> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.boltz.bio/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Virtual Screening

> Run AI-powered protein design campaigns

## Overview

Virtual screens generate protein binder candidates using AI. You can pause and resume screens at any time.

## Creating a New Virtual Screen

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/boltzpbc/kY8bkQpkfe_a5_5T/images/user-guide/protein-design/exp-4.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=kY8bkQpkfe_a5_5T&q=85&s=ecf2883bf018c54c52a1307740159982" alt="New protein design screen form" width="1406" height="955" data-path="images/user-guide/protein-design/exp-4.png" />
</Frame>

1. From an experiment, click **"New virtual screen"** or **"Virtual Screen"**.

2. **Name** - Enter a name for this protein design screen (e.g., "Small virtual screen to test the setup")

3. **Type** - Choose your screen type:

   <Tabs>
     <Tab title="Design (Generative)">
       Use AI to generate protein binders for your target. This is the most common option for discovering new candidates.
     </Tab>

     <Tab title="Import (CSV)">
       Upload CSV with protein sequences, SMILES, or other molecular data to evaluate existing candidates.
     </Tab>
   </Tabs>

4. **Budget** - Set the maximum number of protein designs to generate:

   <Warning>
     Budget below 5k may not be sufficient to find good candidates. Start with a small pilot (50-100 designs) to validate your setup, then scale up to 10k-100k designs for production runs.
   </Warning>

   * Use the slider to select: 10, 1k, 5k, 25k, 125k, or 625k
   * Estimated cost is displayed below

5. **Design Specification** - Select a binder specification to use for generating protein designs

   * Shows binder specification details: Chains, Motifs, Designed residues
   * Only binder specifications added to your project are shown

6. **Target** - Select the target to design binders against

   * Shows target details: number of chains and residues
   * Only initialized targets are available

7. **Experiment** - Select an experiment for this virtual screen

   * Choose from existing experiments or create a new one
   * If no experiments exist, you'll be prompted to create one

8. Click **"Start Protein Design"** to begin.

## Monitoring Virtual Screens

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/boltzpbc/kY8bkQpkfe_a5_5T/images/user-guide/protein-design/exp-5.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=kY8bkQpkfe_a5_5T&q=85&s=47cbc06b901fc3f0f75604b5b6271e68" alt="New protein design screen form" width="3002" height="1464" data-path="images/user-guide/protein-design/exp-5.png" />
</Frame>

While a screen is running, you can:

* **View progress** - See "Waiting for first candidates to be generated..." with elapsed time
* **Pause** - Temporarily pause the screen
* **Stop Run** - Cancel the screen entirely
* **View Results in Experiment** - Navigate to see candidates as they're generated

### Status Indicators

* **RUNNING** (blue) - Screen is actively generating candidates
* **COMPLETED** (green) - Screen has finished generating all candidates
* **PAUSED** - Screen is paused and can be resumed

## Viewing Results

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/boltzpbc/EKeBMCVOgldAcowK/images/user-guide/protein-design/results-2.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=EKeBMCVOgldAcowK&q=85&s=b453c77b3373389f9236cde803065df6" alt="Virtual screen completed results" width="1416" height="873" data-path="images/user-guide/protein-design/results-2.png" />
</Frame>

Once completed, the screen overview shows:

### Performance Metrics

**Top Performers: Binding Confidence**

* Tracks the best, 10th best, and 100th best candidates over time
* Shows how binding confidence improves as more candidates are processed

**Candidates Above Binding Confidence Thresholds**

* Cumulative count of candidates exceeding threshold values (>0.5, >0.6, >0.7, >0.8)
* Helps assess overall screen quality

### Screen Details

* **Status:** COMPLETED
* **Total Generated:** Number of candidates created
* **Added to experiment:** Number automatically added (top performers)
* **Settings:** Binder specification modality, chains, candidate budget

Click **"View Results in Experiment"** to see all candidates and begin triage.