Quickstart
==========

This guide explains the first steps after installing NIM Studio.

Beta Release
------------

NIM Studio is currently distributed as a beta release. This beta phase is
intended to support testing, documentation review, and preparation for the
first open-source release.

The current release documentation and citation information are available
through the project repositories:

* `NIM Studio on GitHub <https://github.com/arasorietnom/NIM-Studio/>`_
* `NIM Studio on Zenodo <https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21296291>`_

Users should review the installation instructions, licence, beta policy, and
related documentation before launching the application.

The first full release version will be updated on these sites as well. 

First Launch
------------

At first launch, NIM Studio presents the following documents separately:

* Software licence
* Beta testing policy
* Rights and ownership notice
* Data-processing and responsibility notice
* Other applicable legal or project documentation

Each required document must be opened, read, and accepted separately before
access to the application is enabled.

This acceptance process is required only once. After the documents have been
accepted, NIM Studio records the local acceptance status and proceeds directly
to the application on later launches.

Module Selection
----------------

After completing the first-launch process, users are taken to the module
selection screen.

From this screen, users can select:

* A single module for a focused workflow
* Multiple modules for a combined workflow

The available modules may include tools for:

* Project directory creation
* Dataset organization
* BIDS dataset preparation
* Metadata generation
* Duplicate auditing
* Data-management review

The selected modules determine which tools are loaded into the active
workspace.

Starting a Workflow
-------------------

To begin:

#. Launch NIM Studio.
#. Review and accept each required document during the first-launch process.
#. Select one or more modules.
#. Confirm the module selection.
#. Create a new project or open an existing workspace.
#. Follow the instructions shown within the selected module.


Disclaimer
-------------------

NIM Studio is currently distributed as a beta release. Although every effort
has been made to ensure software stability and data integrity, the software
remains under active development and may contain unexpected bugs or
incomplete functionality.

During the beta phase, users are strongly encouraged to:

* Test the software using non-critical or demonstration datasets.
* Work within an isolated testing environment whenever possible.
* Maintain complete and verified backups of all research data before use.
* Independently validate all generated outputs before incorporating them into
  research workflows or scientific publications.
* Avoid using the beta release as the sole management platform for irreplaceable
  research data.

NIM Studio performs all processing locally and does not transmit user data to
external services. Nevertheless, users remain responsible for ensuring that
their data management practices comply with institutional, ethical, and legal
requirements.

By using this beta version, users acknowledge that the software is provided
for evaluation and testing purposes and accept responsibility for verifying
the correctness of any generated results.