The user guide

Install Metis

1. Download Metis for Windows, macOS or Linux from the download page.
2. Run the installer, or install the package. Metis needs the internet while it installs, because it downloads Python and the packages it depends on.
3. On Windows the installer asks for administrator permission. It is not signed yet, so Windows may say the publisher is unknown. Fixing common problems says what to do.
4. When the installer ends, it offers “Open Metis”.

On a Mac

1. Open the downloaded disk image and drag Metis to Applications.
2. Open Metis from Applications. It is not signed yet, so macOS stops it the first time. Open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, and press Open Anyway beside Metis. Enter your password when asked.
3. The first open downloads Python and the packages Metis depends on. This takes a few minutes and needs the internet.
4. To remove Metis, open the disk image again and run Uninstall Metis.

On Windows, Metis then runs in the system tray. It starts there each time you sign in, and the Start menu entry Metis opens its window. On Linux, the package installs Metis as a service that starts at boot. To open it in a browser, run metis open on that computer, as the account that installed Metis: it prints a sign-in link that works once, within half a minute. On a computer with no screen, open the link from another computer through ssh: ssh -L 7734:127.0.0.1:7734 <that computer>. On a desktop, metis shell opens the tray and the window; it needs the packages gir1.2-webkit2-4.1 and gir1.2-ayatanaappindicator3-0.1.

Set up

Until Setup is done, Metis opens at Setup. Setup has eight steps: Look, Computer, Other computers, Server, Model, Layout, Questions and Ready. You can go back a step with “Back”.

1. Look. Under “How should Metis look?”, pick a colour, a paper, a spacing and light or dark. You can change these later in Settings.
2. Computer. Press “Measure this computer”. Metis reads this computer’s hardware to see which models fit. Nothing is installed. Which model fits which computer says what it reads.
3. Other computers. Press “Look on this network” and Metis asks each computer once what it serves. “Nothing is installed or changed.” Or press “Add by address” to add one yourself. Press Continue to go on without either.
4. Server. A model server is the program that runs a model. Metis looks for one already running on this computer. Pick one and the model it should serve, and nothing is downloaded. Or continue to the offers, and Metis downloads a model and runs its own server.
5. Model. Under “Which model should Metis start with?”, one model is “Chosen for this computer.” “You can change it later.” Then “Ready to install. Here is what Metis will do.” lists the download, the install, your look and the time it will take. “Nothing has been changed on this computer yet.” Press Install to begin.
6. Layout. Metis offers a starting layout for the model it set up. Press “Use this”, “Change it” or “Skip for now”. “Change it later in Models › Computers.”
7. Questions. Four short questions: what you will mostly use Metis for, what Metis should call you, when it may send you notices, and how much Metis should say. “Skip the questions” skips them. Metis keeps the notices answer: “Outside these hours only a security alert buzzes. Held notices arrive together when the hours end.”
8. Ready. Between Questions and Ready, Setup offers “Use Metis from your phone” on the computer Metis runs on. “Not now” goes straight on. Pair a phone has the steps. “Metis is ready.” It runs in the background from now on. Press “Open Metis”. Under “Run the check, or start over” are “Check that chat is set up”, “Start setup over” and “Show the tour again”. “Starting over keeps the model and the server.” It asks the questions again.

After Setup, the first time Metis opens, a welcome offers “Full tour”, “Short tour” or “Not now”.

Your first chat

Open Chats and press “New chat”. Type under “Message Metis”. “Enter sends; Shift+Enter starts a new line.” “Stop” ends a reply that is still running. Up in an empty box brings back the last message you sent, and Up again the one before. In the foot of the box are the model that answers and, once you choose a folder, Permissions.

When you open a chat again after replies came in without you, one line above the new ones says “While you were away” and counts them. The eye in the top bar blurs the words and pictures on the page until you press it again; it is kept on this computer or phone only.

A new chat starts with no folder. It says “Plain chat · Metis won’t touch your files”.

Work on a folder

To have Metis work on files, press “Work on a folder…” and choose a folder on this computer. A chat started with no folder says “No folder”, with “This chat has no folder yet” as its tip, and the chat can ask you for one. A started chat keeps its folder.

A folder Metis has worked in is a project. Open Projects to see each one with its chats, its activity, the documents it made and its schedules. A project’s page has “Rename”, and “New chat here” starts a chat in that folder. “A blank name gives it its folder’s name again.”

Permissions and approvals

Permissions decide what Metis may change without asking. There are three choices:

• “Ask before changing anything” is the default.
• “Change files, ask before running things” lets Metis edit files itself.
• “Only look” lets Metis read and never change.

Running a command always asks, under both of the first two choices. Adding to your contacts or your notes always asks too. Auto is drawn in the list and shown as “Not yet”.

When Metis needs your word, an Approval card opens in the message box. It says which tool Metis asks to use and on what. “What the call would send” shows the arguments. Press Approve or Decline. Where it is offered, “Always allow” comes in two sizes, each saying what it covers: that file, or every file in its folder, for this chat alone. It approves the call and keeps a rule: in this chat, Metis makes that kind of change there again without a card, and says so in one quiet line, “allowed by your rule”, with a link to change it. Settings lists the rules, and Remove takes one away; deleting the chat ends its rules. No rule is offered for a call that asks every time (a command is one), for one that carries a secret, for a change to the folder's metis.toml (it names the commands Metis runs), or for one the card showed cut short.

An approval, a draft or a staged change, a failed run and what the door held are all listed under Needs you. A row there opens the place where you decide; nothing is decided from the list. When nothing waits, it says “Nothing needs you.”

Research

Research answers a question by reading the web. Under “What should Metis research?”, enter a question, a topic or a link, and choose how deep. Quick reads at most 3 sources. Thorough takes longer and reads at most 40. Research needs web search to be set up first.

The Brain

The Brain is what Metis keeps, and how it connects. It has two tabs.

• Memory lists each fact Metis remembers, with who it came from: “told by you”, “found by a tool”, “noted by Metis”, “recorded by Metis” or “imported from your file”. You can edit a fact, pin it so every chat is offered it, or forget it.
• Map draws what Metis keeps as things and links. Until it has read your chats, the tab says “Not read from your chats yet.” Metis reads new chats for the map when nothing is running, and catches up on its next pass.

The rest of the rail

The rail at the left holds Home, Chats and Needs you. Your stuff holds Calendar, Mail, Notes and Research. Metis holds Projects, Brain and Models. More opens Contacts, Skills, Schedule, Devices, Updates and Setup, and Settings is at the foot. Home has the power button, which turns every model off and frees their memory. Metis stays open, and the same button turns the models back on.

Updates checks for a newer version when Metis opens and once a day. Where “Updates install themselves when you say yes.”, the update is one press of “Update now”, in the Metis window or in the pop-up that says a new version is out. Where “This install can’t update itself; a new installer does it.”, Updates points at the installer instead: download it and run it. Your chats and memory stay: “Chats, memory and models stay.” on Windows, “Settings, chats, memory and models stay.” on Linux. “Send a report” sends a bug report only when you press its button.