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Welcome to Cleve!

After creating your account, you’ll go through a guided onboarding flow designed to get you productive in under 2 minutes. This guide walks you through what to expect.

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Onboarding Steps

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Step 1: Welcome & Introduction

What you’ll see:
  • Brief introduction to Cleve
  • Overview of core features
  • Option to skip onboarding (not recommended!)
What to do:
  • Click “Get Started” to begin
  • Optionally watch the intro video
Don’t skip onboarding! It only takes 60 seconds and ensures you understand the basics.

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Step 2: Workspace Tour

What you’ll see:
  • Interactive overlay highlighting key areas:
    • Writing Editor
    • AI Chat panel
    • Ideas panel
    • Categories sidebar
    • Search and navigation
What to do:
  • Click “Next” to advance through each highlight
  • Take note of where each feature is located
  • The tour adapts to your screen size

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Step 3: Create Your First Writing

What you’ll see:
  • Empty writing editor with helpful prompts
  • Formatting toolbar introduction
  • Auto-save indicator explanation
What to do:
  1. Type a heading (e.g., “My First Writing”)
  2. Add a few sentences of content
  3. Watch auto-save work automatically
  4. Click “Next” when ready
AI guidance: Cleve’s AI may offer suggestions like:
  • “Try adding a heading with # or using the toolbar”
  • “Notice how your changes auto-save every 750ms”

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Step 4: Capture an Idea

What you’ll see:
  • Ideas panel opens automatically
  • Quick-create input is highlighted
What to do:
  1. Click “New Idea” in the Ideas panel
  2. Type a quick thought (e.g., “Things to build with Cleve”)
  3. Press Enter to save
  4. Click “Next” to continue
Why this matters: Ideas are perfect for quick captures before they become full writings.

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Step 5: Chat with AI

What you’ll see:
  • AI Chat panel opens
  • Pre-filled example prompt
  • Model selector introduction
What to do:
  1. Read the example prompt (or write your own)
  2. Press Enter to send
  3. Watch the AI respond in real-time
  4. Try enabling context sources (Writings, Ideas)
  5. Click “Next” when ready
Example prompts: 
"Summarize what I just wrote in my first writing"
"Help me expand on the idea I captured"
"Create a blog post outline about productivity"

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Step 6: Organize with Categories

What you’ll see:
  • Categories sidebar is highlighted
  • Instructions for creating a category
What to do:
  1. Right-click in the Categories sidebar
  2. Select “New Category”
  3. Name it (e.g., “Personal”, “Work”, “Projects”)
  4. Drag your first writing into the category
  5. Click “Next” to continue

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Step 7: Quick Search Tutorial

What you’ll see:
  • Search overlay demonstration
  • Keyboard shortcut reminder (Cmd/Ctrl + /)
What to do:
  1. Press Cmd/Ctrl + / to open search
  2. Type a keyword from your first writing
  3. See it appear in results
  4. Close search with Escape
  5. Click “Next” to continue

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Step 8: Onboarding Complete!

What you’ll see:
  • Completion celebration 🎉
  • Quick reference card with key shortcuts
  • Links to documentation and resources
What to do:
  • Click “Start Creating” to begin using Cleve
  • Bookmark the documentation for reference
  • Optionally join the community or follow on social media

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Post-Onboarding

After completing onboarding, you’ll land in your workspace with:
  • ✅ One sample writing created
  • ✅ One idea captured
  • ✅ One category set up
  • ✅ AI chat tested
  • ✅ Basic shortcuts learned

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Onboarding Recovery

If you accidentally close the browser during onboarding:
  1. Log back in to Cleve
  2. Onboarding resumes from where you left off
  3. Your progress is saved automatically
To restart onboarding: 
Settings → Account → Restart Onboarding
This clears progress and starts fresh (useful if you want to see it again).

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Skipping Onboarding

If you choose to skip:
  • You land directly in an empty workspace
  • Sample content is not created
  • You can access the tutorial anytime from Help → Onboarding Tutorial
Skipping onboarding means you’ll need to learn features on your own. We recommend completing it even if you’re familiar with similar tools.

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AI-Guided Help

Throughout onboarding, Cleve’s AI provides contextual guidance:
  • Streaming text help: Tips appear in real-time as you progress
  • Interactive hints: Suggestions based on your actions
  • Error recovery: If you get stuck, the AI offers solutions
This makes onboarding feel like a conversation, not a rigid checklist.

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Customizing Onboarding

For teams or enterprise users, onboarding can be customized:
  • Custom welcome message
  • Company-specific examples
  • Pre-configured categories and templates
  • Branded UI elements
Contact support for enterprise onboarding customization.

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Onboarding Metrics

We track (anonymously) how users progress through onboarding to improve the experience:
  • Completion rate: Percentage of users who finish
  • Drop-off points: Where users get stuck
  • Time to complete: Average duration
This data helps us refine the flow. No personal data is collected.

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Common Onboarding Questions

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How long does onboarding take?

60-90 seconds if you follow the flow without exploring. Most users take 2-3 minutes if they experiment with features.

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Can I redo onboarding later?

Yes! Settings → Account → Restart Onboarding

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Will onboarding delete my data?

No. Onboarding creates sample content, but restarting onboarding only clears the tutorial state—not your actual writings and ideas.

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What if I skip a step?

The tutorial adapts. You can skip forward, but we recommend completing all steps for the best learning experience.

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Next Steps After Onboarding

Now that you’ve completed onboarding, here’s what to do next:

Master Writing Features

Learn about auto-save, offline mode, and zen mode.

Unlock AI Chat Power

Explore context-aware prompts and model selection.

Organize Your Workspace

Customize panel layout and create saved presets.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Become a power user with keyboard-first navigation.

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Getting Help

If you need assistance during or after onboarding:
  • In-app help: Click the ? icon in the top navigation
  • Documentation: Browse these docs for detailed guides
  • Community: Join our Discord or Twitter community
  • Support: Email [email protected] for personalized help
Welcome to Cleve—let’s build something amazing together! 🎉