Core Concepts

Research Sessions

A research session is the main workspace for one investigation. It starts with a brief, stores the generated plan, tracks the run, and keeps the final report and related files together.

Use one session per focused question. If the question changes materially, start a new session so the plan, sources, and output stay coherent.

Research Briefs

The brief is the question and operating context for the researcher. Strong briefs include:

• •The decision or question you need answered
• •The topic, company, market, person, or dataset to investigate
• •Preferred source types, such as filings, web sources, uploaded files, or connected tools
• •Constraints, such as date ranges, geographies, domains, or excluded sources
• •The desired output format, such as a memo, briefing, table, or source-backed report

Research Plans

The plan is the editable sequence of research steps generated from the brief. It gives you a chance to shape the work before any long-running execution starts.

Plans are useful because deep research benefits from structure. The agent can search, inspect, compare, synthesize, and write in a deliberate order rather than answering from the first few sources it finds.

Research Runs

A run is the execution record for a plan. During a run, Deep Notebook gathers evidence, calls tools, reads files, follows sources, writes notes, and produces output. Runs can take longer than a chat response because the work is meant to be thorough and auditable.

The activity view shows what is happening: status, elapsed time, tool calls, source URLs, reasoning events, text output, and failure or cancellation state when relevant.

Reports and Citations

The final report is assembled from the completed run. Citations and source-backed files help you inspect where claims came from and decide what to trust.

Use the report as a working deliverable: read it in the app, copy sections, download Markdown, or export the report and workspace files together.

Workspace Files

Workspace files are generated or collected during a research run. They can include captured source material, intermediate notes, structured outputs, and final artifacts. The completed view lets you browse these files alongside the report.