Using ScholarOS

AI Copilot

The AI Copilot is your personal academic assistant. It reads your vault, answers questions grounded in your material, and helps you generate study resources — all within a chat interface that sits alongside your notes.

Opening the Chat

The AI Copilot panel slides open from the right side of the window. You can open and close it at any time:

Keyboard toggle

Press Cmd+L to open or close the chat panel. The keyboard shortcut works from anywhere in the app — no need to click into the editor first.

Sidebar button

Click the chat bubble icon in the right sidebar or the toolbar. The panel slides open with your current conversation ready.

Multi-Turn Conversations

Each chat session keeps a running history. You can ask follow-up questions, refine your queries, and the AI maintains context throughout the conversation.

Conversation tabs

The AI Copilot supports multiple conversation tabs, each with its own history and context. Click the + next to the tabs bar to start a fresh conversation. Switch between tabs to work on different topics side by side without losing context.

Context window

Each tab maintains a rolling context window of the conversation history. The AI remembers what was discussed earlier in the session, so you can build complex analyses across multiple turns. Older messages are automatically summarised if the conversation grows long.

Model Selection

You can choose which AI model powers each conversation tab. Every model is available under a single ScholarOS subscription — no separate API keys needed.

GPT-5

Best for creative tasks, brainstorming, and generating study materials. Fast response times.

Claude 4

Excellent for analytical reasoning, structured outputs, and detailed citation. Strong on technical explanations.

Gemini

Great for multimodal tasks, long-context understanding, and processing large document batches.

Switch models mid-conversation at any time using the dropdown at the top of the chat panel. Different models for different tasks — you're not locked into one.

@file Mentions

You can reference specific files in your vault directly from the chat input. Type @ in the message box to trigger the file picker.

How it works

Start typing @ followed by a filename. ScholarOS searches your vault and shows matching files. Select one to attach it to your message. The AI will read that specific file when generating its response.

Multiple references

You can attach multiple files in a single message. The AI considers all referenced files when formulating its answer. This is useful for asking comparative questions across documents.

Knowledge files

In addition to notes and PDFs, you can reference your wiki pages and generated outputs. This lets the AI build on top of its previous analysis without repeating work.

Skills System

Skills are specialised AI capabilities that extend what the Copilot can do. Each skill is optimised for a specific academic task.

doc-collab

Collaborative document editing with AI. Suggest changes, rephrase sections, and get real-time writing assistance inside the editor.

revision-guide

Generate structured revision documents from your wiki pages. The AI condenses key topics into focused study guides with summaries, key terms, and practice questions.

anki-flashcards

Create Anki-compatible flashcard decks from your notes. The AI extracts key facts, definitions, and relationships, then formats them as question-answer pairs.

mock-exam

Generate practice exams in the style of your past papers. The AI analyses question patterns and produces new questions that test the same concepts.

summarise

Quickly summarise any document, topic, or conversation. The AI distils the key points into a concise overview.

Enable skills from the chat panel toolbar or let the AI suggest the right skill for your question. Skills can be stacked — for example, use summarise + anki-flashcards to turn a textbook chapter into flashcards.

Web Search Toggle

By default, the AI Copilot is scoped to your vault. When you need up-to-date information, you can toggle web search on.

How to use it

Click the web search toggle in the chat toolbar (globe icon). When enabled, the AI can search the internet for current information to supplement your vault content. The toggle resets per-conversation tab.

When to use it

Use web search for fact-checking, looking up recent developments, or finding supplementary resources. The AI clearly labels which parts of its response come from your vault and which come from the web.

Voice Input & Text-to-Speech

ScholarOS supports voice input and spoken responses, powered by Deepgram and ElevenLabs respectively.

Voice input (Deepgram)

Click the microphone icon in the chat input to start speaking. Your speech is transcribed in real-time using Deepgram's academic-vocabulary-optimised model. Press the icon again to stop. The transcribed text is inserted into the message box as if you typed it.

Text-to-Speech (ElevenLabs)

Click the speaker icon on any AI response to hear it read aloud. ElevenLabs provides natural-sounding voices with academic pronunciation. Adjust the speech speed in Settings.

Permission System & Human-in-the-Loop

The AI Copilot is designed to assist, not take over. Every destructive or irreversible action requires your approval.

Permissions by action type

Read-only (view notes, search vault) — always allowed, no confirmation needed
Edit (modify notes, update wiki) — requires a single click to confirm
Create / Delete (add or remove files) — requires explicit approval with preview
Settings (change app configuration) — always requires confirmation

Permission prompts

When the AI needs to perform an action that requires approval, a permission prompt appears in the chat panel showing exactly what it wants to do and which files are affected. You can approve, reject, or modify the action before it executes.

Session permissions

You can adjust default permissions per session in the AI Copilot settings. Choose between “Ask every time”, “Allow for this session”, or “Always allow for this note”.

Explore the Knowledge Graph

See how the AI connects your notes into a living knowledge network.

Knowledge Graph Capture a Note