User manual

Getting started

Distill is invite-only for now. You need an invitation for the exact email address you sign up with.

Create your account

1. Open Distill and choose Sign in, then Create an account.
2. Enter your name, the email address you were invited with, and a password of at least 8 characters. The eye button shows the password so you can check what you typed.
3. You land in your library, which starts empty.

If you see “Distill is invite-only right now”, the address you used isn't on the invitation list. Ask whoever invited you which address they added.

Forgot your password

On the sign-in screen, choose Forgot password? and enter your email. The link in the email is valid for an hour. If it hasn't arrived after a few minutes, check your spam folder, then contact whoever invited you.

Signing out

Open Settings (your initials in the top-right corner, the settings icon at the bottom of the sidebar, or Account on a phone), then choose Sign Out under Account.

Adding a source

Every source ends up as a transcript, and every transcript gets the same five kinds of output. Start from New at the top of your library or the + in the sidebar.

Link

Paste the link from your browser's address bar or the platform's Share button. Distill works with public videos on:

• YouTube
• TikTok
• Instagram
• X
• Facebook
• Direct links to an audio or video file

A check mark appears in the field when the link is recognized, and the line underneath names the platform. A direct file link is anything ending in a media extension, such as a podcast's .mp3 or a talk's .mp4. Other sites, such as Vimeo and Loom, aren't supported yet, and Distill tells you so before you submit.

Videos with captions are fastest. Videos without captions, and all file links, are transcribed from their audio, which takes longer.

Transcript text

Switch to Transcript Text, give it a title if you like, and paste the transcript. You can also drop a .txt, .md, .vtt or .srt file anywhere on the window. Caption numbering and timestamp lines are removed from the text. Valid subtitle cue times are retained for source evidence; editing the imported text clears those times. Plain text and fetched transcripts use text ranges when timing is unavailable. Use this when a link can't be fetched, or for anything that isn't online, such as meeting notes or a call recording you've already transcribed.

When it's you speaking: This is me

If you're the one talking, your own podcast, a talk you gave, a sermon, a rant you recorded elsewhere, switch on This is me before choosing Distill It. Everything is then written in your voice, in the first person, as you: articles read as your own pieces, social posts as posts you'd publish, and teaching material as a session you'll lead. Nothing refers to you as "the speaker".

Your own recordings also get a sixth kind, Stories & Lines: your stories and the phrasings worth reusing, which build up into a library of material only you have.

Anyone else in the recording, a guest or an interviewer, is still credited for what they said, so their views never come out as yours. Anything you record with Talk it through is always treated as you, with no switch needed. The results page says in your voice under the title when this is on.

Talk it through

Choose the microphone in the sidebar (or Dictate on a phone), then Start Recording and allow microphone access. Say it however it comes out.

• Pause and Resume as often as you need. Stop ends the recording; Discard throws it away.
• Recording stops automatically at 30 minutes, keeping everything said up to that point. You get a two-minute warning.
• A long recording is sent in five-minute pieces while you talk, so only the last few minutes are left to transcribe when you stop. If a piece fails, Try Transcribing Again resends just that piece.
• The screen stays on while you record, where your browser allows it. On a phone, keep the page open: locking the screen or switching apps can stop the recording.
• After stopping, read the transcript back and fix anything that was misheard. Record More adds to it. Give it a title if you like, then choose Distill It.

While it runs

A progress ring shows each stage as it happens, usually in under a minute.

1. The transcript is fetched (or taken from what you pasted), along with a word count.
2. Five separate passes read it, one for each kind of output.
3. The results are saved to your library.
4. The results open automatically.

You don't have to watch. Close the panel with Esc or by clicking outside it and carry on; the item keeps processing in your library and shows its progress there. Cancel stops it and removes it completely.

Your library

Everything you've distilled, newest first. It's the page Distill opens on.

• The three numbers at the top show how many sources you've distilled, how many outputs are in your library, and how many you added this week.
• Each row shows where the source came from (a play symbol for a video, a page for a transcript, a microphone for a recording), its title and author, when it was processed, and its number of outputs.
• A row still processing shows its progress. Select it to watch.
• A warning triangle with a count like “4 of 5 categories” means some kinds of output failed while others worked. What worked is kept. An empty Stories & Lines result is normal; if all five main categories fail, the source is marked Failed.
• “Failed” means nothing could be produced. Select it to see why and choose what to do next (see When something goes wrong).
• The ⋮ menu on a row lets you delete it. You're asked to confirm. Deleting removes its outputs too, and any share links to them stop working.

Continue

Above the numbers, Continue lists up to five next steps you've set with Use this next, most recently updated first. Each row shows what it's for, the step, and where the item came from. Resume opens that exact item, scrolled into view and outlined, with your step and a place to record what happened. It works after a reload too. Continue only lists steps you chose to set; keeping an item doesn't add it here.

Search (the magnifier in the sidebar) filters your library as you type, matching titles, authors and the start of each transcript. Esc clears it. Long libraries show 12 items at a time, with Load more at the bottom.

