diff --git a/docs/api.rst b/docs/api.rst
index 32ed4b4..3a6aa79 100644
--- a/docs/api.rst
+++ b/docs/api.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+.. _api-reference:
+
 *************
 API Reference
 *************
diff --git a/docs/guide.rst b/docs/guide.rst
index 25d4288..82b9577 100644
--- a/docs/guide.rst
+++ b/docs/guide.rst
@@ -2,4 +2,76 @@
 User Guide
 **********
 
-This user guide provides a walkthrough of the major features in the ``hvpy`` package.
+This guide provides a walkthrough of the major features in the ``hvpy`` package.
+``hvpy`` is a python wrapper for the `Helioviewer API <https://api.helioviewer.org/docs/v2/>`__, which is the same API that powers `helioviewer.org <https://helioviewer.org>`__.
+
+Basic Usage
+-----------
+Each API endpoint has a function in ``hvpy`` that shares the same name and has the same input parameters.
+For example if you are looking at `getJP2Image <https://api.helioviewer.org/docs/v2/api/api_groups/jpeg2000.html#getjp2image>`__ in the Helioviewer documentation, you would execute this in ``hvpy`` with the following command:
+
+.. code-block:: Python
+
+    import hvpy
+    from hvpy.datasource import DataSource
+    from datetime import datetime
+
+    jp2 = hvpy.getJP2Image(datetime.now(), DataSource.AIA_94.value)
+
+Managing Return Types
+---------------------
+``hvpy`` will attempt to coerce the result into a Python datatype for you.
+In general, there are 3 types of results you can expect from the API:
+
+1. Raw Data
+2. Strings
+3. JSON
+
+In ``hvpy`` these return types map to:
+
+1. `bytearray`
+2. `str`
+3. `dict`
+
+Sometimes the return type will change dependending on the input parameters you specify.
+Make sure to review your input parameters carefully.
+The descriptions in both our :ref:`api-reference` and the `API Docs <https://api.helioviewer.org/docs/v2/>`__ will say whether certain parameters change the output type.
+
+Helper Functions
+----------------
+``hvpy`` provides a few helper functions for certain actions that generally require multiple API reqeusts.
+There are also helper functions for actions that may require more work than a simple API call.
+
+Helper Flows
+^^^^^^^^^^^^
+For example, creating a movie requires calling `hvpy.queueMovie` followed by `hvpy.getMovieStatus` to see if the movie is done.
+Then you would call `hvpy.downloadMovie` to get the result.
+``hvpy`` provides some helper functions to perform these flows for you.
+
+Datasource & Event Selection
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+Some API requests accept a list of datasources and events.
+These are in a very specific format.
+For example layering an SDO/AIA 94 and an SDO/AIA 304 image might look like "[13,1,50],[8,1,50]".
+Since ``hvpy`` provides a one to one mapping, you would have to understand and create this string yourself.
+To do this, you would have to go figure out how helioviewer likes its layer strings, and find the IDs for each source.
+
+``hvpy`` makes this easy by providing a function for you.
+`hvpy.utils.create_layers` will create this string for you.
+You simply specify a tuple with the source enum you want, and the opacity it should have the end result.
+
+.. code-block:: Python
+
+    from hvpy.utils import create_layers
+    from hvpy.datasource import DataSource
+
+    layer_string = create_layers([(DataSource.AIA_304, 50), (DataSource.AIA_94, 50)])
+    print(layer_string)
+    "[13,1,50],[8,1,50]"
+
+There is a similar function for choosing events that you want to have displayed in `hvpy.utils.create_events`
+
+Miscellaneous Helpers
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+``hvpy`` also provides some miscellaneous helper functions.
+For example, since many API endpoints return raw data like images or videos, we've implemented a simple `hvpy.utils.save_file` to save this binary data to disk.