User Manual

Welcome to QualCoder v2 - a qualitative data analysis (QDA) application for coding and analyzing text, images, audio, and video.

Info: AI-Agent Ready

QualCoder v2 supports both human researchers and AI agents working together. All features are accessible via the UI and through MCP tools.

What is QualCoder?

QualCoder is a free, open-source qualitative data analysis tool that helps researchers:

• Code text, images, audio, and video data
• Organize codes into categories and hierarchies
• Analyze patterns and themes in your data
• Collaborate with AI agents for assisted coding

Quick Start

1. Create a Project — Start by creating a new project to organize your research data.

2. Import Sources — Add your documents, images, or media files to analyze.

3. Create Codes — Build your coding scheme with codes and categories.

4. Apply Codes — Select text and apply codes to build your analysis.

5. Manage Cases — Organize participants, sites, and their attributes.

6. Firebase Import — Import Firebase Analytics data as case attributes.

7. Version Control — View history, compare changes, and restore previous states.

8. Observability — Configure logging levels, file logging, and telemetry metrics.

Features Overview

Feature	Human	AI Agent
Create/edit codes	✓	✓
Apply codes to text	✓	✓
Suggest new codes	-	✓
Detect duplicates	-	✓
Auto-code patterns	✓	✓
Organize categories	✓	✓
View history & restore	✓	✓

System Requirements

• Python 3.12 or higher
• 4GB RAM minimum (8GB recommended)
• 500MB disk space for application
• macOS, Windows, or Linux