> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.quadrillion.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Writeups

> Create structured research documents with .qua files.

Writeups are research documents stored as `.qua` files. Unlike notebooks which focus on code execution, writeups are for prose — synthesizing findings, documenting conclusions, and building narratives around your research.

## Creating a writeup

1. Click **New File** in the Files sidebar
2. Select **Research Writeup (.qua)**
3. Choose a location and filename

Writeups open in a rich text editor with formatting tools, headings, and structured blocks.

## Document kinds

Every `.qua` file has a **kind**, which decides how it is laid out and who may edit it. All three are built from the same blocks — a heading is a heading everywhere — but they are presented differently, and only a writeup is yours to type into. See [Editing a dashboard or presentation](#editing-a-dashboard-or-presentation) below.

| Kind             | What it is for                                                                                                                                                                             |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Writeup**      | A flowing research document, read top to bottom. Prose carries the argument; figures and tables support it. Text sits in a measured column and each figure and table sits on its own card. |
| **Dashboard**    | The current state of something, read at a glance rather than read through. Flat and full width, with no cards, sans-serif type, and a strip under the title saying how fresh the data is.  |
| **Presentation** | A sequence of sections, one idea each. It is laid out like a dashboard for now; its own styling is still to come.                                                                          |

A file you create yourself is always a writeup. Dashboards and presentations are created by an agent, using its `create_writeup` tool.

**The kind is fixed when the document is created and cannot be changed afterwards.** Changing it under existing content would rescramble the layout, so ask the agent for the kind you want up front. A `.qua` file written before kinds existed opens as a writeup.

### Editing a dashboard or presentation

A dashboard and a presentation are both the agent's to write. You can **reorder** their blocks by dragging them, select and copy from them, and export them — but you cannot type into one, add blocks to it, undo an agent's write, drag content into it, or rename it. Ask the agent to change the contents instead.

A writeup is fully editable, as it always was.

## The editor

The writeup editor uses a block-based format:

* **Headings**: Multiple levels for document structure
* **Paragraphs**: Standard text blocks
* **Code blocks**: Syntax-highlighted code snippets
* **Lists**: Bulleted and numbered lists

Use the toolbar or keyboard shortcuts to format text:

| Shortcut             | Action         |
| -------------------- | -------------- |
| **Cmd/Ctrl+B**       | Bold           |
| **Cmd/Ctrl+I**       | Italic         |
| **Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+H** | Toggle heading |

## Autosave

Writeups save automatically as you type:

* Changes are saved after a brief pause (\~800ms)
* No manual save required
* The file on disk always reflects your latest edits

## When to use writeups vs notebooks

| Use case                                    | Format              |
| ------------------------------------------- | ------------------- |
| Running code, exploring data                | Notebook (`.ipynb`) |
| Documenting findings, writing reports       | Writeup (`.qua`)    |
| Reproducible analysis                       | Notebook            |
| Synthesizing conclusions across experiments | Writeup             |

Both formats live in the same project and can reference each other. Use notebooks for the work itself and writeups for the story you tell about it.

## Exporting a writeup

Use the **Export** menu in the writeup header to download the document as:

| Format   | File                          |
| -------- | ----------------------------- |
| PDF      | `.pdf`                        |
| Word     | `.docx`                       |
| Markdown | `.zip` (Markdown plus images) |
| LaTeX    | `.zip` (`.tex` plus assets)   |

## File format

`.qua` files are JSON documents containing:

* **Title**: The document title shown at the top of the editor and used when you export the writeup. Edit it inline in the editor header. When it is left as the default "Untitled" (for example on an agent-generated writeup), the first top-level heading in the body is used as the title instead of the filename — that heading is then removed from the body (its contents move up in its place) so the title is not repeated.
* **Kind**: `writeup`, `dashboard` or `presentation`. Absent on a file written before kinds existed, which reads as a writeup.
* **Blocks**: An array of content blocks (headings, paragraphs, code)

The format is specific to Qualia but human-readable if you need to inspect files directly.

## Future features

In the near future, writeups will be integrated with various Qualia features, including agents, tasks, and knowledge.