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Quick Start Tutorial

Create your first timeline in just 5 minutes! This tutorial walks you through the essentials.

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:

  • ✅ Installed ChronoScope
  • ✅ Configured your OpenAI API key
  • ✅ ChronoScope running at http://localhost:8501

Step 1: Try Demo Data (30 seconds)

The fastest way to see ChronoScope in action:

  1. Look for the "📊 Load Demo Data" button in the sidebar
  2. Click it to load sample events
  3. Navigate to the "📈 Timeline" tab

You Did It!

You should now see an interactive timeline with sample events! Try hovering over the bars to see detailed tooltips.

Demo Timeline

Timeline view with demo data

Step 2: Upload Your First Document (1 minute)

Now let's create a timeline from your own document:

Prepare a Document

For best results, use a document with clear dates and events:

  • ✅ Resume - Work history, education, certifications
  • ✅ Cover Letter - Career narrative with timeline
  • ✅ Personal Statement - Academic or professional journey
  • ✅ Text File - Any document with dated events

Upload Process

  1. Go to the "📤 Upload & Process" tab
  2. Click "Browse files" or drag-and-drop
  3. Select your document (PDF, TXT, DOCX supported)
  4. Click "🚀 Process Documents"

Processing Time

Processing typically takes 5-15 seconds per document, depending on length and complexity.

What Happens Next?

ChronoScope will:

  1. Detect Document Type - Automatically identifies if it's a resume, cover letter, etc.
  2. Extract Events - Uses AI to find dates, titles, descriptions, locations
  3. Validate Quality - Assigns confidence scores to each event
  4. Display Results - Shows extracted events in the Timeline tab

Step 3: Explore Your Timeline (2 minutes)

Navigate to the "📈 Timeline" tab to see your events:

Timeline Features

Move your mouse over any timeline bar to see:

  • 📅 Date or date range
  • 📍 Location
  • 📝 Full description
  • 🏷️ Tags and categories
  • ⭐ Confidence score
  • 🎯 Priority level

Use the sidebar filters to narrow down events:

  • Date Range - Focus on specific time periods
  • Tags - Filter by category (work, education, etc.)
  • Confidence - Show only high-confidence events
  • Priority - Filter by importance level

Switch between different views:

  • Timeline Chart - Chronological Gantt-style view
  • Priority Matrix - Scatter plot of confidence vs priority
  • Distribution Chart - Events over time histogram

Try These Actions

  • 🔍 Zoom - Scroll to zoom in/out on timeline
  • 🖱️ Pan - Click and drag to move along timeline
  • 🗑️ Delete - Click ❌ next to events to remove them
  • ✏️ Edit - Modify event details inline (coming soon)
Advanced View

Advanced settings for power users

Step 4: Validation Check (1 minute)

Ensure quality with the validation system:

  1. Go to the "✅ Validation" tab
  2. Click "Run Validation"
  3. Review metrics:
    • Precision - Accuracy of extracted events
    • Recall - Completeness of extraction
    • F1-Score - Overall quality measure

Understanding Scores

  • 80%+ - Excellent quality
  • 60-80% - Good quality, minor issues
  • <60% - May need manual review

Improving Quality

If scores are low:

  • ✏️ Edit events to correct dates/details
  • 📄 Upload clearer documents with explicit dates
  • 🔧 Adjust extraction settings in Advanced Settings
  • 🤖 Try different AI models (GPT-4 vs GPT-3.5)

Step 5: Save Notes (30 seconds)

Capture insights about your timeline:

  1. Scroll to the "📝 User Notes" section (below tabs)
  2. Enter a note name (e.g., "Career Insights")
  3. Type your thoughts in the text area
  4. Click "💾 Save Note"

Your notes persist between sessions!

What's Next?

🎉 Congratulations! You've created your first timeline!

Continue Learning:

Common Next Steps:

Upload additional documents to build a comprehensive timeline:

  • Multiple resumes from different time periods
  • Cover letters for job applications
  • Personal statements and bios
  • Project summaries and reports

Make your timeline uniquely yours:

  • Apply filters to focus on specific topics
  • Add tags to categorize events
  • Adjust confidence thresholds
  • Export visualizations

Validate and refine your data:

  • Run validation checks regularly
  • Review low-confidence events
  • Cross-reference with original documents
  • Export validation reports

Keyboard Shortcuts

Speed up your workflow:

Shortcut Action
Ctrl/Cmd + S Save notes
Ctrl/Cmd + U Go to Upload tab
Ctrl/Cmd + T Go to Timeline tab
Ctrl/Cmd + V Go to Validation tab
Ctrl/Cmd + R Refresh/reload app

Pro Tip

Press ? (when enabled) to see all keyboard shortcuts

Quick Reference Card

Task Location Action
Upload document 📤 Upload tab Click "Browse files"
View timeline 📈 Timeline tab Auto-displayed after processing
Filter events Sidebar Use filter controls
Validate quality ✅ Validation tab Click "Run Validation"
Add notes Below tabs Type and click "Save Note"
Load demo Sidebar Click "📊 Load Demo Data"
Clear all data 📈 Timeline tab Click "🗑️ Clear All Data"

Troubleshooting

No events were extracted

Possible causes:

  • Document has unclear or implicit dates
  • Text is too short or lacks structure
  • API key issue

Solutions:

  1. Check API key in .streamlit/secrets.toml
  2. Try uploading a different document
  3. Enable "Advanced Settings" to see error details
Timeline looks empty

Check:

  • Are filters too restrictive? Reset filters
  • Did processing complete? Look for success message
  • Try loading demo data to verify app works
Low confidence scores

This is normal for:

  • Ambiguous dates ("summer 2020")
  • Implicit information ("continued until graduation")
  • Complex narratives

Improve scores by:

  • Using documents with explicit dates
  • Trying GPT-4 model (better accuracy)
  • Manually editing extracted events

You're Ready!

You now know the basics of ChronoScope. Explore the detailed guides to become a power user!

Need help? Check our Troubleshooting Guide or open an issue.