Getting started with Essence.Report
Welcome. This guide walks you from sign-up to your first Report in about 10 minutes.
1. Create your account
- Go to essence.report and click Get started.
- Sign up with email, Google, or another supported provider.
- Verify your email address.
You're redirected to Pricing automatically. Choose a plan before generating your first Report — there's no anonymous trial.
2. Choose a plan
Plans scale by how many Reports you need each month — from individual to team. See the Pricing page for current plans, prices, and monthly Report limits.
You can change plans anytime via Settings → Billing.
3. Compose your first question
Open Workspace (top nav). You'll see:
- Prompt editor — type your research question (up to 2,000 chars)
- Refine button — free AI assistant tightens your wording (200/day, no Report quota cost)
- Pre-flight panel — research mode (Prism vs Focus), attachments, your Vault, and watermark
What makes a good prompt
| Weak | Strong |
|---|---|
| "Tell me about EV batteries" | "What is the cobalt and lithium supply-chain concentration risk for the top 5 EV manufacturers in Q1 2026, with sourcing diversification scores?" |
| "Is Company X a good investment?" | "Summarise Company X's Q4 2025 earnings, key risks disclosed in their 10-K, and analyst consensus, citing primary sources." |
| "Compare frameworks" | "Compare React, Vue, and Svelte for a 50-engineer enterprise SaaS team in 2026: hiring market, ecosystem maturity, performance benchmarks, migration cost from legacy jQuery." |
Be specific about:
- Scope — what entities, regions, time windows
- Depth — overview vs. drill-down
- Output shape — bullet list, table, narrative, scoring
4. Submit
Click Submit. A confirmation dialog shows:
- Quota to be consumed
- Estimated input tokens
- Expected delivery (5–10 min)
Confirm. You're redirected to the Task page where you'll see live progress.
5. While the Report runs
- Progress bar is an estimate (real backend doesn't expose live percentages)
- You can leave the page; return via Reports or the URL
- If something goes wrong, the Report fails and your quota is automatically refunded
6. Read your Report
When complete, you're auto-redirected. The Report renders as Markdown with:
- Inline citations to external sources
- Metadata (timing, tokens, cache stats)
- Export menu: Markdown / PDF / Word
7. Save what matters
Reports auto-expire after 7 days on the backend. To keep:
- Export immediately (Markdown is most portable)
- Pin the Report in your local list (browser-only index)
- Your Vault keeps materials you save, for reuse across Reports
8. Common questions
- Did I get charged? Quota was deducted at submit. Failed Reports auto-refund. See FAQ.
- Where's my Report? /reports
- How do I cancel? Settings → Billing → Open billing portal.