> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bravenlab.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Welcome to Braven

> Experiment management for hardware R&D — track experiments, run pipelines, and compare results without changing how your lab already works.

Braven connects to the way hardware R\&D teams already work — folders full of measurement files, Python scripts, OneDrive syncs — and turns that into a structured, searchable record of every experiment your team has run.

There are exactly two ways data gets into Braven, and they meet in the same place:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Folder Watcher" icon="folder-open" href="/guides/ingest-data">
    Point a desktop agent (or OneDrive) at a folder your instrument already writes to. Every new subfolder becomes an **Experiment** automatically — no code required.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Python SDK" icon="code" href="/sdk-reference/direct-logging">
    Log experiments directly from your own analysis scripts, wandb-style: `braven.init()`, `config()`, `summary()`, `upload()`.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

Once data is in, two things act on it:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Pipelines" icon="gears" href="/guides/write-a-pipeline-script">
    A small Python script that runs automatically against every new experiment's files and writes back Config, Summary, Series, and Figures.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Analysis & Reports" icon="chart-line" href="/guides/analyze-and-compare">
    Combine series and summaries across experiments to compare runs, then save the arrangement or share it as a Report.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Where to start

<Steps>
  <Step title="Learn the vocabulary">
    Five minutes with the [Glossary](/concepts/glossary) — Company, Project, Experiment, Run, Pipeline, Device — will make everything else click faster.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Get set up">
    The [Quickstart](/quickstart) gets you a Watcher Key, the desktop agent (or SDK), and your first experiment in the app.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick your path">
    No code → [Ingest data with the Folder Watcher](/guides/ingest-data). Already have analysis scripts → [Log directly with the Python SDK](/sdk-reference/direct-logging).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Process automatically">
    Attach a [pipeline script](/guides/write-a-pipeline-script) so every new experiment gets metrics and plots without manual work.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Compare results">
    Use [Analysis](/guides/analyze-and-compare) to overlay series across experiments, then turn the arrangement into a [Report](/guides/reports).
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  An experiment with **no pipeline** is still useful — it's a plain data drop you can browse and download. Attaching a pipeline is what turns it into metrics and plots automatically.
</Note>

## The app

|                   |                                                |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| Web app           | [app.bravenlab.com](https://app.bravenlab.com) |
| API (for the SDK) | `https://api.bravenlab.com`                    |