AttoGetting started
Your first hour with Atto, in order. No Terminal, no genealogy jargon, and nothing you have to get right the first time — every step here is reversible.
Your first 30 minutes: install → import license → create a project → run Practice & advanced tools on Find (synthetic records) → Approve one practice record. That’s the win — one completed Approve, not a guaranteed archive find. Windows installs may add a minute if SmartScreen warns once for a new publisher.
A brand-new project starts with an empty tree, so add a person first — on Documents, use Add person · Approve once (or import a GEDCOM) — then approve your practice find.
What you need before you begin
- Mac: Apple chip (M1–M4), macOS 13 or newer — notarized DMG.
- Windows: x64 Authenticode-signed installer via Azure Artifact Signing (SmartScreen may still warn once for a new publisher — verify the checksum) — see the Windows kit page.
- Linux: public CLI; desktop invite-only after purchase — Linux page.
- Your purchase email, which has the claim link for your license file.
- One relative you are curious about. That is genuinely enough — you do not need a single certificate to start.
Not bought yet? Buy the kit — $299 (Mac Apple Silicon or Windows x64). Portal how-tos and Italian words: Guides.
Tip: After you import the license, run Practice & advanced tools on Find once (synthetic records) before opening real Antenati / FamilySearch links — same Approve loop, zero risk to your tree.
1 · Install the app
Mac: Download from the download page. Open the disk image, then drag Atto out of that window into Applications or your Desktop before you run it. Opening it from inside the mounted image is the single most common install snag. If macOS says it can’t verify the developer, right-click the app and choose Open.
Windows: Follow Windows kit — unzip the Authenticode-signed setup. The setup installs WebView2 if missing (needs internet); if that fails (offline or a managed/corporate PC), download the Evergreen Runtime from developer.microsoft.com and re-run setup. SmartScreen may still warn once for a new publisher while reputation builds — if so, choose More info → Run anyway (not a refund reason), then Import license. Later updates: Home → Advanced → Check for updates (or re-download the zip and install over the old app — your vault stays put).
Linux: CLI on the Linux page; desktop packages are invite-only via Support. Read screenshot (on-device OCR) is Mac and Windows only; on Linux, paste the text instead.
2 · Import your license
Open the claim link from your purchase email and download license.json. Then in Atto, click Import license in the bar at the top of the window and choose that file.
That is the whole licensing step for unlocking the app. There is no folder to find and no command to type. Until you import a license, the app's screens stay locked — your vault folder is still ordinary files on disk.
Some purchases then show Register this computer (one-time) in the same bar. If you see it, paste the claim link from your email and click Register. Your license already works either way — registration just ties it to this machine.
If the claim link says it expired, reopen the claim page — the download link is deliberately short-lived, but the page keeps working. Lost the email entirely? Email Support with your Stripe receipt.
3 · Create a project
A project is one family line. Name it something you will recognize a year from now — a surname and a town works well, like rossi-sellia.
Everything for that project lives in a folder on your own computer (default ~/AttoVault/ on Mac/Linux; under your user profile on Windows). Nothing is uploaded anywhere.
4 · Tell Atto what you already know
This is the step people skip, and it is the one that makes everything after it work.
On Home, open Who are you looking for? and fill in a name, a rough birth year, and a town or region. Guesses are fine — “somewhere near Catanzaro, around 1890” is a usable starting point. Click Find records for … (or load Try a practice example first). Atto reads this note to build your search links and hands you off to Find.
Adding more notes later? The Documents tab is where you collect extra “what I know” notes as you go — same short format, same find-plan hand-off. It is the add-more-later path, not the first-run path. You can also Paste from website (FamilySearch / Ancestry English text) or Read screenshot (on-device OCR for printed English on Mac/Windows).
Already have a family tree? If you exported a GEDCOM (.ged) from Ancestry, MyHeritage, or FamilySearch, import it on Home instead. Everyone in that file appears in your tree right away, and you can skip ahead.
5 · Build a find plan
On Find, use Build search links (or Rebuild links if you already have a plan). Atto turns your note into a list of ready-to-open searches — Antenati for Italian civil records, FamilySearch, Ellis Island passenger lists, and others, already filled in with the name, year, and place.
Click a link and it opens in your normal browser, where you log in as yourself and look at real records. Atto never scrapes an archive or logs in on your behalf. That boundary is the reason Atto stays out of trouble with those sites — and the reason nothing appears in your tree by surprise.
Prefer Open & check when a link offers it: Atto opens the site, then takes you to Documents to bring the record back with Paste from website or Read screenshot. Open only just opens the browser — no handoff to Documents. Nothing enters your tree until you click Approve.
Stuck on a portal screen? See Guides (Italian words, Antenati, US records, FamilySearch/Ancestry). Want to see the whole loop before doing real research? Open Practice & advanced tools on the Find screen and run the practice records.
6 · Approve your first record
When Atto has something to suggest, it goes to the Approve queue — never straight into your tree. You look at the evidence, then choose Add to tree or Reject, one record at a time.
If Approve looks empty on a brand-new project, that is expected, not a bug: suggestions attach to a person, so add one on Documents (Add person · Approve once) or import a GEDCOM first.
This is the only way anything is ever written to your family tree, and only a human can do it. Not an AI helper, not a background job. Rejecting costs nothing.
7 · Look at your tree
The Tree tab builds a private chart on your own machine and opens it in your browser. Full Social Security numbers are stripped before anything is drawn.
A brand-new project has an empty tree until you import a GEDCOM, add a person on Documents (Add person · Approve once), or approve your first find — that is expected, not a bug.
Where people go next
- Optional later (not the first 30 minutes): Find Open & check opens the archive in your browser, then Documents so you can Paste from website or Read screenshot what you see. Optional family Share is a redacted site for specific relatives (login required, off by default). Skip both until you want them — and skip MCP until you already use Cursor or Claude.
- Citizenship paperwork — the checklist on Find tracks each document from Identified to Recognized. It is a tracker, not legal advice, and Atto never files anything for you.
- Printed English screenshots — Documents → Read screenshot uses on-device OCR (Mac Vision / Windows.Media.Ocr). Italian handwriting is still you typing what you see, plus a practice Transkribus-style draft for learning Approve — not automatic HTR of civil acts. Details: Read old handwriting.
- Sharing with family — build a redacted site and invite specific people. Off by default.
- AI helpers — entirely optional. MCP setup if you already use Cursor or Claude; ignore it otherwise and nothing breaks. The optional MCP wheel link on the claim page is also short-lived (~5 minutes) — reload the claim page for a fresh link, same as the license file.
If you get stuck
Check the first-session questions in the FAQ, then email Support. Never email certificates, passport scans, SSNs, or your full license.json. Describe the problem and include your order reference; we'll provide a secure next step if a file is truly needed. Do not post those in Discord either.