Getting Started with awRAG: Complete Setup Guide

Ready to build your universal AI knowledge base? This guide will walk you through everything from account creation to your first AI-powered query in under 10 minutes.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• ✅ Documents you want to upload (PDFs, Word docs, text files, etc.)
• ✅ An AI assistant account (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc.)
• ✅ A modern web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge)

That's it! No coding required.

Step 1: Create Your Account

1. Visit awrag.io/signup
2. Sign up using your email or OAuth (Google, GitHub)
3. Verify your email address
4. Choose your plan:
   • Free Tier: 50MB storage, 100 queries/month
   • Professional: 5GB storage, unlimited queries
   • Team: 50GB storage, team collaboration features

Step 2: Upload Your Documents

Once logged in, you'll see the document upload interface.

Supported File Types

awRAG supports a wide range of document formats:

• PDFs: Research papers, ebooks, reports
• Word Documents: .docx, .doc
• Text Files: .txt, .md, .csv
• Excel Spreadsheets: .xlsx, .xls
• PowerPoint: .pptx, .ppt

Upload Methods

Drag & Drop The easiest way,just drag files from your computer into the upload zone.

File Browser Click "Choose Files" to select documents from your file system.

Zotero Import (Research-focused users) Import your entire Zotero library with one click:

1. Go to Settings → Integrations
2. Click "Connect Zotero"
3. Authorize the connection
4. Select collections to import
5. All PDFs and metadata sync automatically

Best Practices for Document Upload

1. Organize by Project: Create folders for different topics
2. Use Descriptive Names: Helps with search and retrieval
3. Batch Upload: Upload related documents together
4. Regular Updates: Keep your knowledge base current

Step 3: Install the Browser Extension

The awRAG browser extension allows you to query your documents from any AI assistant.

Installation

1. Visit awrag.io/downloads
2. Choose your browser:
   • Chrome Web Store
   • Firefox Add-ons
   • Edge Add-ons
   • Safari App Store
3. Click "Add to Browser"
4. Grant necessary permissions

Extension Setup

After installation:

1. Click the awRAG extension icon
2. Sign in with your account
3. Configure settings (optional):
   • Number of results to retrieve
   • Context window size
   • Auto-inject vs manual trigger

Step 4: Connect Your AI Assistant

Now comes the magic,connecting awRAG to your favorite AI.

Using the Browser Extension

For ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini:

1. Open your AI assistant's web interface
2. Click the awRAG floating button (bottom-right corner)
3. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+L (or Cmd+Shift+L on Mac)
4. The extension automatically injects relevant context

Using API Integration (Advanced)

For developers who want deeper integration:

# Install awRAG SDK
npm install @awrag/sdk

# Initialize with API key
const awrag = new AwRAG({ apiKey: 'your-api-key' });

# Query your documents
const results = await awrag.search({
  query: 'What are the main findings?',
  limit: 5
});

Step 5: Make Your First Query

Let's test everything works:

Example Query Workflow

1. Open ChatGPT (or your preferred AI)

2. Activate awRAG

• Click the floating button, or
• Press Ctrl+Shift+L

3. Ask a question about your documents

"Based on my uploaded research papers, what are the three main
approaches to improving RAG system performance?"

4. awRAG automatically:

• Searches your documents
• Retrieves relevant sections
• Injects context into the AI
• The AI generates an answer with citations

5. Review the sources The AI's response will include references to specific documents and page numbers.

Advanced Features

Smart Filtering

Filter results by:

• Document type
• Upload date
• Tags and categories
• Relevance score

Multi-Concept Search

The extension extracts key concepts from your query for better results:

Query: "How does transfer learning improve model efficiency?"

Extracted concepts:
- transfer learning
- model efficiency
- neural networks
- computational resources

Citation Management

All AI responses include:

• Source document names
• Page numbers (for PDFs)
• Relevance scores
• Direct links to original documents

Tips for Optimal Results

Writing Effective Queries

❌ Too Vague: "Tell me about AI" ✅ Specific: "What neural network architectures are discussed in my deep learning papers?"

❌ Single Keywords: "embeddings" ✅ Contextual: "How are embeddings used for semantic search in RAG systems?"

Document Organization

Create logical folder structures:

📁 Projects
  📁 Research
    📄 Paper1.pdf
    📄 Paper2.pdf
  📁 Company Docs
    📄 Q4_Report.docx
    📄 Product_Spec.pdf
  📁 Personal
    📄 Notes.md
    📄 Ideas.txt

Regular Maintenance

• Weekly: Upload new documents
• Monthly: Review and remove outdated files
• Quarterly: Reorganize folders and tags

Troubleshooting Common Issues

"No relevant documents found"

Solutions:

• Verify documents uploaded successfully
• Check if query matches document content
• Try broader search terms
• Ensure extension is activated

Extension not injecting context

Solutions:

• Refresh the AI assistant page
• Check extension permissions
• Update to latest extension version
• Clear browser cache

Upload failed

Solutions:

• Check file size (max varies by plan)
• Verify file format is supported
• Ensure stable internet connection
• Try uploading fewer files at once

Next Steps

Now that you're set up, explore advanced features:

1. Connect Multiple AI Assistants: Use different AIs for different tasks
2. API Integration: Build custom applications
3. Team Collaboration: Share knowledge bases
4. Zotero Workflow: Academic research optimization

Get Help

Need assistance?

• 📚 Documentation
• 💬 Community Forum
• 📧 Email Support
• 🐛 Report Issues

Conclusion

You're now ready to leverage the full power of RAG across any AI platform. Remember:

• Upload documents once
• Query from anywhere
• Switch AI models freely

Welcome to the future of AI-powered knowledge management!

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Questions? Check out our FAQ or join our Discord community.