Walkthrough

How to use EasyAnalysis

From a fresh install to a modelled map. Nothing here needs code — but the R console is there if you want it.

1 · Start the app

One line in a terminal installs and starts everything — R, the app and its packages. No admin rights, no Docker, nothing to configure.

Windows · PowerShell 
iwr -useb https://easyanalysis.dev/install.ps1 | iex
macOS & Linux · Terminal 
curl -fsSL https://easyanalysis.dev/install.sh | sh

The first run downloads what it needs and can take a few minutes. Every run after that starts in seconds, because everything is cached. When it's ready the app opens in your browser at http://127.0.0.1:7788.

Keep the terminal window open while you work — closing it stops the app. To start it again later, run the same line.

First run takes a moment. The spatial libraries load once at startup; you'll see a short "Starting up…" screen.

2 · Create a project

The app opens on Projects. A project is a folder on your computer that holds your data, your analyses and your results — so you can close the app and pick up exactly where you stopped.

1

Click "+ New project"

Give it a name. That's the only thing you have to decide.

2

You land on the project Overview

This is the project's home: what's inside it, and one button — Open project — to start working.

3

Coming back later

Projects appear on the welcome screen. One click on a card opens it.

3 · Add your data

Use Add Data ▸ From file… in the menu bar, or the Add-data button on the project page. EasyAnalysis works out what each file is:

You add It becomes Where it shows
.csv .txt .xlsx a table Data view (chart + table)
.tif .img .asc a raster layer drawn on the map
.shp .gpkg .geojson a vector layer drawn on the map
.las .laz a point cloud LiDAR tools

Everything you add appears in the Layers panel on the left. Each layer has a switch to show/hide it and an arrow to open its legend and styling.

Adding a file does not jump you somewhere else. You stay where you are; the layer simply appears in the list.

4 · Map view & Data view

The workspace has two views, plus a split. They share the same project, the same layers and the same tools.

  • Map view — your spatial layers on a basemap, with the active layer's attribute table docked underneath.
  • Data view — the active table with a plot builder: pick the chart type, X and Y, and switch between Static and Interactive (hover, zoom, pan).
  • Split — both at once, with a divider you can drag.

The app picks a sensible view for you: a project with spatial data opens on the map, a table-only project opens on Data view. Change it any time and it stops guessing.

5 · Run an analysis

1

Pick a tool from Processing

Hover a group — Statistics, Machine Learning, Spatial & LiDAR — and choose a method.

2

Set it up in the side panel

Choose your response and predictors. Nothing runs until you say so.

3

Press Run

Results appear in the middle: plots, fit metrics (R², RMSE, bias) and a plain-English reading of what they mean.

4

Compare runs

Results park on the right-hand dock. Click one to pop it out — drag it, resize it, and put two side by side to compare models.

6 · Model spatial data

This is the part that usually means exporting to another program. Here it's one loop:

1

Extract values to a table

Processing ▸ Spatial & LiDAR ▸ Raster & vector analysis samples your raster at each point or zone. The result is a normal table.

2

Model that table

Switch to Data view and fit a regression, random forest — whatever suits.

3

Send predictions back to the map

Outputs become layers, so they draw on the same map and appear in the Layers panel.

Spatial tools always draw on the workspace map — there is never a second map to keep track of.

7 · Ask the Co-Analyst

Click Co-Analyst in the top bar. It opens on Recommend: describe what you want to find out in plain language and it suggests the right method. Switch to Ask to have it run the analysis on your data and explain the result — it shows exactly which steps it took.

Privacy: this is the one feature that sends anything off your machine. It sends the current screen's context and a picture of the current plot to OpenAI, using your own API key. Don't open it and nothing is ever sent.

8 · Save & share

  • Saving is automatic. Your project is written to disk as you work.
  • Project ▸ Save As… (.eap) packs the whole project into one file.
  • Project ▸ Import project (.eap)… opens one you were sent.
  • Project ▸ Export report (HTML) writes a summary you can share or archive.

Tips & shortcuts

Want to… Do this
Find a tool fast Type in the search box in the top bar
Change the look View ▸ Theme — six colour sets, light and dark
Change the basemap View ▸ Basemap — your map position is kept
Zoom to your data Controls ▸ Zoom to layers
Write R directly Processing ▸ R Console — slides up from the bottom
Install a package Packages ▸ Find & install — search tolerates typos
Undo a data edit Ctrl+Z · reset to the uploaded file with Ctrl+Shift+Z
More room Controls ▸ Panels to hide the side panels