Academic Mode and Plugins

Academic is the most important working mode in Lens. It turns paper reading, file parsing, LaTeX writing, arXiv summaries, code understanding, and orchestration into explicit executable tasks instead of forcing you to iterate blindly in an empty prompt box.

How to Turn On Academic Mode

Use the Academic switch at the bottom of the conversation page. On desktop, the state changes immediately. On mobile, the academic panel opens at the same time.

Once enabled, you get three kinds of capability:

• core functions: lightweight, direct, and suited for text handling
• academic plugins: built for files, papers, code, and structured tasks
• orchestration: chain core functions or plugins in sequence

Core Functions

Current visible core functions include:

• Chinese Polishing
• English Polishing
• Mind Map Generation
• Chinese-English Translation
• References to Bib
• Academic Code Explanation

These are best when you do not depend on a complex uploaded file.

Plus, Pro, and Max can all use lightweight core capabilities. The exact set visible on screen depends on the current plan and the product state.

Common Academic Plugins

The most important plugins currently visible in Lens include:

• Paper Quick Read
• PDF Batch Summary
• PDF Deep Reading
• Word Batch Summary
• Arxiv Summary
• Arxiv English Summary
• LaTeX Summary
• Precise LaTeX Translation
• LaTeX English Polishing
• LaTeX Chinese Polishing
• LaTeX Highlighted Correction

Lens also supports a set of code and project parsing plugins, for example:

• Parse a source-code project with custom file types
• Annotate an entire Python project
• Parse a full C++ project (.cpp, .hpp, and similar files)
• Upload Python files or archives and generate docstrings automatically

Plan Boundaries

Lens filters academic capabilities according to the current plan and performs a second validation on the server side. If a capability is hidden or unavailable, it usually means the current plan does not support it.

Plan	Available capabilities	Not supported or limited
Plus	Paper summaries, Arxiv Summary, Arxiv English Summary, Chinese Polishing, English Polishing, Chinese-English Translation, Mind Maps, Code Explanation, References to BibTeX	No PDF deep reading, no PDF / Word batch summaries, no advanced LaTeX tools, no orchestration
Pro	Everything in Plus, plus PDF Deep Reading, PDF Batch Summary, Word Batch Summary, LaTeX Summary, Precise LaTeX Translation, LaTeX English Polishing, LaTeX Chinese Polishing, LaTeX Highlighted Correction	Orchestration up to 2 steps
Max	Everything in Pro, plus the full academic capability set currently exposed by Lens	Orchestration up to 3 steps

For fuller billing and validity details, see Plans and Capability Boundaries.

How Orchestration Works

Orchestration is suited for consecutive tasks: read material, reshape wording, then generate structured output. The workflow is:

1. Turn on Academic
2. Switch from Single Capability to Orchestration
3. Add each core capability or research tool in sequence
4. Add constraints where necessary, such as terminology preservation, output format, or focus area
5. Enter the overall task and send

Common templates:

• PDF Deep Reading -> English Polishing
• Arxiv Summary -> Chinese Polishing
• Paper Quick Read -> Chinese Polishing -> Mind Map
• Code Explanation -> Chinese Polishing

Orchestration runs in series. While it executes, Lens shows the current step, completed steps, and failure state inside the message.

Which Plugin to Choose

Paper Quick Read

Use it when you are reading a paper for the first time and want the essentials quickly:

• research question
• method outline
• experiment setup
• result highlights
• limitations

Usually you upload a PDF first or provide a DOI / arXiv identifier.

PDF Deep Reading

Use it when you already know the topic but need to probe more deeply:

• how a formula or module works
• why a metric is designed the way it is
• how the work differs from a known baseline

Word / PDF Batch Summary

Use it when multiple documents need to be compressed into one shared output, such as:

• weekly update materials
• project files
• meeting notes
• a pack of related references

Arxiv Summary / Arxiv English Summary

Use these when you want a fast paper overview by arXiv identifier without downloading the PDF first. A recommended input format is:

1812.10695

LaTeX Plugins

Use them when you have formal writing needs:

• LaTeX Summary: understand the whole structure first
• Precise LaTeX Translation: keep academic structure and wording as much as possible
• LaTeX English Polishing: move the draft toward submission-ready English
• LaTeX Chinese Polishing: improve Chinese expression quality
• LaTeX Highlighted Correction: surface changes clearly for review

How to Write Extra Plugin Requirements

Lens lets you add extra plugin instructions. Keep them short and constraint-focused. Examples:

Please preserve the term consistency model and do not translate it into another wording.

Please output 5 conclusions suitable for a group meeting update, each under 50 words.

Recommended Flow for File-Based Tasks

1. Confirm the goal first: quick read, summary, translation, polishing, or project parsing.
2. Upload the right material.
3. Choose the plugin closest to the goal.
4. Add one clear sentence about the desired output.

This sequence is usually more stable than asking first, then adding material later, then revising the prompt repeatedly.

A High-Frequency Example

Scenario: you need to understand a new paper quickly and prepare discussion points for a group meeting.

Recommended path:

1. Upload the paper PDF
2. Choose Paper Quick Read
3. Enter:

Summarize the paper in five parts: background, core method, experimental results, strengths, and limitations. Then give me 3 discussion questions suitable for a group meeting.

If the first answer is already useful, switch to PDF Deep Reading to probe the details more deeply.