Getting Started

This guide walks you through installing Archivist and getting it ready to use for the first time.

Installation

Archivist is available from the Microsoft Store for Windows.

1. Open the Microsoft Store on your Windows computer.
2. Search for Archivist.
3. Click Install.

Once installed, you can launch Archivist from your Start menu like any other application.

First Launch: Downloading the AI Models

The first time you open Archivist, it will ask you to download the AI models it needs to work. These are the files that power the chat, document processing, and voice input features.

The download is about 1.7 GB and only happens once. After that, the models are stored on your computer and reused every time you open the app.

When the download prompt appears, you have two options:

• Download Now — Starts the download immediately. You'll see a progress bar showing which file is being downloaded and how far along it is. This usually takes a few minutes depending on your internet speed.
• Explore First — Lets you look around the app before downloading. You can browse the interface, but chat, document uploads, and voice input won't work until the models are downloaded.

If you choose to explore first, or if you cancel the download partway through, you can always start it again from the Help & Licensing tab.

Once the download finishes, Archivist will spend a few seconds loading the models into memory, and then you're ready to go.

The Basic Workflow

Using Archivist follows a simple three-step process:

Step 1: Prepare your documents

Go to the Pre-Process tab and drop in your files — PDFs, Word documents, spreadsheets, or any of the 50+ supported formats. Archivist converts them into clean text that the AI can read.

You can download the converted text to review it before uploading, or move straight to the next step.

Step 2: Upload to the database

Switch to the Upload tab and load your converted text files. Archivist will break them into smaller passages, process them for search, and store them in your local database.

You can organize your documents into file sets — like project folders — so you can search specific groups of files later.

Step 3: Ask questions

Open the Query tab, select which files or file sets you want to search, and type your question. The AI reads through your documents, finds the most relevant passages, and gives you an answer based on what it found.

That's it. Everything else in the app — browsing your library, inspecting individual passages, tuning AI settings — builds on top of this core workflow.

Next Steps

Now that Archivist is set up, you can dive into the features:

• Asking Questions — Start chatting with your documents
• Preparing Documents — Learn about the conversion process
• Uploading Documents — Understand chunking and file sets