# Getting started

Welcome to Axon. This guide is also available inside the desktop app: it is
the project named **Axon User Guide**, always first in your list of projects,
so you can ask it questions the same way you'd ask any project about its own
documents — try "how do I add a source?"

Not installed yet? Start with [Install Axon](https://exaflux.io/docs/axon/install) and the
[system requirements](https://exaflux.io/docs/axon/system-requirements).

## What Axon is for

Axon answers questions from documents you choose, and shows you exactly which
passage backed each answer. It doesn't answer from the open internet, and it
doesn't send your documents anywhere unless you explicitly share a project on
your local network — see [Settings & providers](https://exaflux.io/docs/axon/settings-and-providers)
for what runs where.

## The first launch

The first time you start Axon, the **Setup assistant** opens. Click
**Download the local models (~3.8 GB)** to fetch the three models Axon runs on
your machine — one to chat, one to search your documents, and one to read
scanned pages (OCR). You'll see progress as each one downloads. After that,
Axon runs them locally and you won't need to do this again.

If you close it before downloading, you can reopen it from **Help → Setup
Assistant…** or **Settings → General → Setup assistant → Open**.

If you already run your own Ollama server, you can use its models instead of
the bundled one — pick one in the model picker, or see [Settings &
providers](https://exaflux.io/docs/axon/settings-and-providers). Either way, everything stays on
hardware you control.

## The shape of the app

- **Sidebar (left):** at the top, a search box that finds chats, artifacts and
  sources. Below it, the open project's sections: **Chats**, **Artifacts** and
  **Sources**.
- **Project menu (bottom of the sidebar):** the open project's name. Click it
  to switch to another project, create a new one, open a folder as a project,
  or manage, share and connect projects. The gear beside it opens
  **Settings**.
- **Main area:** the chat you're in, or a document or artifact you've opened.

Everything in Axon hangs off one idea: a **project** is a folder of documents
plus the chats you have about them. There's no separate "upload" step that
copies files somewhere hidden; a project just points at a folder.

### The Sources section

The **SOURCES** section lists the project's files, and it's open whenever you
open a project:

![The Sources section, open, showing a project's file tree](https://exaflux.io/docs/axon/screenshots/sources-panel-expanded.png)

Click its heading to collapse or expand it. Move the pointer over the heading
and two icons appear on the right — **Reorganize sources into folders** and
**Rebuild the search index**:

![The Sources heading, collapsed, with the reorganize and rebuild-index icons that appear when the pointer is over it](https://exaflux.io/docs/axon/screenshots/sources-panel-collapsed.png)

- **Reorganize sources into folders** proposes a tidier folder layout for you
  to review — see [How to: Organize sources into
  folders](https://exaflux.io/docs/axon/how-to/organize-sources-into-folders).
- **Rebuild the search index** reprocesses every file in the project from
  scratch. You rarely need it — files are kept up to date on their own — but
  it's there if search results seem out of step with your files.

To bring in files you already have, use the `+` button in the chat composer —
see [Projects & sources](https://exaflux.io/docs/axon/projects-and-sources). To write a *blank* new
file from scratch, use the **New file** icon on the **ARTIFACTS** heading.

## Asking by voice

Click the microphone (**Dictate**) in the composer and speak; your words are
transcribed into the message box for you to check before sending. It runs
entirely on your machine — the audio is never uploaded. The first time, Axon
downloads a speech model. Choose a larger model, or name the language you
speak, in **Settings → Language → Dictation**.

## Your first real project

Click the project name at the bottom of the sidebar and choose **Create new
project**, give it a name, and you're done — no folder is created yet. The
first time you add a file, or point it at a folder you already have, that
becomes its permanent home. See [Projects & sources](https://exaflux.io/docs/axon/projects-and-sources)
for the two ways to get documents into a project.

## Where to go next

- New to the app: read [Projects & sources](https://exaflux.io/docs/axon/projects-and-sources), then
  [Search & citations](https://exaflux.io/docs/axon/search-and-citations).
- Want to know why an answer says what it says: read [Search &
  citations](https://exaflux.io/docs/axon/search-and-citations).
- Something isn't working: jump straight to
  [Troubleshooting](https://exaflux.io/docs/axon/troubleshooting).