Quickstart

From a new account to a finished, cited answer. This walks through the web app at researchanything.ai.

01Create an account

1. Go to researchanything.ai and choose Sign up. If you type a question on the home page first, it is kept through sign-up and waits for you in the research box.
2. Enter your name, your email and a password of at least 8 characters, then choose Continue.
3. We email you a six-digit code. Enter it to create the account. If it does not arrive, you can ask for a new one.

You can also use Sign in with Essarion, which uses an Essarion ID, the account shared across Essarion products.

Every new account starts on the Free plan, with 3 research runs a month.

02Make a project

Every research run is saved into a project, so you need one before your first run. Create it from any of these:

• the + next to Projects in the sidebar,
• Library → New project,
• the project chip inside the research box → New project.

A project needs a name. A description is optional. The research box remembers the last project you used.

03Ask a question

Open Research (or New research) and type your question the way you would say it. Press Enter to start; Shift + Enter adds a new line.

The settings in the box

• Model. RA-Lite on Free. On Pro and Researcher, RA-1 is selected and you can switch to RA-2, Max or Auto. Hover a model to read what it does.
• How deep. Scan, Deep Dive or Exhaustive, on the Pro models. Deep Dive is the default.
• Sources. Web, Papers or Auto. Auto is the default.
• Project. Where the run is saved.

If a question is too vague to research well, an offer to Sharpen this question appears under the box. It suggests a tighter version, which you can take or ignore.

What a good question looks like

• Specific. "Does metformin reduce all-cause mortality in type 2 diabetes?" works better than "Tell me about diabetes drugs."
• Time-bounded when it matters. If you want recent material, or a particular period, say so in the question.
• One question per run. If you have three, run three.

04Watch the run

The run page shows the step it is on, such as "Step 5 of 9", with a short note of what it is doing. Each search appears as it runs, with the results it returned, and sources appear as they are found and read.

Choose Stop to end a run early. Whatever it gathered stays on the page.

05Read the answer

When the run finishes you get:

• The answer, with a citation chip after each supported claim. Click a chip to see the source's publisher, title and a snippet. If a claim cites several sources, page through them.
• Sources, the ones the answer stands on. Open one to read the run's analysis of it, ask about it, open the original page, or copy its citation.
• Other sources, collapsed. These were found but not used. You can have up to three of them deep-read and added to the set.
• A receipt: how long it took, how many sources it found and deep-read, and the share of claims backed by evidence.

Use Copy to copy the answer, or Export to download it as a Markdown file with its source list.

06Keep going

• Ask a follow-up. Type in the "Ask about this run…" box at the foot of the run. The project chat opens beside the run with your question. See Project chat.
• Cite something. Open Cite to cite a link in the format you need, or to find sources for your own writing. See Cite.
• Use the API. Developers can create a key in the API Console, from the account menu. Keys start with ra-. Research through the API runs on RA-Lite and uses the same monthly research runs as the app. See API reference.

07Limits and common problems

Monthly limits

Research runs and project chat messages are monthly allowances that reset on the 1st. When you reach one, new runs or messages wait until the reset or an upgrade. Your Profile shows what you have used. Plan limits are on Models and plans.

A model is locked

RA-1, RA-2, Max and Auto need Pro or Researcher. Choosing one on Free shows an upgrade prompt instead.

A page could not be read

Some sites block automated readers. When a site refuses, ResearchAnything reads the Internet Archive's copy if there is one. Otherwise the source is marked unavailable and the run carries on with the others.

Writing the answer failed

If the run gathered sources but could not write the answer, choose Try writing the answer again. It reuses the sources it already has instead of searching again.