Quick Start Guide

This guide walks you through the most important things you can do with Atlas right after installing it. Follow along from top to bottom — each step builds on the last.

Step 1: Install and Open Your Vault

If you haven’t installed Atlas yet, follow the Installation guide.
On first launch, Atlas asks you to choose a vault folder. Either create a new folder (e.g., My Atlas Vault) or point it at an existing folder of markdown notes.
Want sample notes to explore? Download the Example Vault and unzip it. You can either point Atlas at the extracted folder as your vault, or copy the unzipped files into an existing vault. Either way, you’ll have pre-built notes to try out search, linking, and AI chat right away.
Atlas will set up its internal folder structure and open the main window.

See Your First Vault for a detailed explanation of what Atlas creates.

Step 2: Create Your First Note

There are two ways to create a note:

Using the Files tab:

Click the Files tab in the upper navigation bar.
Click the 📄 file icon in the toolbar.
Give it a name and start writing. Atlas uses standard markdown — headings with #, bold with **, links with [[note name]] for wiki-links.

By asking the agent:

Open the Chat tab and type something like:

“Create a note called Meeting Notes with today’s date and add a few bullet points about the Atlas onboarding.”

The agent will create the file for you and confirm when it’s done.

Step 3: Have Your First Conversation

Click the Chat tab.
Type a question or request. For example:
- “What notes do I have?”
- “Summarize what I’ve been working on this week.”
- “Help me write a weekly review template.”
As you type, Atlas searches your vault for relevant notes and includes them as context. Your responses are shaped by your own information — not generic internet knowledge.

Step 4: Try Voice Input

If you want to use your voice instead of typing:

Click the microphone button in the chat input bar.
Speak your question or message.
Click the button again to stop. Alternatively, Atlas will stop listening after a half-second pause with no talking.
Atlas transcribes your audio and processes your request as normal.

Step 5: Check Your Daily Note

Atlas creates daily notes at daily/YYYY-MM-DD.md. You can use them as a journal, a task list, or a place to capture anything that happens during the day.

In the chat bar, type: “Open today’s daily note.”

Or use the Files tab to navigate to the daily/ folder.
Atlas creates the daily note when you first access it — just ask Atlas to open today’s note, or click the Today button.
Try asking the agent to add something to it: “Add a task to my daily note: review onboarding docs.”

The agent can also generate a daily briefing for you — type “Give me a daily report” to see a summary of your tasks, recent notes, and upcoming events.

Step 6: Explore the Memory System

Atlas remembers things about you across conversations. After a few chats, try these:

Tell Atlas something to remember: “Remember that my preferred meeting time is mornings.”
Ask what it knows: “What do you know about my goals?”
Check your profile: The file atlas/identity/user.md in your vault contains your profile. You can read and edit it directly.

Atlas stores long-term facts in atlas/memory/long-term/facts.md — organized into sections for facts, goals, relationships, and projects. Everything is in plain markdown on your own device, so you can always read or edit it yourself.

What to Do Next

You’re up and running. Here’s where to go from here:

Topic	Where to Go
How the vault is organized	Vault
Getting the most from AI chat	AI Chat
All 40+ agent tools	Agent Tools
Voice features	Voice
Subscription plans and pricing	Account & Billing
Settings reference	Settings