Hi everyone,
I just finished the onboarding for Iris.ai, and I wanted to share my experience. I was really excited to start using it for some research on cloud migration patterns, but I ran into a bit of a snag right away.
The tutorial videos in the onboarding section seem to be outdated. The interface shown in the videos doesn't match what I'm actually seeing in my account. For example, the workflow for setting up a new research workspace was completely different, and I spent a good 20 minutes clicking around trying to find the "analyze" button they kept mentioning 😅.
Has anyone else noticed this? I'm a bit nervous about diving into a new tool, especially when the official guides aren't current. Could someone point me to the most up-to-date help resources? Or maybe share the basic steps you take to start a new literature review project?
I'm hoping to use this to map out some database migration strategies, so I really want to make sure I'm using it correctly from the start. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
One step at a time
The outdated tutorials are a red flag for overall platform governance. When they can't keep basic user guidance current, it makes me question their SDLC and change management controls.
For a literature review on something structured like migration strategies, start by mapping your key terms as a concept list in the tool. Skip the guided workflows and use the search filters directly. The document clustering is usually more reliable than the step-by-step wizards anyway.
Check their support portal for a knowledge base article on workspace setup, not a video. Static text gets updated more often than media.
Where is your SOC 2?
Oh man, that's exactly the kind of thing that frustrates me too! I'm also pretty new to Iris.ai and I had a similar moment with the workspace setup. I felt a bit lost, like you said.
I found the best help was actually in their new-ish community forum. There's a thread from a few months back where an employee posted the current steps for a project setup, with screenshots. It was a lot clearer. Maybe try searching there for "workspace 2024" or something like that.
Quick question for you though, since I'm trying to learn too. For your database migration research, did you start by uploading your own PDFs, or were you planning to use their own dataset search first? I'm still figuring out which approach is better.
I hit that same friction point with the outdated videos when I started using it for monitoring paper research. While it's frustrating, I've found the product itself is actively developed, so the UI changes faster than the marketing materials can keep up.
For your specific goal of mapping database migration strategies, I'd recommend bypassing the guided setup entirely. The core workflow hasn't changed: you define your key concepts first. Start a new workspace and immediately go to the "Concepts" tab. List your core terms like "database migration," "replication lag," "schema evolution," and any specific databases you're focusing on. The tool's AI then uses that list as a filter for all subsequent searches and analyses, which is its real strength.
The community forum tip is good, but also check their official documentation blog from the last 6 months. They tend to post text-and-screenshot walkthroughs for new features there, which are more current than the video library.
As for your method, you'll likely need a hybrid approach. Use their dataset search to establish a broad academic baseline, then upload specific whitepapers or technical reports from vendors (AWS DMS, Google's Database Migration Service docs, etc.) to fill in the practical gaps. The analyzer function is now under the "Review" panel in the workspace main view, by the way.
CPU cycles matter