PandatAi

1. Install

⚠️ Before you begin:

• If Claude Code or Codex is currently open, close it first — especially if you're installing or updating the Claude Code plugin or Codex plugin. Each host only picks up a newly registered (or updated) plugin on its next start.
• If PandatAi is already installed on this machine, uninstall it first (see 6. Uninstall) before running this installer, then proceed with the steps below.

1. Copy the installer PandatAi-Setup-2026.1.0.exe to your machine.

2. Double-click it to run, and accept the license agreement.

3. On Select Destination Location, accept the default install folder (or Browse to a different one).

4. On Select Components, choose what to install alongside the app:

Tick either or both only if you also want to reach PandatAi from Claude Code or Codex; leave them unticked to install the standalone app on its own.

5. On Your folders, point PandatAi at the folder holding your licensed thermodynamic databases (.pdb / .tdb files) and choose where results and chats should be written. Both can be changed later — see 2.4 Database & output folders.

6. Step through the rest of the wizard. You can optionally tick "Create a desktop shortcut."

7. When it finishes, leave "Launch PandatAi now" checked, or start it later from the Start Menu → PandatAi. The first launch takes a little longer than usual.

Installing and using the Claude Code and Codex plugins

If you ticked Claude Code plugin and/or Codex plugin in step 4, the installer registers them for you automatically — there is nothing to type into Claude Code or Codex yourself. Close Claude Code and/or Codex before running the installer if either is open, so the newly registered plugin is picked up the next time you start them. If registration could not complete (typically because Claude Code or Codex was not yet installed on this machine), the installer shows you the one command to run once you have installed it.

Both plugins are copied into your own user folder, alongside your other PandatAi settings:

If registration did not complete automatically, run the matching pair of commands yourself, once, in a terminal. The commands are the same either way — only how the folder path is written changes:

PowerShell

claude plugin marketplace add "$env:APPDATA\PandatAi\claudecode-plugin"
claude plugin install pandatai@pandatai-local

codex plugin marketplace add "$env:APPDATA\PandatAi\codex-plugin"
codex plugin add pandatai@pandatai-local

Command Prompt

claude plugin marketplace add "%APPDATA%\PandatAi\claudecode-plugin"
claude plugin install pandatai@pandatai-local

codex plugin marketplace add "%APPDATA%\PandatAi\codex-plugin"
codex plugin add pandatai@pandatai-local

Run only the pair for the tool you actually use.

'claude'/'codex' is not recognized? The two shells don't always see the same PATH — a CLI installed after this terminal window opened, or added to only one shell's PATH, can work in one and not the other. Try these, in the shell where it's failing:

• where claude (or where codex) — works in both Command Prompt and PowerShell; if it prints nothing, that shell can't see the executable. Get-Command claude is the PowerShell-native equivalent. Close and reopen the terminal, or try the other shell.
• claude --version / codex --version — confirms the CLI itself is installed.
• claude doctor / codex doctor — a full installation, settings and PATH diagnostic report from the tool itself.
• claude plugin list / codex plugin list — confirms whether pandatai shows up as installed once registration succeeds.

Claude Code

• Install Claude Code from https://code.claude.com if you don't have it yet. Plugin concepts (marketplaces, installing, registering) are documented at https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugin-marketplaces.
• Once it's installed and the plugin registered, open Claude Code — PandatAi's tools are available immediately, with nothing further to configure: the installer already saved your PandatX path and folders (step 5 above).
• Check it worked — type /pandatai:status. It reports whether the engine was found, whether your dongle carries a PandatAi license, and which folders are in use.
• Check your license — ask "check my PandatAi license" for the full report (every module, the PandatAi entry, and its expiry).
• Results are written to Documents\CompuTherm_PandatAi\ClaudeCode\runs\ — kept separate from the standalone app's own results folder, so the two histories don't tangle.
• Uninstalling PandatAi (see 6. Uninstall) also unregisters this plugin — there is nothing extra to remove from within Claude Code.

Codex

• Install Codex from OpenAI if you don't have it yet; official plugin documentation is at https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/plugins.
• Once it's installed and the plugin registered, open Codex — PandatAi's tools are available immediately, the same "nothing to configure" behavior as Claude Code, because the installer already saved your PandatX path and folders.
• Check it worked — ask "What is the PandatAi runtime status?" It reports the same engine, license and folder checks as above.
• Check your license — ask "check my PandatAi license" the same way.
• Results are written to Documents\CompuTherm_PandatAi\Codex\runs\.
• Uninstalling PandatAi (see 6. Uninstall) also unregisters this plugin.

