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Introduction

Getting started

This page walks through opening Citet for the first time, creating a project, and compiling a PDF. It assumes you are using the hosted instance or a self-hosted deployment that someone has already set up.

Sign in

Visit your Citet instance and choose a configured sign-in method, such as Google or your university. To connect another method to an existing account, sign in first and open Account → Sign-in methods.

After signing in you land on the projects page. New accounts start with an empty workspace.

Create your first project

  1. From the projects page, click New project.
  2. Give the project a name. The name only matters for finding it later; you can rename it at any time.
  3. Citet creates the project with a starter main.tex. The editor opens automatically.

Prefer a head start? You can also create a project from a template in the Loadclass library instead of a blank file.

Edit and compile

The default layout has the file tree on the left, the editor in the middle, and the PDF viewer on the right. You can drag the dividers, hide panels, or open the command palette with ⌘K / Ctrl+K.

Hit the compile button (or ⌘↵ / Ctrl+Enter) to render the PDF. Tectonic is the default compiler and uses the package bundle installed with the worker. You can choose pdfLaTeX or XeLaTeX in project settings.

Invite collaborators

  1. Open the project menu and choose Members.
  2. Enter the collaborator's email and pick a role. Roles control whether they can edit or only view.
  3. When email delivery is configured, they receive a project link. Access is granted when they sign in with a verified account using the invited email. Project settings shows any delivery failure; you can also share the link directly.

Where to go next

  • The editor — workspace layouts, autocompletion, hover tooltips, linting, and keyboard shortcuts.
  • PDF viewer — zoom, text search, and SyncTeX jumps between the source and output.
  • Compilation — choosing a compiler, reading logs, and understanding the compile panel.
  • Citations — connecting a Zotero library and citing references.
  • Comments & review — leaving feedback anchored to source lines and resolving review threads.
  • Collaboration — how concurrent edits, presence, and offline sync work.
  • AI assistant — connecting a provider and using the assistant to review and edit your project.
  • Editor integrations — using Citet from VSCode or Neovim.
  • Plugins — the capability model and writing your own plugin.