete registration

Step 2: Configure AI Services

To use AI features (summaries, mind maps, translations, etc.), you need to configure API keys:

1. Click ⚙️ in the bottom left to open "Settings"
2. Select the "API Keys" tab
3. Enter your API key (supports OpenAI, Gemini, Claude, DeepSeek, etc.)
4. Click Save
5. For PPT, infographics, or video narration features, add both Gemini and OpenAI API keys

Step 3: Add Your First Content

1. Click the ➕ button on the main interface, or click the Add Content tab
2. Choose how to add:
   • URL: Paste a link
   • Text: Type or paste text directly
   • File: Upload PDF, EPUB, audio/video, or Markdown files
3. Wait for processing to complete, and the content will appear in your library

Interface Overview

Sidebar Navigation

The left sidebar provides main feature access:

• 📚 Library: Browse all saved content
• 🏷️ Tags: Browse content by tags
• 📅 Daily Log: View content saved by date
• 📁 Projects: Custom project collections
• 📄 Documents: View and edit long documents
• 📓 Notebook: View all highlights and notes
• 🎙️ Listen: Manage generated audio files
• 💬 Chat: Chat with AI and view chat history
• 🗑️ Trash: Restore or delete removed content
• ⚙️ Settings: Configure preferences and API keys

Work Modes

The top navigation bar provides 4 work modes:

1. Study Mode - Read and annotate content
2. Write Mode - Create and edit documents
3. Podcast Mode - Convert text to audio
4. Multiple Mode - Run multiple AI generation tasks simultaneously

Content Collection

Supported Content Types

• Articles (Web URLs): Auto-extracts main content
• PDF (.pdf): Supports text extraction and translation
• E-books (EPUB, MOBI, AZW): Complete e-book reading experience
• Video (MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, WebM): Auto-transcribes subtitles
• Audio (MP3, M4A, WAV, AAC, OGG): Auto-transcribes to text
• Text (Markdown, plain text): Direct input or paste
• Tweets (Twitter/X links): Extracts tweet content

Methods to Add Content

Method 1: Add via URL

1. Click ➕ → Select "URL"
2. Paste the article link
3. Click "Add"

Supported link types:

• Regular web articles
• Twitter/X tweets and articles
• WeChat Official Account articles
• YouTube/Bilibili videos (auto-transcribed)
• Podcast links (Xiaoyuzhou, Ximalaya)

Method 2: Upload Files

1. Click ➕ → Select "File"
2. Choose local files (PDF, EPUB, audio/video, etc.)
3. Wait for upload and processing to complete

Method 3: Direct Text Input

1. Click ➕ → Select "Text"
2. Enter a title
3. Type or paste content in the editor (supports Markdown)
4. Click "Save"

Method 4: Browser Extension (Desktop)

After installing the browser extension, you can save the current webpage to Atlasnote with one click.

Reading & Annotation

Reading Interface

After opening any content, you enter the reading interface:

• Center area: Main content (article, PDF, video, etc.)
• Left panel (optional): Table of contents navigation
• Right panel (optional): Notes, chat, summary

Highlighting

1. Select the text you want to highlight
2. Choose a highlight color from the popup toolbar
3. Optional: Add a note comment

Adding Notes

1. Select text and click "Add Note"
2. Or click the note icon on a highlight
3. Enter your thoughts and comments
4. Notes are saved automatically

PDF-Specific Features

• Page Navigation: Jump via thumbnails or page numbers
• Zoom: Adjust reading size
• Table of Contents: Quick chapter navigation
• Translation: Enable split-screen translation mode

Video/Audio Content

• Auto-Transcription: AI automatically generates transcripts; transcripts can be copied, saved, and translated
• Timestamps: Click text to jump to that position
• Playback Controls: Adjust speed, skip around

AI Assistant Features

Atlasnote includes a powerful AI assistant to help you better understand and process content.