Reading the results

Select any finished item to open its results. The top shows the source and the total number of outputs; the list beside it switches between the five kinds, or six on your own recordings.

If one kind of output didn't finish, a note at the top says how many kinds are ready and which one didn't finish. That kind shows Didn't finish in the list; everything else is complete and ready to use.

Where each item comes from

Under each item, a line says how it relates to the source, and Source basis opens the passages behind it:

The Source basis sheet shows each claim, the exact passage from the transcript (spelling and all), who said it if the source names them, and the time if the source had timings. If not, it says Speaker not identified or Timestamp unavailable rather than guessing. An excerpt shows what the source says; it doesn't confirm that a claim is true.

The line under each item

A few seconds after results open, each item gets a short grey line saying what kind of content it is and how long it stays useful. Hover over it for the fuller explanation.

The labels describe what Distill wrote, so they don't change if you edit an item.

What you can do with each item

• Keep marks an item you want to reuse. The ⋮ menu also has Later and Dismiss. Use All, Kept, Later and Dismissed above the list to filter. A dismissed item folds away with Undo; after you leave the page it's only under Dismissed. Keeping an item doesn't mark it as checked.
• Copy puts the text on your clipboard. The icon turns into a tick to confirm.
• Edit lets you rewrite it in place. Say whether you changed the wording only or a fact; for a fact you can add why. Enter saves, Shift + Enter starts a new line, and Esc cancels. Your version replaces the original everywhere: copying, exporting and sharing all use it. Distill still keeps the original it generated, and Restore original in the ⋮ menu brings it back.
• After a wording-only edit, the Source basis sheet offers The facts didn't change: confirm. Distill then checks the passages against your new text, and says if part of it isn't supported.
• If the item was changed somewhere else while you were editing, your draft stays put. You see the newer version and choose Save my draft instead or Use the newer version.
• Share opens a preview of the public page before any link is made (see Sharing).
• Use this next (in the ⋮ menu) records one next step: what it's for (Publish, Teach, Test or Other), the step, and an optional project. Saving also keeps the item, and the step shows under it. Only you can see it; it never appears on a share link or in an export. Later, record what happened to close it, or dismiss it. Reopen brings a closed one back. If the item changes after you set the step, it says so.
• Thumbs up / thumbs down records whether it was useful. It doesn't change what you see; it tells us which outputs are worth keeping and which need work, so please use it.
• Where do you stand? appears under key points from someone else's talk. Choose I agree or I disagree, add a line on why if you like, and press Enter. Change lets you revise it or remove it later. It isn't offered on your own recordings, whose key points are already your view.

To go back, choose ← Library at the top left.

Sharing

A share link shows one item on its own page, readable by anyone with the link. They don't need an account.

• Choosing Share opens a preview of exactly what the public page will show. Nothing is created until you choose Copy link.
• The page shows the item's text, its kind, a line about its source basis (for example “Said in the source below. Not independently checked.”), and the title of the source. It never shows your name or email, your next steps, outcomes, projects or stances, the full transcript, or private file links.
• Supporting excerpts are off unless you turn them on, tick the passages you want, and confirm you're allowed to publish them. Only those passages appear, under “From the source”.
• Each item has one link. Sharing it again gives you the same link back. If it showed excerpts before, copying it without excerpts withdraws them.
• If you edit an item after sharing it, the link shows the edited version. Any excerpts you approved are withdrawn, and the line says the item was edited after its source basis was captured.
• Share pages are hidden from search engines.

Exporting

Choose Export All on a results page, switch on the formats you want, and download. Each format holds what it is for, and the sheet says exactly what each file will contain before you download it.

Exports include your edits. Every file opens with the source’s title and channel, and lists its sections in the same order as the results page.

To export just one kind, open it and choose Export at the top of its list. You're offered only the formats that kind comes in, so Articles can go out as Word, and Social Posts have a single Export as Markdown button.

If a run has nothing that belongs in a format (no articles or teaching material, say), that format is dimmed and says why, rather than giving you an empty file.

Remix

New posts and articles built only from your own material: your stories and lines, key points and drafts from your own recordings, and the views you've stated. Open it from Remix beside New in your library, or the shuffle icon in the sidebar.

1. Choose Social posts (three at a time) or Article (one short piece).
2. Add a subject if you like, such as “pricing”, or leave it blank to use your strongest material.
3. Choose Remix. It takes around half a minute.

• Nothing is added that you didn't say. Every claim, story and number comes from your material. Pieces can be recombined and joined so they read as one, and your distinctive lines are kept word for word.
• Under each piece, Built from lists how many of your items it used and links to the recordings they came from.
• Your Voice settings apply, and so do your stated views: a stance you took on someone else's talk can become a post in your own words.
• If there isn't enough on a subject, Remix says so rather than stretching unrelated material to fit.
• Remixes are kept on the page. Copy takes one; Delete removes a set.

Thoughtcast Invited accounts

Keep the audio of your own recordings, listen back, and share the ones you choose on a public profile, with the notes Distill made from them. It's raw and unedited: a sermon, a talk, an idea worked through out loud.

