# How to Use

This section is written from the point of view of a student or product tester walking through the main Sejong Pulse experience.

## 1. Sign In and Create a Profile

1. Open the login screen at `/login`.
2. Submit a Sejong student ID and portal password.
3. The backend verifies credentials through the Sejong authentication integration.
4. If a profile already exists, the user is redirected into the app.
5. If a profile is missing, the user completes onboarding at `/onboarding` with pseudonym, major, and campus context.

## 2. Explore the Pulse Feed

The Pulse feed is the main social surface:

- Browse recent posts and media items at `/pulse`.
- Open a single pulse at `/pulse/[id]`.
- Like and comment on posts.
- Search indexed pulses through the backend search endpoints.
- Translate content when multilingual support is needed.

## 3. Use Discovery Features

The discovery area helps students find people and activity:

- `/discovery` provides the main entry point.
- `/discovery/map` focuses on campus presence and location context.
- `/discovery/gallery` highlights visual browsing.
- `/discovery/match` supports matching and discovery workflows.

## 4. Chat, Join Channels, and Start Calls

Messaging spans both one-to-one and channel-based communication:

- `/messages/chats` lists active conversations.
- `/messages/chats/[id]` opens a direct chat thread.
- `/messages/channels` shows channel memberships and discoverable channels.
- `/messages/chats/[id]/call` opens the LiveKit-backed call experience.

## 5. Ask the Advisor

The advisor route at `/advisor` connects to the backend chat service. The current backend supports both modern chat endpoints and the legacy advisor endpoint for compatibility.

Typical advisor use cases include:

- Academic information lookup
- Campus knowledge retrieval
- Follow-up clarification in a session thread
- Usage-limited AI assistance tied to user plans

## 6. Manage Settings and Notifications

The settings and support surfaces live under `/settings` and include:

- Account, language, appearance, and general preferences
- Notifications and privacy options
- Billing success and failure flows
- Terms, privacy policy, FAQ, and support requests

Notifications are exposed at `/notifications`, while moderation tooling is available at `/moderation`.

## 7. Operator Workflow

For operators and testers, the common maintenance loop is:

1. Verify the backend health endpoint.
2. Confirm external integrations are configured.
3. Check recommendation and worker status if discovery results look stale.
4. Review logs in Render, Netlify, or local processes when features degrade.