Generate Summary

1. Open any content
2. Click the "Summary" panel on the right
3. Select output language
4. Click "Generate Summary"

Summaries include:

• Core insights extraction
• Structured outline
• Key takeaways

Generate Mind Map

1. In the content reader or project
2. Switch to "Multiple Mode"
3. Select "Mind Map"
4. Click generate

Mind map features:

• Visualize knowledge structure
• Interactive expand/collapse
• Save as document

Translate Content

Article Translation:

1. Open the article
2. Click the translate button
3. Select target language
4. View translation results

PDF Split-Screen Translation:

1. Open the PDF
2. Enable "Translation View"
3. Original on left, translation on right
4. Auto-translates page by page

Generate PPT

1. Select content or project
2. Switch to "Multiple Mode"
3. Select "PPT"
4. AI generates an outline, then complete slides
5. Download the PPT file

Generate Infographics

1. Select content
2. Choose "Infographic" mode
3. AI analyzes content and generates visual charts

Generate Video Narration

1. Select content
2. Choose video mode
3. AI generates narration video based on selected content

AI Chat

On any content, you can have a conversation with AI:

1. Click the "Chat" panel on the right
2. Enter your question
3. AI responds based on the current content

Common questions:

• "Summarize this article in three sentences"
• "What are the main arguments in this article?"
• "What is the author's view on XX?"
• "Help me understand the third paragraph"

Chat Mode Types

• Document Chat: Q&A for specific documents
• Global Chat: General AI conversation
• Web Search: Search the internet for latest info
• Guided Learning: Socratic-style guided learning
• Content Analysis: Deep analysis of document content

Content Organization

Status Management

Each content item has three states:

• Unread: Newly added, not yet started
• In Progress: Currently reading
• Archived: Finished reading, kept for reference

Using Tags

1. Click "Add Tag" on a content card
2. Enter a tag name or select existing tags
3. You can add multiple tags to one content

Tag usage suggestions:

• By topic: #AI, #Design, #Programming
• By status: #ToRead, #Featured, #Reference
• By project: #ThesisProject, #ProductResearch

Creating Projects

Projects organize collections of related content:

1. Click "Projects" in the sidebar
2. Click "New Project"
3. Enter a project name
4. Add related content from your library

Project features:

• Centralized management of related materials
• Create documents within projects
• Generate project-level summaries/mind maps

Daily Log

Automatically organize your reading by date:

1. Click "Daily Log" in the sidebar
2. Select a date to view content saved that day
3. Generate audio summaries for content uploaded each day

Writing & Creation

Create Documents

1. Switch to "Write Mode"
2. Click "New Document"
3. Start editing

Editor Features

Text Formatting:

• Headings (H1-H3)
• Bold, italic, underline
• Ordered/unordered lists
• Task lists
• Block quotes
• Code blocks
• Dividers

Insert Content:

• Images (URL or upload)
• Mermaid diagrams
• Embedded media

Document Styling

Click the "Style" button to customize document appearance:

• Theme: Default, Dark, Sepia, Paper, Ocean, Forest
• Font: Sans-serif, Serif, Monospace
• Font Size: Adjustable
• Line Height: Adjustable
• Cover Image: Add a cover to the document

Version History

Documents are saved automatically. You can:

1. Click "Version History"
2. View all historical versions
3. Restore to any version

Listen Mode

Convert text content to audio, freeing your eyes.

Listen Mode Types

• Quick Listen: 3-minute key points summary; best for quickly grasping main points
• Conversation Mode: Relaxed host-guest dialogue; best for commuting and exercise
• News Brief: News-style sequential reporting; best for batch content overview
• Full Reading: Complete original text reading; best for deep listening

Generate Audio

1. Open any content
2. Click the "Listen" panel on the right
3. Select listen mode
4. Choose voice and language
5. Click "Generate"

Playback Controls

• Play/Pause
• Adjust playback speed
• Skip to position
• Mark as listened

Listen Center

In the sidebar "Listen" section you can:

• View all generated audio
• Manage playlists
• Batch generate audio

Settings & Configuration

Profile

• Change display name
• Change password

Preferences

• Interface Theme: Light, Dark, Neutral, Follow System
• Default View: Page shown at startup
• Auto Advance: Auto-switch to next item after actions
• Sidebar Panel: Set default displayed panel
• AI: Enable/disable AI features

Language Settings

• Interface Language: Choose UI display language
• Output Language: Default language for AI-generated content
• Auto Detect: Automatically detect content language

API Key Configuration

Supported AI providers:

