# Manifield FAQ

Answers about the free Manifield math research app: AI costs, macOS requirements, LaTeX and PDF imports, privacy, and what proof review can establish.

## What is Manifield?

A free, open-source macOS app for keeping mathematical theory organized. Your definitions, lemmas, theorems and conjectures become a library you can browse and search, with a dependency graph and a status on every result. An optional AI assistant works from your own definitions and sources.

## Is it free?

Yes. Manifield is free and open source under the GNU General Public License v3. If you use the AI features, you pay your AI provider for what you use, or use the included usage of a ChatGPT plan.

## Do I need AI to use it?

No. The library, the graph, statuses, notation, macros, search, writing items by hand and keeping PDFs all work without a model. Splitting existing notes into items does use a model.

## Which AI providers does it support?

Your own API key for Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini, xAI, Z.ai or NVIDIA, or a ChatGPT account through Codex. You can pick a different model for each task.

## Does it run on Windows, Linux or an iPad?

Not yet. Manifield is a native macOS app and needs macOS 15 or later. The project format is plain Markdown, so the files themselves can be read and edited anywhere.

## Does my research leave my machine?

Your project stays a folder on your Mac. When you use AI, the context of each request goes to the provider you chose. See [what leaves your Mac](/privacy/).

## Is it a proof assistant? Does it verify proofs?

No. Manifield records what evidence exists for each result, from conjecture to formally verified. An AI review can at best report that it found no errors. There is no Lean integration yet; *Formally verified* is a status you set yourself.

## Can I use it with Claude Code or Codex?

Yes. A project is a folder of Markdown files, so an agent can read and write it directly while you read the same theory in Manifield. [The project folder](/format/) describes the format.

## Can I import PDFs and LaTeX?

Yes. A `.tex` file or a PDF of your notes can be split into items, with the dependencies read from the proofs. Books and papers you cite can be imported as sources. Every proposed item is reviewed by you before it is saved.

## How much does the AI cost?

It depends on the provider and the model. Chat and imports cost what any conversation of that length costs. Research mode can be expensive: runs on small problems have used hundreds of thousands of tokens.

## Can I share a project?

Yes. **File → Export as Package…** writes a `.manifieldpack`, a zip of the theory without your chats and run records. Anyone with Manifield can import it.

## Who makes it?

One person. Stanisław Michalik, a mathematician, built Manifield as a personal research tool and opened the code in October 2026. Contributions are welcome on [GitHub](https://github.com/stanislaw13/Manifield).

## How do I report a problem or suggest something?

Use **Help → Report a Bug…** in the app, or open an issue on [GitHub](https://github.com/stanislaw13/Manifield/issues).