A calculation asked from within a Claude Code session — the same plugin the standalone app ships — looks like this:

⚠️ In the Claude desktop app, PandatAi is reachable only from a Claude Code session running inside it — never from an ordinary Claude Desktop chat. The component you installed is a Claude Code plugin; it does not add PandatAi to Claude Desktop's own chat. Start a Claude Code session from within the desktop app to use it there.

A calculation asked from within Codex looks like this:

2. First-run setup (configure your key and paths)

The very first time you open PandatAi, it walks you through a one-time setup.

2.1 API key & model

Paste your LLM API key, then click anywhere outside the field to continue. PandatAi recognizes which service the key belongs to and fills the Model list — pick the model you want. Your key is stored locally on this machine only and remembered for next time. The installation ZIP file includes an api_key.md document with API keys for Claude and GPT models.

We recommend Claude Sonnet 5 with Reasoning effort set to Medium. Model families behave differently: OpenAI's GPT models tend to pause more often and wait for your input before continuing. When that happens, press the → (right arrow) key to accept the suggested next message.

2.2 Running mode

Choose how much PandatAi should ask you before each calculation:

2.3 How PandatAi opens

By default, PandatAi opens in its own app window. If you'd rather it open as a tab in your normal web browser instead, go to Configuration → How PandatAi Opens and choose Browser tab. Nothing about what PandatAi talks to over the network changes either way — it only changes which window shows the app. This takes effect the next time you start PandatAi, not immediately.

For a one-off browser launch without changing that setting, use the PandatAi (Browser) shortcut in the Start Menu alongside the regular PandatAi shortcut.

2.4 Database & output folders

You already chose these during installation — see 1. Install, the Your folders step. PandatAi remembers them from there:

• Database folder — the folder that holds your licensed Pandat databases (e.g., the .pdb files). The folder may be empty, since the built-in .tdb databases are installed there for you.

• Output folder — where your calculation results are saved (e.g. C:\Users\you\Documents\PandatAi_output).

• PandatX engine — usually left blank; PandatAi finds the standard install location by itself, and only needs a path if your PandatX engine lives somewhere non-standard.

An example of what a database folder looks like:

You can change them later

Everything above can be changed at any time under Configuration — from the menu bar in the app window, or the ⚙ Settings button at the top of the page if you're using the browser-tab view.

Choosing Database and Output Paths… opens the same three fields, pre-filled with what you chose during installation. Change a path and click Save & restart engine to apply it.

Adding a database later

If you drop new licensed database files into your database folder after setup — a new CompuTherm database, or one for another alloy system — PandatAi won't know about them until you ask it to look again. Just type something like "set up my databases again" or "scan my database folder" and it will:

• Recognize files named the way CompuTherm ships them, for example PanNi2026_All.pdb (a full database) or PanNi2026_TH+MB+MV.pdb (a partial one — TH = thermodynamics, MB = mobility, MV = molar volume, PP = physical properties). If a folder has both a partial and a fuller file for the same alloy system, PandatAi keeps the fuller one as the default and still keeps the other one usable by name.
• Ask you what to call anything it can't place from the filename alone (an in-house name, or an older/renamed CompuTherm file) — you give it a name and description, it remembers.
• Leave your existing setup and files untouched — it only adds what's new, so it's safe to run again any time, even if nothing changed.

You can also skip all of this for a one-off calculation: just tell PandatAi the full path to the database file you want to use, and it will use it directly without needing to be set up first.

2.5 Workspace & session

The first time you start, give the workspace and the session a name — for example, workspace: PanPhaseDiagram; session: Al_alloy.

3. Run a calculation

Ask in plain English

Type what you want in the box at the bottom and press Enter. For example:

• Scheil solidification of Al-3wt%Cu

PandatAi will:

1. Set up the database (the first time only).
2. Work out the calculation type, composition, temperature, and database.
3. In Guided mode, show you one summary — review it, then confirm or adjust. In Expert mode, it asks you at each decision point.
4. Run the PandatX engine and report the results right in the chat.

While PandatAi is working, the send arrow turns into a stop button — press it if you want to interrupt.

Plots

Plots are interactive: hover for values, drag to zoom, and double-click to zoom back out.

Below every figure:

• Open in browser opens the figure in your default web browser.
• Show in folder opens the run's folder in Windows Explorer.
• Save PNG saves the picture wherever you choose.
• ▸ Figure options, inside the figure itself, opens a small bar where you can change the font and the text sizes, type exact axis ranges, and — on charts with a temperature axis — switch between K and °C. Reset fonts and Reset axes each undo their own half.
• The figure's own file path is printed underneath the buttons, so you can copy it or quote it elsewhere.

