Getting started

Create a research project, give a worker a small task, and save the result as a checkpoint. No additional capability environment or Docker setup is needed for this walkthrough.

Launch and connect a model

Follow the platform quick start in the README, then keep npm start running in Terminal. Open the complete browser link it prints, including the one-use sign-in token. After a restart, use the new link.

In Settings → Models & providers, enter your provider key and choose a default model for new workers. A saved key takes precedence over a launch-environment key. Settings can replace or remove the saved key; removing it exposes any remaining environment fallback. Saving a key does not verify model access. Sending work uses your provider account and may incur charges; startup itself needs no key. See security before sharing settings or backups.

Create your first project

Choose Create project and select a folder for the project. Its folder name becomes the project name, which you can rename later. Polariton creates an initial node and worker. Each node has its own workspace within the project.

Select the initial worker. Check its Model selection and leave Environment as No environment for this task. See research project structure for how projects, nodes and workers fit together.

Give the worker a small task

Send a concrete request with a file you can inspect:

Create a short plan for comparing two qubit readout settings. Save it as readout-plan.md, covering the measurements to collect, analysis steps, and checks needed before drawing conclusions. Use synthetic examples only.

This is a planning exercise, not an instrument connection or a validated experimental protocol. The worker can use its built-in tools to write the file.

Inspect and guide the work

Read the response, inspect tool activity in the trajectory view, and open the generated file in the workspace. Review any permission requests. The workspace toolbar also lets you open the node's folder in your system file manager when a desktop session is available.

Send follow-up guidance through the same message box, including while the worker is working. Use Interrupt to stop its current work. If the outcome is uncertain, inspect its status and history before sending a replacement task. Reading saved history does not activate a model.

Save a checkpoint

After reviewing the file and finishing immediate writes, choose Publish checkpoint in the workspace toolbar. A checkpoint retains a commit in the node's shared Git history. Publication includes shared changes and may capture unfinished work from other workers; avoid manual Git operations during publication.

To explore an alternative, use Create node from checkpoint. The new node receives supported files in an independent repository, without the original workers or their conversations. Add another worker to the same node instead when you want a separate conversation working on the same files.

Read checkpoints and inheritance for staging rules, file exclusions, retained history and recovery guidance.

Add capabilities when needed

Ask a worker to connect existing tools or build a custom lab capability. Follow capabilities and environments for examples. Select a prepared environment before a worker's first activation; use a new worker to adopt a different assignment afterward. Sending ordinary work does not install infrastructure.

Stop and return

Press Ctrl+C in the launch terminal, or run npm stop from the repository in another terminal. Closing the browser does not stop ongoing work. Run npm start again and open the new link to return to saved projects; inspect interrupted work before resuming.

Follow storage and backups to preserve your data and research folders. See troubleshooting if setup or execution fails.