Start a free 30-day trial to use CDIA. Registration takes about a minute and needs no card. After registration you reach the Install CDIA page: your download should start automatically, and if it does not, use the download link there. Then activate CDIA with the email address you registered.

What you will receive: CDIA_Setup.exe, Version 3.0.0, about 397 MB (397,238,120 bytes), digitally signed by CDIA Technologies Limited. SHA-256: 58D7EE036D16B6DAD05DCB0631629A5D26FD19E178ACA0735D017C2B3E54EAA8. If you receive a file with any other name or publisher, do not run it and contact us.

Already have a trial or subscription? To reinstall CDIA or install it on another PC, get the installer again. It activates with the email address you registered; no new trial is needed. One free trial per email address: if you have already registered, use the reinstall route rather than starting another trial.

What you need

• Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit.
• About 2 GB of free disk space for CDIA itself, plus space for your projects.
• An internet connection for first activation and for periodic licence validation. Cloud AI also needs an internet connection.
• A standard Windows PC with 8 GB of memory or more for Cloud AI.
• For Private AI: at least 16 GB of memory recommended, a one-time model download of several gigabytes, and the free LM Studio runtime.

CDIA installs per user by default, with no administrator account needed. It adds a Start Menu entry and offers a desktop shortcut. To update later, run the newer installer over the top; your projects and settings are kept. Uninstalling removes the program only and never touches your projects.

If Windows SmartScreen shows a warning

The installer is signed by CDIA Technologies Limited. Windows sometimes shows a SmartScreen prompt for a newly published application while it builds a reputation. If Windows SmartScreen shows a warning, click More info and confirm the publisher is CDIA Technologies Limited, then click Run anyway. If the publisher shown is anything else, do not run the file and contact us.

What you need for Cloud AI

Cloud AI sends the prepared evidence extracts for each task to a leading AI provider (OpenAI) through your own account key. To use it you need an API key from the provider. This is a pay-as-you-go developer key, separate from a chat subscription such as ChatGPT, and you add a small amount of credit to it. CDIA’s guided setup walks you through creating the key, pasting it in and testing the connection. The key is stored in the Windows credential store. Typical requests cost pence.

What you need for Private AI

Private AI runs everything on your own machine using the free LM Studio runtime. The first time you choose it, CDIA checks for the runtime, opens its download page if it is not installed, then downloads and prepares the AI model for you. Allow for a download of several gigabytes and at least 16 GB of memory.

You can choose either mode at first run and switch at any time in Tools > AI Settings.

What CDIA reads

PDF (including scanned PDFs, using CDIA’s built-in text recognition), Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx, .xlsm), CSV, Outlook email files (.msg) and plain text (.txt).

Not read in this release: standalone image files, .eml emails and legacy .doc or .xls files. Convert them first, for example save a .doc as .docx or print images to PDF. Anything CDIA cannot read is reported by name after preparation, never silently dropped.

After installing

1. Start CDIA from the Start Menu.
2. Enter the email address you registered on this website when you started your trial or subscription. First activation can take up to about 90 seconds.
3. Choose Cloud AI or Private AI.
4. Load the example project and ask your first question, or create a project and add your own documents.

The Quick Start Guide takes you through the first fifteen minutes.

Updating from an earlier version

Run the 3.0.0 installer over your existing installation. Projects and settings are kept. We recommend running File > Prepare Project once after upgrading so that emails, scanned PDFs and discovery use the Version 3 preparation.

Trouble installing or activating?

Email contact@cdia.co.uk. If CDIA has started, Help > Support & Contact has a Copy Diagnostics button that puts the version, build and AI status on your clipboard to paste into the email.