Docs / Introduction

Welcome to Paideias

Last updated 2026-07-04

Paideias is an AI-powered qualitative data analysis (QDA) platform designed for academic researchers. It combines real-time collaboration, AI-assisted coding, and end-to-end encryption in a modern workspace. This documentation covers every screen and every function of the app, from your first project to your final export — written so that if you've never touched a QDA tool before, you can still follow along.

New to qualitative analysis? Start with Creating a Project to set up your first research workspace.
Before you type a single word of real data: read Your Encryption Key & Recovery Code. Paideias encrypts your work on your own device, which means losing both your passphrase and recovery code makes your data permanently unrecoverable — by anyone, including us. It takes two minutes to set up safely.

What You Can Do

  • Create projects with research goals, frameworks, and team access — see Creating a Project
  • Upload transcripts (.docx, .pdf, .txt) for AI-powered coding — see Uploading Documents
  • Build codebooks manually or with AI assistance — see Building a Codebook
  • Code passages using AI suggestions or manual tagging — see AI Coding and Manual Coding
  • Reorganise your codebook as your analysis evolves — see Code Manager
  • Search and retrieve every coded passage across your documents — see Retrieval
  • Measure reliability with inter-coder agreement (Cohen's Kappa, Krippendorff's Alpha) — see Inter-coder Agreement
  • Visualise your data with code frequency, co-occurrence, and hierarchy charts — see Visualisations
  • Keep an audit trail of analytic decisions — see Memos
  • Collaborate with team members in real-time, each unlocking the project with their own passphrase — see Team Collaboration
  • Export to NVivo/MAXQDA/ATLAS.ti (QDPX), Excel (CSV), or an annotated Word document — see Export & Download
  • Back up or move a whole project as a single portable file that only Paideias can open — not a QDA interchange format like QDPX, just an encrypted backup you can re-import into any Paideias account — see Project Export & Import

Quick Start

1

Sign in and set your passphrase

On first sign-in you'll choose a passphrase and be shown a recovery code — save the recovery code before you continue. See Your Encryption Key.

2

Create a project

Define your research goals, theoretical framework, and invite collaborators.

3

Upload documents

Drag and drop your interview transcripts or research documents.

4

Build your codebook

Create codes manually or let AI generate them from your framework.

5

Start coding

Run AI coding or manually tag passages in Focus Mode.

6

Export results

Download your coded data as NVivo, Excel, or Word files.

Trying It Without an Account

You don't need to sign up to explore Paideias. Choosing Guest (or opening any of the interactive demos linked from the marketing site) drops you into a fully populated, real sample project — every screen in this documentation reflects what you'll actually see. Guest mode is read-only: you can click through every screen, but you can't save projects, upload documents, or edit data. When you're ready to work with your own data, sign in with a real account.

Use the sidebar to navigate between sections. Each section covers a specific feature of the platform, in the order you'll typically use them — start at the top and work down, or jump straight to whatever you need using the search box above the sidebar links.

System Requirements

  • Modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
  • Stable internet connection
  • JavaScript enabled
Your Encryption Key →