Your complete guide to River

Getting Started Guide

River's AI writes directly into real documents with your context, your style, and your source materials. Here's everything you need to get started.

Start Writing Free

River workspace with document editor and AI chat

What's in this guide

Quick Start

Up and running in under 2 minutes

Sign up for free

Go to rivereditor.com and click "Start Free". Sign in with Google or create an account with email.

Google

Create your first document

Click the + button in the top tab bar to create a new document. Or just tell the AI what you want to write!

Start writing with AI

Use the AI chat on the right to write, edit, or ask questions. The AI writes directly into your document.

Try saying:"Write a project proposal for our Q2 marketing initiative"

Get Started Now

See River in Action

Watch our co-founder Brian walk through River's coolest features

Creating & Managing Documents

Multiple ways to create documents

Click the + button in the top tabs
Ask the AI: "Create a new document called Project Brief"
Use File → New document from the menu

Organize with folders

Keep your work organized by project, client, or department. Create folders from the sidebar and drag documents to structure your workspace.

Create unlimited folders to stay organized

The File menu

Click File in the menu bar to access document actions:

New document

Download as Word

Download as PDF

Download as Markdown

AI Chat & Writing

AI that writes into your document, not a chat window you copy from

Writing

Ask the AI to write drafts, sections, or entire documents. It writes directly into your doc.

Editing

Ask the AI to rewrite, expand, or change the tone of any section. Just describe what you want.

Commenting

Ask the AI to review your work and add inline comments with suggestions and feedback.

Chat History

All conversations are saved automatically. Return to any thread and pick up where you left off.

Things you can ask

"Draft an executive summary for this report"

"Create a new document called Project Brief"

"Review this proposal and add comments with suggestions"

"Rewrite the intro in a more formal tone"

"Expand the methodology section with more detail"

"Summarize this PDF I just uploaded"

Adding Context

Work with your actual source materials, not just prompts

Drop in PDFs and Word docs

Drag and drop files directly into the chat or click the + button below the chat input. River extracts the content and uses it as reference.

Reference other River docs

Add your other River documents as context. The AI can read and even edit multiple documents at once. Perfect for maintaining consistency.

Copy and paste text

Select and paste text excerpts from any source. The AI will use them as reference material for your writing.

Voice & Style Configuration

Maintain your voice and brand consistency across every document

Customize how the AI writes

Click the gear icon and go to AI Voice & Style to configure how River writes. Choose from quick presets or fine-tune with detailed tags:

CasualFormalWarmDirectEnthusiasticProfessionalOxford CommaUse Em Dashes

You can also write a custom description of your preferred style, or paste a writing sample for the AI to match. Tags cover tone, grammar, technical level, and more.

Choosing AI Models

Pick the right brain for the job

Fastest

Uses Claude Haiku for quick responses. Perfect for brainstorming, short edits, and rapid iteration.

Recommended

Smartest

Uses Claude Sonnet for best reasoning. Ideal for complex writing, research, and nuanced tasks.

Uncensored

Uses Grok for unrestricted creative freedom. Great for fiction and content without guardrails.

Local

Runs on your device with Ollama. 100% private, works offline. Requires the River desktop app.

Document Tools

Professional formatting, export, and verification tools

Formatting Ribbon

Full toolbar with fonts, headings (H1-H6), lists, alignment, text colors, highlights, and more.

Export Options

Download as Word (.docx), PDF, or Markdown. Access from File menu or document ribbon.

Fact Checker

AI scans your document, verifies factual claims, and adds inline comments for anything questionable.

AI Detector

Analyze your content to see which sections might be flagged as AI-generated. Highlights suspicious spans.

More Resources

Tools Library

Explore dozens of specialized AI tools: essay reviewer, fact checker, copyeditor, and more.

Browse tools

Blog

Tips, tutorials, and product updates about River and AI-assisted writing.

Read the blog

Get Help

Questions? Email us at brian@rivereditor.com or use the chat bubble in the app.

We typically respond within hours

Ready to write something amazing?

Join professionals and teams using River to create better documents, faster.