Chapter 5: AutoResearch — Basic Operations
AutoResearch is a feature for collecting data from diverse sources and structuring it with AI. Access it by clicking “AutoResearch” in the sidebar.
5.1 Screen Layout
The AutoResearch screen consists of three areas:
Left Sidebar:
- Project selection dropdown
- New project button
- Data collection method tabs (vertical)
- List of saved CSV files
Main Area:
- Input form/settings panel corresponding to the selected collection method
- Data generation/search results table
Header Bar:
- Current project name
- Action buttons
5.2 Project Management
Data is organized by project.
Creating a Project
- Click the “New” button next to the project selection dropdown in the left sidebar
- Enter a project name (e.g., “Competitor Research 2026 Q1”, “Book: ‘The Art of Thinking’ Extraction”)
- Enter a description (optional, useful for searching later)
- Click the “Create” button
- The new project is created and automatically selected
Project Name Examples:
- “AI Market Research 2026”
- “UX Design Pattern Analysis”
- “Patents: Natural Language Processing”
- “Book: The Innovator’s Dilemma”
Switching Projects
Select a project name from the dropdown to display files saved in that project in the sidebar file list.
Deleting a Project
Click the trash icon next to the project name. A confirmation dialog appears; select “Delete” to permanently delete the project and its data.
Warning: All CSV files within the project will also be deleted. Download any needed files beforehand.
5.3 Data Collection Methods
The following tabs are displayed vertically in the left sidebar. Click to show the corresponding form in the main area.
| Tab Name | Feature | Data Source | API Key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freeform | Free data generation by AI | LLM | Not required (system key used) |
| Competitive Analysis | Comparative analysis data generation | LLM | Not required |
| Sensory Evaluation | Sensory/experience description data | LLM | Not required |
| Online Articles | News article collection | Google News RSS | Not required |
| Academic Papers | Academic paper search/metadata | OpenAlex / Semantic Scholar / arXiv / IEEE | IEEE only |
| Patent Information | US patent search | USPTO PatentsView | Not required |
| Concept Extraction | Concept structure extraction from text | LLM | Not required |
| Coding | Qualitative data classification coding | LLM + Manual | Not required |
| File Management | CSV import, merge, editing | Local files | Not required |
5.4 Saved File Management
Saved CSV files for the current project are listed at the bottom of the left sidebar.
Each file has three action icons:
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Preview | Display data in table format in the main area |
| Download | Download as a CSV file locally |
| Delete | Delete file from the project (with confirmation) |