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Get started with OpenBio in just 5 minutes. This guide walks you through setting up your account and running your first analysis - no installation required since everything runs in your browser.

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Step 1: Create Your Account

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Sign up with Google

Create your OpenBio account using Google authentication:
  1. Visit app.openbio.tech or click “Launch App” on the top right of this page
  2. Click “Sign in with Google”
  3. Grant permissions when prompted
  4. You’ll be redirected to the OpenBio interface
No separate password needed - we use your Google account for security.

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Step 2: Create a Project

When you first sign in, you will be prompted to create a project. This helps you organize your research into separate workspaces.
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Create a project

Create a project to organize your research:
  • Click the “New Project” button in the project selector
  • Type your project name and description (optional)
  • Choose a color for your project
  • Click “Create Project”

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Step 3: Explore the Interface

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Navigate the workspace

After creating a project, you will be redirected to the project dashboard. Familiarize yourself with the three main areas:
  • Sidebar (Left): Navigation, project selector, file and vizualization browser
  • Research Panel (Center): Visualizations, notes, todos, predictions. Your files and vizualizations will be shown here.
    You can close or open any tab in the research panel. You can also drag and drop the tabs to reorder them.
  • Chat Panel (Right): Here you interact with OpenBio. You can type your research question in the chat box and OpenBio will respond to you.
    Try clicking the various buttons at the top of the chat panel to show/hide the research panel, create a new chat, collapse the sidebar, and your settings.

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Step 4: Start Your First Chat

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Begin your first conversation

Start chatting with OpenBio to explore its capabilities:
  1. Click the ”+” button in the sidebar to create a new chat
  2. Type your research question in the chat box
  3. Try these example prompts:
    • “What is the structure of human insulin?”
    • “Find recent papers about CRISPR-Cas9”
    • “Predict the structure of this sequence: MKTAYIAKQRQISFVK…”
You can select example prompts shown below the chat box to get started.

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Step 5: Upload Your First Data

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Add your research files

Upload your data using any of these methods:
  1. Drag & drop: Drag files from your computer into the sidebar
  2. Upload button: Click the cloud icon in the sidebar
Supported formats include FASTA, PDB, CSV, Excel, images, and more!
You can tell OpenBio to use a particular file in your chat by typing @filename in the chat box.

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Step 6: Run Your First Analysis

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Try AI-powered analysis

Experiment with these example workflows:Protein Structure Prediction:
  1. Ask: “Predict the structure of human insulin”
  2. Wait for the prediction to complete
  3. View the 3D structure in the research panel
Literature Search:
  1. Ask: “Find papers about AlphaFold published in 2023”
  2. Browse results and summaries
  3. Click on papers to read abstracts
Molecular Analysis:
  1. Upload a chemical structure (SMILES)
  2. Ask: “Calculate properties and check drug-likeness”
  3. View detailed molecular analysis
Your first analysis might take time - perfect opportunity to explore the interface!

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What You Can Do Right Away

Explore Biological Tools

Access PDB, UniProt, ChEMBL, and AI models like Boltz-2 and ProteinMPNN.

Organize Your Research

Create projects, upload files, take notes, and manage todos.

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Quick Tips for Success

More details = better results. Instead of “find proteins,” try “find human kinase structures with resolution < 2Å.”
Create projects for different research topics. Use descriptive names and keep notes as you work.
Document your findings, questions, and next steps. Your future self will thank you! OpenBio does this automatically for you but you can edit and add notes on your own as well.
Begin with basic queries, then explore advanced features as you get comfortable.
Download important results and visualizations. Better safe than sorry!

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Ready for More?

Now that you’re set up, explore these next steps:

Tool Reference

Discover all available tools and capabilities.

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Need Help?

Stuck? Check our FAQ for common questions, or join our Discord community for real-time help.
Welcome to the future of biological research! 🚀
Ready to accelerate your research with AI? Start exploring the interface and asking questions. The more you use OpenBio, the more it learns to help you effectively.