• Keep the audio. When you record with Talk it through, switch on Keep the audio before you start. Use Pause rather than Stop: one continuous take is kept. For a recording made elsewhere, open its source (added with This is me on) and choose Add audio file: MP3, M4A, WebM, Ogg or WAV, up to 200 MB. Invited accounts can record for up to 90 minutes.
• Private until you publish. Kept audio plays only for you, on its source page. Nothing is public until you choose Publish….
• Publish. The first time, choose a username: your profile is at /username and each thoughtcast at /username/thoughtcast/its-title. The username can't be changed later, because your links depend on it. Then choose the title, which outputs appear as notes, and whether the transcript shows.
• Your profile. In Settings, under Thoughtcast profile, add a photo (cropped to a circle; location and camera details are removed), a short bio of up to 160 characters, and links shown as icons: YouTube, Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, WhatsApp, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and one website. Each link is checked against its platform. All of it is public on your profile and thoughtcasts.
• Artwork. When you publish, choose the artwork: one of twelve generated covers, made from your title and photo, or your own image (cropped to a square; 1400 × 1400 or larger looks sharpest). It shows on the page, your profile, link previews and lock screens.
• Thoughtcasts list. The Open Loop icon in the sidebar (on a phone, the Thoughtcasts switch at the top of Library) lists everything you've kept or published, with its status and numbers. A row opens its recording; the menu copies the link, opens the public page or unpublishes.
• Activity. Once published, the Thoughtcast panel shows views, listens, listening time and how many finished it, all time and for the last 7 days. Only you see these. Each browser counts once a day, and a listen means at least 30 seconds heard. No names, emails or IP addresses are kept: a random id in the listener's browser is all that tells one visitor from another.
• Unpublish takes the page down at once; the audio stays kept. Delete audio removes the file and takes down anything published from it. Deleting the source does both.

Publishing rules

• Publish only your own recordings. Anyone else who speaks in it must have agreed to it being published, and you confirm that when you publish.
• You need the right to share everything in it, including any music playing in the background.
• Nothing hateful, harassing or abusive, and nothing that shares someone's private information.
• Every public page has Report this thoughtcast. Reports are reviewed, and a thoughtcast that breaks these rules is taken down and can't be republished.

Settings

Your initials in the top-right corner, the settings icon at the bottom of the sidebar, or Account on a phone all open Settings.

• Appearance: Light, Dark, or System to follow your device.
• Account: your name and email, Change Password, and Sign Out. Changing your password signs you out everywhere else.
• Usage: how many sources you've added in the last 24 hours, against the daily limit.
• Shared Outputs: every public link you've created, with a button to copy each one again.
• Your Voice: how Distill writes for you (see below).
• Your Point of View: every stance you've taken with Where do you stand?, newest first, with a link back to where it came from. Remove takes one back.
• Help: this manual.

Your Voice

Each setting starts on Auto, which leaves it to Distill. Choose one and it applies to everything written from then on; each change saves as you make it.

• Tone: Casual (everyday words and contractions), Plain (clear and neutral), or Polished (precise, professional vocabulary).
• Sentences: Short (mostly under fifteen words), Mixed, or Long and flowing.
• Perspective: Mostly “I”, writing from your experience, or Mostly “you”, speaking to the reader. Your own recordings only.
• Backed by: Opinion, leading with your judgment, or Evidence, citing what the source cites (Distill never invents a source).
• Never use: words and phrases you never want to see. Type one and press Enter; separate several with commas. The × on each removes it.

On your own recordings the settings shape everything. On someone else's talk they shape only the articles and social posts, the pieces you'd publish; their key points stay a plain record of what they said.

Suggest from my edits reads what you changed in outputs you've edited (at least three) and proposes settings, each with the reason. Nothing changes until you choose Use these. A setting is only suggested when at least two of your edits point the same way.

How your point of view is used

When you add something in your own voice (anything recorded with Talk it through, or a source with This is me on), Distill reads your most recent stances before writing. Where the recording touches the same subject, what it writes stays consistent with your view, and may reuse the way you put it. If the recording says something different, the recording wins: it's what you think now. Your views are never added to a piece where the recording doesn't bring the subject up, and they're never used on anyone else's talk.

On your phone

Distill works in your phone's browser. The sidebar becomes a bar along the bottom:

• Library, New, Dictate, Search and Account.
• Remix isn't in the bar; it's the button beside New at the top of your library.
• On a computer, the sidebar is icons only. Hover over one, or move to it with Tab, to see its name.
• On a results page, the kinds of output become a row you scroll sideways, and each item's buttons sit underneath its text: Keep, ⋮, Copy, Edit and Share. Thumbs up and down are in the ⋮ menu, and on the narrowest phones Share is too.

If your connection drops, a bar at the top says so, and Distill catches up by itself when you're back online. Nothing you've already added is lost.

Limits

These keep costs predictable while Distill is in early access.

Very long transcripts can be too big to process in one go. If that happens, paste the part you care about as a transcript.

When something goes wrong

Distill tells you what happened in plain language. Here's what each message means and what to do.

For anything else, tell whoever invited you what you were doing and what the screen said.