Technical User Guide

Thothful helps you turn one topic into many high-quality web search queries.

• It does not replace your search engine.
• Instead, it uses AI and data science to propose 5–30 diverse queries that you can run on Google (or another search engine) with a single click.
• Each query is designed to reflect a different, meaningful angle on your original topic.

Think of it as a query design assistant: you decide the topic and priorities; it helps you formulate better searches.

2.1 Meaning Space, Not Keyword Matching

Rather than simply adding keywords, the system models your topic as a point in a semantic space. It then explores nearby regions of that space to find:

• Different wordings for the same idea
• Related questions and subtopics
• Adjacent fields and expert domains

Your inputs (topic, "Also Known As", etc.) help the system understand which regions of this space are most relevant to you.

2.2 Steering, Not Copying

When you add items to "Also Known As", "I Want to Know About", and "Related Fields", they are used as concept hints:

• Hints steer the AI toward certain directions (e.g., "costs", "beginner tutorials", "safety")
• Hints are not copied verbatim into every query
• Different combinations of hints lead to different queries

This is why diverse, specific hints produce richer results.

You'll typically see four stages:

1. Define Your Topic – Describe what you want to explore in 4–6 words.
2. Refine the Context – Optionally add or edit hints ("Also Known As", "I Want to Know About", "Related Fields").
3. Control Breadth & Volume – Adjust how far the system should explore around your topic and how many queries you want.
4. Review and Use Results – Copy, export, or click queries to launch them in your browser.

This guide focuses on how to get the most from stages 1 and 2, because better inputs produce better queries.

Your topic is the single most important input. The system works best when your topic:

• Uses 4–6 words
• Describes a specific goal, audience, or context
• Is not a full sentence, and not just one broad word

4.1 Examples of Good Topics

• beginner aws python hosting
• italian cooking for beginners
• sustainable home vegetable gardening
• machine learning for medical diagnosis

Each one defines who (beginner, home, medical) and what (hosting, cooking, gardening, diagnosis).

4.2 Common Pitfalls

If your queries feel unfocused or strange, revisit your topic first.

The context fields let you express what you really care about. They guide the generator to produce queries that match your intent.

If you're not sure what to add, click Suggest Ideas. The system will:

• Propose alternate names in Also Known As
• Suggest concrete aspects for I Want to Know About
• Offer candidate Related Fields

Treat this as a first draft, then:

1. Delete items that are clearly off-target.
2. Edit vague items to be more specific to your real interest.
3. Add any missing questions or terms that matter to you.

For researchers, you might add:

• population descriptors (e.g., "adolescents", "postoperative patients")
• study types (e.g., "systematic reviews", "meta-analysis")
• contexts (e.g., "primary care settings", "online education")

When you click Generate, the system:

1. Samples combinations of your hints.
2. Uses them to steer an AI model that proposes many candidate queries.
3. Removes near-duplicates and overly similar phrasing.
4. Returns a list of distinct, search-ready queries.

Each query:

• Is designed to be a practical web search (roughly 5–12 words).
• Targets a different aspect or angle of your topic.
• Can be launched directly in your browser.

You may also see metrics such as:

• Queries generated vs. after dedupe – how many unique queries survived filtering.
• Mean pairwise distance – how spread out the queries are in meaning (higher = more diverse).

For research workflows, you can:

• Copy all queries into a document or reference manager.
• Tag which queries produced the most relevant sources.
• Use the best-performing queries as templates and regenerate with adjusted hints.

8.1 Scenario – Planning a Home Solar Project

After generation, you might see queries like:

• best residential solar panel systems for small homes
• payback period for rooftop solar panels with battery storage
• local net metering policies for residential solar customers
• diy vs professional solar panel installation pros and cons

Each query opens a different "research lane" while still reflecting your core goal.

If you can check most of these boxes, Thothful will usually produce a useful, diverse set of queries that make your web research more thorough and efficient.

• The tool enhances your use of traditional search engines by generating many focused queries from one topic.
• Your topic and context fields act as steering controls for the AI.
• Investing a minute to refine your inputs pays off in better, more relevant search results.
• You can use it for quick everyday questions and for structured research sessions.