# User guide

This guide explains how to use optmat's properties, how its models are constructed,
and what supports their predictions. If you have not used the package, start with
the {doc}`/introduction/overview` and {doc}`/quickstart`.

For a first reading, follow the chapters below. Foundations establishes the shared
conventions and the record of which model a calculation uses. The following chapters
develop each response and its validation; the final chapter brings the interfaces
together for a propagation code.

For a particular calculation, enter at the relevant response. Each chapter links
to the starting example, detailed models, and reference interfaces.
{doc}`/the-data/index` explains how to inspect their evidence.

```{toctree}
:maxdepth: 2
:titlesonly:

foundations
linear
nonlinear
ionisation
solids
../propagation
```