User manual
A manual for somebody who has just downloaded the file and wants to start working. It needs no repository, no command line and no administrator rights. The button names match what you see in version 1.3.0.
Windows · no administrator rights · first answer within minutes
Applies to PATRON 1.3.0. Published 24 August 2026, last updated 24 August 2026.
Run the downloaded PATRON-Setup-Windows.exe. Windows will show a “Windows protected your PC” warning. This is not a fault: the installer does not yet carry a publisher certificate, and signing is planned for version 2.0. Click More info, then Run anyway.
Before you do, check the file checksum. In PowerShell: Get-FileHash .\PATRON-Setup-Windows.exe -Algorithm SHA256. Compare the result with the checksum published with the release. That is the only way to tell our file from a substituted one.
Installation goes to the user account, without administrator rights, into %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PATRON. Your data lands in %APPDATA%\patron-desktop: the patron.db database, matter documents in the sprawy folder, and machine secrets in secrets.
The first start takes longer because the application brings up its own backend. Ports 3000 and 3001 must be free. A second instance of PATRON is blocked on purpose: one application means one database.
You pick the model in the question field, next to the send arrow, and enter keys under Account → Models and API keys. Shortcut: click the MODEL segment in the bottom bar, which goes straight to those settings.
The default routeThe model selected by default comes from OpenRouter, so without a key nothing runs. Create an account at openrouter.ai, generate a key (it starts with sk-or-v1-), paste it into the OpenRouter field and save.
Separate fieldsThe same screen has fields for Anthropic (key sk-ant-…), Google (key AI…) and OpenAI (key sk-…). One is enough. Models from a provider with no key are greyed out and marked “Add key”.
No key neededInstall Ollama from ollama.com and start it (it listens on http://localhost:11434). Pull a model, for example ollama pull llama3.1:8b, then pick a model from the Local group in PATRON.
ConditionLocal models need a capable machine. On hardware without a graphics card they run, but slowly.
The same screen carries a separate Tabular review model setting. You can give tables a different model from the one used in chat - usually a cheaper one, because there is a lot of work and every field is short.
To confirm it works: the bottom bar shows the selected model and the perimeter posture. Ask any question. If a key is missing, PATRON opens an “Add key” prompt with a link to the settings, before anything leaves the machine. If an answer comes back, the workstation is ready.
The screen has three vertical panels: Explorer on the left with matters and documents, the document preview in the middle, and Assistant on the right, which is the chat. Chat without client files has its own place, called Workshop.
One moveIn the left panel click + New matter (the same entry sits in the application menu, shortcut Ctrl+N). Give it a descriptive name, for example “Smith v Northgate Construction, 2026 claim”, and fill in the Case ref. - it shows up later as its own column in the matter list.
WhyOne matter is one set of files. Do not mix matters: PATRON searches every document in the matter on every question, and foreign files dilute the answer. A matter is also the confidentiality boundary against the Workshop.
Take your pickDrag files or a folder onto the panel. Or use the Upload documents button. Or, for a large set, Import case folder and give the path to a directory - PATRON pulls everything in at once.
What happens underneathRecognition of the document's legal structure, OCR for scans, a security scan and indexing for retrieval. You click nothing.
RuleThe fuller the file, the sharper the answer. Documents added later will not retroactively change answers that have already been given.
Note on scansOCR reads in your edition's language, so a scan in a different one comes out weaker. One installation carries one edition, and foreign-language files need the edition made for them.
Ask in plain language, the way you would ask a trainee. Every citation carries a coloured verdict, and it is the verdict that decides whether you can move a sentence into a draft without opening the file.
The same verdict covers citations from law connectors, not only from your own files. It is stored with the answer, so it stays visible later, when the matter is audited.
PATRON does not hand back finished text to retype. It hands back edits in the format you already work in.
RedlineChanges come back as tracked changes in a DOCX file. You accept or reject each one in Word, separately.
Two voicesThe reviewer points at weak spots, the devil's advocate gives the other side's counterarguments. Both land in Word's comment pane. You choose the refinement stages and can skip any of them.
Round-tripDownload the file, work in Word, upload it back. PATRON reads your tracked changes and comments, including a comment addressed to it as an instruction. Document versions are kept.
HowOpen Tabular reviews, click New review, select the documents and pick columns from the presets or define your own. Export the result to a spreadsheet.
How to read itEvery cell points back to its source and carries a coverage verdict. Start with the cells that have no verdict - those need your eye. A human review of a cell is recorded.
HowThe Workflows section holds sequences you run on a chosen matter. Fourteen ready workflows ship with the product, across seven practice areas, including a commercial agreement review with eighteen columns.
NoteThe workflow library is in English transactional terminology: titles, practice areas and column names.
Before a sensitive matterChoose a local model, and nothing leaves the machine. For everything else set a budget ceiling: once it is used up the operation stops rather than simply being logged. The bottom bar always shows the current perimeter posture.
The audit trail is written on its own, on every operation, and needs no step from you. Viewing the log and exporting an evidence bundle are the firm administrator's surface, not a daily task for counsel. Audit trail documentation.
This list comes from deployments, not from imagination.
What to doThe application reloads itself after fifteen seconds. If it is still blank, check whether port 3000 or 3001 is taken by another program.
WhyAPI keys are encrypted with a secret generated per machine. After moving patron.db to another computer they cannot be decrypted. Enter them again - every workstation is configured separately.
What it meansA key from the Operator's configuration takes precedence over one entered in the application. If the administrator set a key globally, your entry will not take effect.
WhyThe key stays on your machine, encrypted, and goes nowhere except to the model provider you chose. Anyone who gets it can run up costs on your account.
If anything here does not match what you see on screen, write to us - this manual describes version 1.3.0.