Questions
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About Otto
What is Otto?
A desktop workspace for doing research: finding papers, reading and annotating them, keeping a project moving, and working on it with others. Its assistant, also called Otto, acts on that workspace for you and shows where everything it says came from. Everything it does.
Is it a reference manager?
No. A reference manager looks after the references around your research; Otto is where the research itself is done. It works beside Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote and Paperpile: bring your library in, keep using both, or take everything back out.
How is it different from AI search and chat tools?
Three ways. Your papers stay on your computer instead of being uploaded. The assistant does the work in your workspace (saving, sorting, highlighting, building tables) rather than only answering. And every claim it makes about a paper cites the passage and says whether it was checked against the full text, only the abstract, or could not be verified.
Who is it for?
Researchers, from students writing a first literature review to labs running long projects together, in any field.
Your data
Do I need an account?
No. Otto works fully signed out. An account is only for sharing projects and the cloud assistant.
Where do my PDFs go?
Nowhere. They stay on your computer, are never uploaded to us and are never sent to collaborators. Backing them up to your own Google Drive is optional.
Does Otto train AI on my work?
No. We never use your data to train models, and the providers we use state that data sent through their business APIs is not used for training either.
Can I get my data out?
Always. Export your library in standard formats, download everything held online for you, or delete your account from Settings.
More in Security and privacy.
The assistant
Does Otto make things up?
It can be wrong, like any AI, but it is built to be checked. Each citation is matched against what Otto actually read, and anything it cannot trace is labelled not verified. Our research publishes how often it gets things right, including where it falls short.
Which AI models does it use?
Cloud models from Anthropic and OpenAI, included with a monthly allowance. Or choose a model that runs on your own computer through Ollama or LM Studio, and nothing leaves it.
Can it get papers behind a paywall?
Only the lawful way. Otto finds open copies, and lets you reach the rest through your own library's access in its built-in browser. It never goes round a paywall and never asks for your university password.
Will it write my paper for me?
Otto drafts from sourced evidence: notes, tables and reviews in which every claim carries its source, for you to check and rewrite. It does not read or conclude in your place.
Getting Otto
What does it cost?
Otto is free during early access.
Which computers does it run on?
Mac (Apple silicon and Intel) and Windows 10 and 11.
How do I get it?
Otto opens by invitation while in early access, so everyone new gets help settling in. Request an invitation; codes go out in small groups.
Do collaborators need an invitation too?
Yes, for now. Each person needs Otto and an account to join a shared project.
Can my lab or institution use it?
Yes. Get in touch about teams, onboarding or a security review.