# Introduction

This ongoing and evolving user manual describes the implementation of the TRACER machine, a powerful and flexible suite of some 700 algorithms for the automatic detection of (historical) text reuse. TRACER is developed by Marco Büchler and is written in Java. It is the most comprehensive tool yet and it is continuously improved thanks to the feedback gathered by the numerous tutorials and workshops given by the eTRAP (Electronic Text Reuse Acquisition Project) team at international conferences and events. For more information about the eTRAP Research Group, please visit: <http://www.etrap.eu>

## Useful links

* TRACER developer: Marco Büchler
* TRACER homepage: <http://www.etrap.eu/research/tracer/>
* TRACER repository (to download TRACER): <http://vcs.etrap.eu/tracer-framework/tracer.git>
* Medusa repository: <http://vcs.etrap.eu/tracer-framework/medusa.git>
* Medusa javadoc: <http://www.etrap.eu/medusa/doc/javadoc/Medusa-2.0/>
* TRACER bug reports: <http://www.etrap.eu/redmine/projects/tracer/>

## Copyright

TRACER is released under an **Academic Free License 3.0 (AFL)**.


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://tracer.gitbook.io/manual/master.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.