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Getting started with Scient

Scient is a workspace where an AI can help with the real files, tools, and outputs of your project. Getting Started gives you a short path from opening Scient to doing that first piece of work.

  1. Connect your AI. Choose a provider and follow its install or sign-in step. The provider supplies the AI models; Scient gives them the project workspace and controls. See Providers in Scient.
  2. Open a project. Add an existing folder or create a new one. A scientific project can be an analysis, experiment, manuscript, literature review, code repository, or any other folder whose files belong together. See Work inside a project.
  3. Message Scient. Open a conversation, choose the model and permission mode you want, and describe the result you need. The AI can inspect the project and use its available tools rather than relying only on text pasted into chat. See Message Scient.

Voice dictation is optional. To set it up, open Settings → Voice, choose a speech model, and follow the download or permission step shown there. See Voice dictation.

On a new, empty workspace, the Getting Started flow can connect a provider, save a few optional local preferences, and add your first project. You can skip it at any time. To reopen it later, use Settings → General → Getting started.

You can also Import projects and conversations from the final setup step. This optional action finds existing Claude Code and Codex projects; it does not replace Add project. See Import projects and conversations for selection and history limits.

All providers are listed on the Connect step. Scroll within the provider list to see additional providers; the card stays compact. Missing runtimes with supported Scient-managed installation show Install; installed providers needing account authentication show Sign in. Both retain a Manage icon. Other states, including disabled providers, show Manage, which opens the shared provider management dialog without leaving onboarding. Enabling a provider in that dialog does not automatically install it or sign in.

Provider installation and sign-in use the same provider-owned account flows available elsewhere in Scient. Work preferences and an optional custom answer are saved only on the current device.