Quick Start

From download to your first compiled PDF in about five minutes.

1. Download and install

Head to the download section and grab the installer for your platform.

  • macOS — Open the .dmg and drag Flow into Applications. Works on both Intel and Apple Silicon.
  • Windows — Run the .exe installer. It'll set up everything automatically.
  • Linux — Choose the .AppImage (portable, auto-updates), .deb (Debian/Ubuntu), or .rpm (Fedora/RHEL).

Flow bundles Tectonic, a modern LaTeX engine, so you don't need to install a separate TeX distribution. Just open the app and you're ready to go.

2. Create your first document

When you open Flow for the first time, you'll see the welcome screen with a template picker. Pick one that fits what you're making:

  • Article — A standard document with sections. Good for most things.
  • Minimal — Bare-bones. Just a title and body.
  • Letter — Formal letter with sender/recipient fields.
  • Resume — A professional CV template.
  • Report — Longer document with chapters and table of contents.
  • Presentation — Slide deck (Beamer).

You can also browse hundreds more from CTAN using the template browser, or open any .tex file you already have.

3. The editor layout

Flow's interface has three main areas:

  • Left sidebar — File management, settings, and tools.
  • Center: Editor — Where you write your LaTeX. Syntax highlighted, with smart completions.
  • Right: Preview — Live PDF preview. Updates after each compile.

You can toggle the sidebar and preview pane to focus on what matters. The editor uses familiar keyboard shortcuts — Ctrl+B for bold, Ctrl+I for italic, and so on.

4. Fill in the template fields

This is where Flow really shines. After loading a template, you'll see small gold dots in the gutter — these mark fields that need your input (things like \title{}, \author{}, etc.).

Press Ctrl+Tab to jump to the first fillable field. Type your content, then press Ctrl+Tab again to move to the next one. It's like filling in a form.

If you have ghost suggestions enabled, Flow will offer inline completions as you type — dimmed text that appears after your cursor. Press Ctrl+Right Arrow to accept a suggestion, or just keep typing to ignore it.

5. Compile to PDF

Press Ctrl+Enter (or Cmd+Enter on Mac) to compile. The PDF preview on the right will update with your rendered document.

If there are any errors, they'll show up below the editor with line numbers. Click an error to jump to the problem. If you have an AI provider configured, you can click "Ask AI" for a plain-English explanation of what went wrong.

6. Save and export

Ctrl+S saves your .tex source file. The compiled PDF is saved alongside it. You can also use Save As (Ctrl+Shift+S) to pick a different location.

Next steps

Now that you've made your first document, here are some places to go deeper:

New to LaTeX?
LaTeX Basics →
Next guide
Ctrl+Tab Flow →