Skip to main content

Quick Start

Get up and running with Sensemaker in under 5 minutes.

1. Create an Account​

Go to sensemaker.app and sign up with your email or Google account.

2. Save Your First Article​

Click the + button in the sidebar (or the floating action button on mobile) and choose Save URL. Paste any article URL and hit Save.

Sensemaker extracts the article content, title, author, and thumbnail automatically. The article appears in your Library.

Other ways to save content:

  • Upload a document — Choose "Upload File" to add a PDF or EPUB
  • Subscribe to a feed — Go to Feeds and add an RSS URL
  • Forward a newsletter — Set up a newsletter inbox in Feeds and forward emails to your unique address
  • Use the API — Save programmatically via the GraphQL API

3. Read and Highlight​

Click any item in your Library to open it in the Reader.

  • Adjust font size with the controls in the footer
  • Select text to create a highlight — choose a color, add a note, attach tags
  • Track progress — a progress bar shows how far you've read, and Sensemaker remembers your position

4. Organize with Tags​

Go to the Tags page to create tags with custom colors. Apply them to articles or highlights for thematic grouping.

Pro tip: Group related tags into Topics for higher-level organization (e.g., a "Machine Learning" topic containing tags for "transformers," "fine-tuning," and "evaluation").

5. Triage Your Inbox​

The Today page gives you a compact triage interface. Use keyboard shortcuts to process items quickly:

KeyAction
jRead Later
kArchive
lDelete
Arrow keysNavigate between items

Toggle Compact View to see more items at once.

6. Search Your Library​

Use the search bar in the Library to find articles by title, author, or content. Full-text search works across everything you've saved.

Combine search with filters — narrow by tags, content type (article, PDF, podcast), or reading status.

7. Explore AI Features (Subscribers)​

With a subscription ($8/month), Sensemaker adds intelligence on top of your library:

  • AI Summaries — Digest cards on the Today page summarize batches of recent content
  • Auto-Tagging — New content is automatically classified with 1-3 topic tags
  • Suggested Highlights — AI surfaces passages across your library that connect to each other, grouped by theme

Visit the Insights page to see AI-suggested highlights and thematic patterns.

Next Steps​