From download to your first task.

1. Download the installer (185 MB), or take it from the newest release on the Releases page.
2. Open the downloaded file. Windows shows “Windows protected your PC”, because the installer is not code-signed yet. Select More info, then Run anyway.
3. Follow the installer's steps.
4. When Zhiyin first opens, it asks what you plan to use it for. Select the cards that fit, then Make it yours, or Start exploring to skip.

The thinking behind Zhiyin is done by an AI model, which runs on a company's servers. OpenRouter gives you access to many AI models from different companies with one account. You buy credit in advance, and each request Zhiyin sends uses a little of it, depending on the model.

An API key is like a password that lets Zhiyin use your OpenRouter account.

1. Create an account at openrouter.ai.
2. Add credit on the Credits page. $5 is enough to start.
3. In Zhiyin, open the Model page: select ••• next to Your preferences at the bottom of the sidebar, then Model. Or press Ctrl + ,.
4. Select Add a key. Get a key on OpenRouter opens the page where keys are made. Create one there and copy it: it starts with sk-or-v1-.
5. Paste it under Paste your key and select Save key. Zhiyin keeps it in Windows Credential Manager, where Windows keeps passwords, and sends it only to OpenRouter.
6. Choose a model in the list, then select Save at the top of the page. Leave Any provider ticked, as the page recommends.

Prices and limits checked on 8 October 2026.

Zhiyin works in one folder at a time, and reads the files in it without asking. For a first try, a new empty folder works well.

1. In the message box at the bottom of the window, select Choose a folder.
2. Select Choose a folder… and pick the folder in the window that opens. The same button switches folders later.

A plugin adds know-how and tools for one kind of work. Select Plugins at the top of the sidebar, select a plugin, and use the switch beside its name to turn it on or off. The cards you chose on the first screen turned on the matching plugins. A plugin that is on is used only when a task needs it.

• Full-Stack Software Engineering

  Designs, builds, tests and reviews software, with Git, a browser for testing pages, and GitHub.

• Technical & Academic Publishing

  Writes and typesets papers and reports with sound citations, compiles them to PDF, and finds research papers on alphaXiv.

• Data Science & Business Intelligence

  Explores, cleans and explains data, in a Python environment of its own.

• Deep Research & Synthesis

  Researches a question across many sources and writes a report with citations, using Tavily web search.

Under Connectors, a plugin lists the services and programs it uses. One that needs a program, such as the Python environment, shows Set up: select it, then Install, and Zhiyin downloads what it needs.

A connector to an online service needs its own key, made on that service's website. Each one is optional, but web search is the one most tasks benefit from.

Tavily's free plan checked on 8 October 2026.

Type what you need in the message box and press Enter. New task in the sidebar, or Ctrl + N, starts another conversation.

When it asks

Before Zhiyin changes a file, runs a command or uses a connector, it asks, showing what the action is, what it can do, and the exact command or the files that change. Select a file to see the change line by line. Zhiyin says marks the AI's own explanation, which can be wrong, so check what will run.

Allow once

This action runs.

Deny

It does not run. You can tell Zhiyin what to do instead, then select Confirm denial.

Allow for this conversation

Offered for changes to files in one subfolder and for one connector tool: what it covers runs without asking for the rest of the conversation. To take it back, select ••• next to the conversation in the sidebar, then Permissions, then Revoke.

Deleting a file, running a shell command and running Python always ask.