Runs & Result Figures

Run logs

Add run logs under each sub-experiment: record results / anomalies during runs, one log per run.

• Multiple runs are comparable in a timeline
• The AI can advise on next steps based on your run logs

The step card during a run

After you start a run, the run panel shows one card at a time: what to do now, key points, the materials it uses, and what changed since last time. The current step is shown in large type, with the previous and next steps as one grey line each; tap a line to jump there. Press "Done, next" to move on, or use the left and right arrow keys. Open "All steps" to see overall progress or jump to another step. If you open a step's detail page during a run, a notice at the top takes you back to the step card, landing on that step.

• Key points: caution, reagents, volumes, temperature, duration, equipment and notes, shown only when filled in. Parameters linked to the step are listed here too, with their current values.
• Completion time: when you mark a step done, the time is saved. Revisit the step or open "All steps" to see "Done 14:32". There are no countdowns.
• Focus mode: on a phone, tap "Focus mode" at the top of the run card. The card fills the screen and "Done, next" sits at the bottom within thumb reach; previous step, all steps and notes are still there. Tap "Exit focus mode" to return to the same step. The screen stays on in focus mode and while the run card is in view on a computer (if the browser supports it).
• Large text: tap "Large text" to switch between two text sizes. The choice is kept on this device.
• Changed this time: if you changed a volume or time or skipped a step at the bench, tap "Changed this time" on the card and write one line, such as "primary antibody 1:1000 changed to 1:500". The "Skipped this step", "Volume changed" and "Time changed" chips fill in the start for you. It is saved only in this run's Deviations; the steps and parameters stay as they are. The card shows a "Changed this time: ..." line, the finish dialog lists these changes, and they appear in run compare and under "Last run" next time.
• Into a new version: when you finish a run, each "Changed this time" line in the dialog can be set to "This run only" (the default) or "Into next version". If you pick the latter, a small editor opens after you finish where you map each line to a concrete edit: change a parameter's value, edit the step's description, volume or time, or remove the substep in the new version. Lines from the quick chips are filled in for you; for lines you wrote yourself, you choose. Vara does not guess what the text means. You see a before and after preview first, and on confirm each sub-experiment you touched gets a new version (v2, v3...). The original version and this run stay unchanged, and the run record gets an "Added to (sub-experiment) v2" line that links to the new version. If you skip it at the end, use "Put this run's changes into a new version" on the "last run" row of the experiment page or in the run record later. If a sub-experiment already got a newer version after this run, edit that version directly.
• Materials: linked materials show batch, passage and expiry date. Expired or used-up items are highlighted. Reagents written in the step but not linked yet come with a suggestion to link or add them; nothing changes until you click.
• What changed: a field-by-field comparison with the previous version, plus the note you wrote for this step in the last run. Steps that can't be matched are marked as new instead of being compared.

Compare with last time

When you need to know what you changed between two runs, months later, open run compare. There are three ways in: [Compare with last] next to the "Last run" line above the step card during a run; [Finish and compare with last run] at the bottom of the finish-run dialog (shown only when an earlier finished run exists; it saves this run first, then opens the comparison); and [Compare with last] under the title when you open a run log on a sub-experiment page. It starts with the latest run and the one before it; the two pickers at the top switch to any two runs.

• Parameters: on a computer, a three-column table (Parameter / Previous / This run); on a phone, one line each with the old value struck through and the new value in the brand color. Only changed parameters are listed until you tap "Show all".
• Sub-experiments: each is marked Added, Removed, Changed or Skipped, and unchanged ones fold into one line. Changed ones say why: the steps differ from the version used last time, which parameters changed, or it was skipped last time and done this time. While a run is in progress, sub-experiments you haven't reached are marked Not done yet.
• Changed this time: notes you added on the step card during the run appear under their sub-experiment; anything that can't be matched is listed separately.
• Run notes: result, observations, deviations and conclusion side by side as whole texts, shown once when they are the same. There is no word-by-word highlighting.

Compare result images

On the experiment page, expand the "Photos & attachments" row and click [Compare results] to line up result images (qPCR gels, cell photos, etc.) in columns. Three comparison axes:

1. Repeat runs: result images across runs of the same experiment
2. Versions: across the experiment's iterations
3. Cross-experiment: search and pull in other experiments to compare