Public Alpha is free while NeuralScio is tested and stabilized. Some surfaces are limited or experimental.
Current boundaries
- Managed cloud AI and paid billing are not active for public alpha access.
- Local models and BYOK depend on the selected backend, model, credentials, and machine.
- Provider availability, metadata quality, PDF access, caching, and AI policy differ by source.
- Offline continuity is strongest for saved metadata, cached content, local annotations, and configured local AI. A first provider search still needs network access.
- macOS has a documented build path but is not presented as a parity-tested Public Alpha download artifact.
- MCP is an experimental integration surface. Its availability depends on the current build, runtime configuration, and permissions; this does not establish a hosted service.
- Reader and import behavior can depend on the exact desktop candidate and source type. Check that the selected document is displayed before annotating or relying on offline access; a repository change or unit test does not by itself confirm GUI behavior.
- For imported HTML, the Library title shown can come from the filename rather than the document's internal
<title>. HTML text extraction has been intermittent on some inputs, so check the saved reading view before discarding the original file.
What this means for evaluation
Check the feature status badge on each article. Experimental features need review against the source paper and the current build. Do not infer availability from a class name or an old engineering report.
See Troubleshooting, Backup, Restore & Data Locations, and MCP Security for operational limits.