User guide

KakiDoc is not a general-purpose chat app. It is an editor that edits Markdown with AI.You talk it through in chat first, and turn it into a document once it has taken shape.Get the layout straight first, then read the section on giving instructions, and it becomes predictable to use.

1. Finding your way around

Device	How you move between panes
iPhone	Swipe left and right: source → preview → chat
iPad and wide screens	Preview stays in the centre; source and chat open in a side panel

A document you haven't written anything in opens as chat only.There is no preview or source until a body exists.Once it does, the tabs at the top move you between source, preview and chat.

The ? button on each screen opens a help sheet for that screen.

2. The three stages of writing

KakiDoc does not jump straight to a finished draft. You talk, then build, then revise.

Stage	What you do	The body is
1. Talk it through	Discuss what you want in chat	not there yet
2. Turn it into a document	Press Turn into document	created here
3. Revise	Select in the preview and ask for a change	edited in place

1. Talk it through

A new document opens as a chat-only screen. Say what you want in one sentence —for example "I want a packing list for a weekend camping trip".

The AI does not write the body yet. It replies with an outline instead.You don't have to get it right first time. Keep going — "make it more casual","add a day-trip version" — until the shape is right.

2. Turn it into a document

When the discussion has settled, press Turn into document.You get a list of what will be written, so read it before pressing Run.That is the moment the body is created, and the screen switches to the preview.

If the list looks wrong, go back to chat and keep talking instead of running it.

3. Revise

Once a body exists, what works best is select, then ask in one sentence.

Tap the sentence or block you want to change in the preview.

Give one instruction in chat: "rewrite the selection more formally", "make this paragraph half as long", "change the heading to H2 and add three bullets below it".

Once it lands, use undo and redo to experiment safely.

3. Getting good results from the AI

What you want	How to ask
Fix a paragraph or heading	Tap the text to select it, then “shorten this”
Change the overall tone	No selection needed. Put the target and the change in one sentence: “make the whole document more casual”
Summarise the conversation	“Summarise the last few messages as three bullet points” — target and format in the same message
Look something up	“Look up the latest X and add it to the document” — words like “look up” and “latest” route the request through web research

What to avoid is asking "make it better" with nothing selected and no target named. Accuracy improves sharply when the instruction names both what to change and how.

Note that documents which already have a body skip the "turn into document" stage.Instructions in chat edit the existing text directly.

4. Where AI requests are processed

All AI features run in the cloud. An internet connection is required.

Only when you ask the AI for something are your instruction and the relevant textsent through our server to Google Gemini. What you send is not used for training.

Everything that does not involve AI — the editor, preview, export, and iCloudsync — stays on your device. See the privacy policy for details.

5. Writing agents

You can save a tone, purpose, and structure as a writing agent, and the AI will follow it when writing and revising. Register the way you usually write once — "for technical articles", "formal register", "this heading structure" — and you don't have to repeat it every time. You can pick an agent when creating a new document.

6. What the preview can show

What you want	How
Text, lists, tables	Markdown
Notes, tips, callouts	Callout syntax (> [!tip] and similar)
Flow, relationship, and state diagrams	Mermaid (6 kinds, with a dedicated editor)
YouTube and maps	A URL on its own line (maps render with MapKit; you can also pick a place from the toolbar)
Images and video	Paste or import (asset://). They sync to iCloud with the document
Maths	$$ E = mc^2 $$ (block only; inline $ … $ is not supported)
Footnotes	[^1] in the text, [^1]: your note at the end. Collected into a Footnotes section
Notes you don’t want shown	%% a note %% — saved with the document, never rendered
Links to other documents	[[Title]]. Tapping one opens that document
Task lists	Tap a checkbox to toggle it
Chapter tabs	Each # heading becomes a tab

Decorative HTML (webview, html-block, custom cards) is not supported. If you write it, it appears as an ordinary code block.

7. Document history and undo

Every time the AI edits the document, a version is saved automatically (roughly 100 are kept). Undo and redo in the toolbar return you to the previous state at any time, and you can browse earlier versions from the history list.

8. Import and export

Action	Details
Import	Import file in the document list. .md is imported on-device. Word, PDF, PowerPoint, and Excel are converted in the cloud (internet required, 10 MB limit; tables and figures may not survive)
Export	Export in the editor → Markdown, HTML, PDF, or PNG
Hand off between devices	A transfer pack (.mdpack) carries images along with the text, over AirDrop or any other transfer

9. Organising documents

What you want	How
Group into folders	+ in the document list creates one. Drag a document in, or use Move to Folder in the row’s ⋯ menu (subfolders supported)
Find a document	The search bar in the document list
Find or replace inside the text	Find & replace in the source editor toolbar. Open the search field, then Show replace
Delete	Moves the document to the Trash
Undo a delete	Open Trash and choose Restore on that row

Deleting a folder does not delete the documents in it — they move to the top of the list, and subfolders move up one level.Nothing in the Trash disappears on its own. Only Empty Trash and Delete Forever remove a document permanently, along with its chat history and attached images, and neither can be undone.

10. Sync

Documents, chats, and history sync automatically between devices on the same Apple Account through iCloud (CloudKit). If two devices disagree, check that you are signed in to iCloud and that iCloud is enabled for this app.

11. Instructions you can copy

(with a sentence selected) "Rewrite the selection in a consistent formal register."

"Reduce repeated phrasing across the document. Keep the heading structure."

"Summarise the last five turns of this chat as three bullet points. Do not change the document."

"Look up the latest information on X and append it under a ## Research notes heading."

If this doesn't answer your question, see the FAQ or support.