The figure in that folder is worth keeping. Each one is a complete, self-contained .html file: double-click it in Windows Explorer months later — with PandatAi closed — and the same interactive chart opens in your browser, zooming and all.

When you resume a chat, its figures come back with it. The most recent few redraw themselves; older ones show a Show figure button so that reopening a long conversation stays quick.

Suggested next step

After a result, PandatAi often proposes a sensible follow-up as faint grey text in the message box, with a ✨ hint above it. Press → to accept it, or Esc to dismiss it. Simply typing your own question also dismisses it.

Changing a message you already sent

Every message you have already sent carries a pencil icon on its right. Click it to edit that message and send it again; the conversation after that point is discarded and PandatAi answers afresh.

Attaching a file or an image

Use the paperclip to attach a file to your next message — a data file for PandatAi to read, or an image such as a diagram or a screenshot. You can also paste an image straight from the clipboard.

When PandatAi asks for permission

Your results folder, your database folder and the CompuTherm_PandatAi folder in Documents are always readable. If PandatAi needs a file anywhere else, it stops and asks you to approve that folder first.

PandatAi can also look things up on the web — an alloy specification, a standard, a published datasheet — and read the pages it finds. Nothing leaves your computer until you allow it: the first time it needs the web, it stops and asks.

You can withdraw Allow always at any time from the menu bar, under Configuration → Web Access. There is nothing else to set up — no extra account or key is needed.

⚠️ Anything you ask PandatAi to search for is sent to a search engine. If you work under a confidentiality agreement, prefer Allow for this chat only, or Don't allow.

4. Organize your work: workspaces and chats

The panel on the left

The panel down the left side has two halves:

• Workspaces (top) — your work on disk: the workspace you are in, the chats inside it, each chat's numbered runs, and the files in each run.
• Skills & Tools (bottom).

Starting a new chat

Each conversation is a chat (a session), and PandatAi keeps each chat's results in its own folder.

Click New session at the top right and give it a name. Leave the box blank to accept the next free session_1, session_2, …

Reopening an earlier chat

Right-click a chat in the left panel and choose Resume this chat. Everything you and PandatAi said comes back, and you can carry on from there.

Workspaces

A workspace is a drawer for related chats.

• +, at the top of the panel, creates one. Leave the name blank to accept the next free workspace_1, workspace_2, …

• The panel shows the workspace you are in. Show all workspaces lists the others, with a Switch button for each.

Summarizing a chat

The document button to the left of the message box writes a plain-English brief of the chat into summary.md inside the chat's own folder. Click it again later and it appends what has happened since.

Deleting a chat or a workspace

Right-click a chat and choose Delete, or use the trash button beside a workspace in Show all workspaces.

Skills & Tools

The lower half of the panel lists what PandatAi can currently do — its skills, the calculation tools they use, and an App tools group for the things the app itself does rather than the calculation engine: reading a file you point it at, searching the web, saving a figure as a PNG. It is there to look at, not to configure; nothing in it needs to be switched on.

5. Your results and files

Where everything is saved

Everything lands in the Output folder you set during setup. Inside it, each workspace gets a folder, each session gets a folder inside its workspace, and each calculation in that session is a numbered run:

<your output folder>\
└── <workspace>\                        ← e.g. workspace_1
    └── <session>\                      ← e.g. my_al_cu_study
        ├── summary.md                  ← written by the Summarize button
        ├── Run_1\
        │   ├── <calculation>.pbfx      ← the batch file PandatAi built
        │   ├── <calculation>.dat       ← raw tab-separated results
        │   ├── <calculation>.log       ← engine log for this run
        │   ├── metadata.json           ← what was run (composition, T, database, …)
        │   └── plot.html               ← interactive plot (if one was made)
        ├── Run_2\
        └── …

The chat folder also holds the conversation itself. That is why copying a chat folder to another machine brings the whole chat with it — discussion and results together — ready to resume.

Opening a result file

• Click a file in the left panel to see its size and when it was created and last changed.
• Double-click it to open it in whatever program Windows normally uses for that file — a plot opens in your browser, a .dat in your spreadsheet or editor.
• Double-click a folder row (or use the small button on it) to open that folder in Explorer.

6. Uninstall

1. Open Windows Settings → Apps → Installed apps.
2. Find PandatAi in the list and choose Uninstall.

3. During uninstall you'll be asked one question:

"Also remove your PandatAi settings and data?"

• No — removes the program but keeps your saved API key, folder paths, chat sessions, and logs, so a future reinstall remembers your setup.
• Yes — also deletes those settings and your saved API key, leaving no stored credential behind. Choose this if you're moving the app off the machine for good.

Either way, your calculation results are kept — they live in your output folder, not in the program folder.