1. OpenAI
   • Chat View model options: o3-mini, o4-mini, gpt-5, gpt-5.1, gpt-5.2
   • Default: gpt-4o-mini
   • Web Search: gpt-4o-search-preview
   • Image: dall-e-3
   • Transcription: whisper-1
2. Gemini
   • Chat View model options: gemini-2.5-flash, gemini-2.5-flash-lite, gemini-2.5-pro, gemini-3-pro-preview, gemini-3-flash-preview
   • Default: gemini-2.5-flash
   • Web Search: gemini-3-flash-preview
   • Image: gemini-3-pro-image-preview
   • Transcription: gemini-3-pro-preview
3. DeepSeek
   • Chat View model options: deepseek-chat, deepseek-reasoner
   • Default: deepseek-chat
   • Web Search: None
   • Image: None
   • Transcription: None
4. Claude
   • Chat View model options: claude-sonnet-4-20250514, claude-opus-4-20250514, claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929, claude-haiku-4-5-latest, claude-opus-4-5-latest
   • Default: claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022
   • Web Search: claude-opus-4-5-20251101
   • Image: None
   • Transcription: None
5. KIMI
   • Chat View model options: moonshot-v1-32k, moonshot-v1-128k, kimi-latest, kimi-k2-0905-preview, kimi-k2-turbo-preview-2025-09-17, kimi-k2-thinking-preview-2025-09-17
   • Default: moonshot-v1-32k
   • Web Search: kimi-k2-thinking-preview-2025-09-17
   • Image: None
   • Transcription: None
6. GLM
   • Chat View model options: glm-4.7-flash, glm-4-flash-250414, glm-4-flashx-250414, glm-4.5, glm-4.5-flash, glm-4.7
   • Default: glm-4.7-flash
   • Web Search: glm-4.7
   • Image: None
   • Transcription: None
7. MiniMax
   • Chat View model options: abab6.5g, MiniMax-Text-01, MiniMax-M1, MiniMax-M2, MiniMax-M2.1
   • Default: abab6.5s-chat
   • Web Search: None
   • Image: None
   • Transcription: None

Configuration steps:

1. Go to "Settings" → "API Keys"
2. Enter the API key for your chosen provider
3. Click Save (key validity is automatically verified)

Use Case Examples

Scenario 1: Researcher's Literature Management

Goal: Organize and analyze academic papers

1. Create a "Research Project"
2. Upload PDF papers to the project
3. Use highlights to mark key findings while reading
4. Generate summaries for each paper
5. Use AI chat to ask about paper details
6. Write a literature review in the project document
7. Generate a mind map to visualize research threads

Scenario 2: Lifelong Learner's Knowledge Building

Goal: Continuous learning from daily reading

1. Use browser extension to save interesting articles
2. Tag by category: #Programming, #Design, #Business
3. Use spare time to listen to "Quick Mode" audio
4. Review "Daily Log" on weekends
5. Generate detailed notes for selected articles
6. Periodically organize into topic projects

Scenario 3: Content Creator's Material Library

Goal: Collect and organize creative materials

1. Save inspiration sources (articles, videos, tweets)
2. Use highlights to mark quotable points
3. Record your own ideas in notes
4. Create content projects (e.g., "Next Video")
5. Use AI to generate outlines and mind maps
6. Complete first drafts in Write Mode
7. Generate PPT for video scripts

Scenario 4: Language Learner's Immersive Reading

Goal: Learn foreign languages through original content

1. Add foreign language articles or PDFs
2. Enable split-screen translation mode
3. Use AI chat to ask about confusing paragraphs
4. Highlight new words and sentence patterns
5. Generate "Conversation Mode" audio to practice listening
6. Use "Guided Learning" mode for deep understanding

FAQ

Q: Why aren't AI features working?

A: Please check if you have configured a valid API key in "Settings" → "API Keys".

Q: How do I add content in bulk?

A: Currently supports adding one at a time. You can use the browser extension to quickly save multiple webpages.

Q: Where is my data stored?

A: Desktop version data is stored locally. All content is private by default and not uploaded to the cloud.

Q: What languages are supported?

A: Most language content is supported. AI features support multilingual output.

Q: How do I export my data?

A: Documents can be exported as Markdown. Generated PPTs can be downloaded directly.

Q: Why is PDF translation slow?

A: PDF translation is done page by page. First-time translation takes time to process. Translation results are cached and will display instantly when viewed again.

Getting Help

If you encounter issues while using the app:

1. Refer to this User Guide
2. Use "Global Chat" mode in the app to ask questions
3. Visit the project GitHub to submit an Issue

Happy Reading & Learning!