Concept
What happens after you import a paper
The steps every paper goes through on its way into your library, what each status means, and why no AI runs until you ask.
When you import a paper, CurTask takes it through a few steps before it is ready. Each paper's Status in your library shows a small bar of six parts, one for each step, and a line of words saying where it is now. The same words appear in the import sheet and in the Queue.
The steps
- Checking for duplicates. If the same file is already in your library, CurTask links the paper you have instead of storing it again. See Duplicate papers.
- Extracting text. CurTask reads the paper's full text, page by page. For a scanned paper it shows Running OCR with the page it is on. This reading happens on your own computer, so keep the tab open. See Why CurTask asks you to keep the tab open.
- Finding title, authors and year. CurTask looks the paper up in the research catalogues, by its DOI when it has one.
- Compressing. The PDF is made smaller. Its text was read in step 2, before compression, so every word is kept.
- Storing. The paper is saved in your Global Library.
- AI analysis. This last part of the bar stays empty until you ask for an analysis.
After step 5, CurTask also prepares the text so you can search it by meaning. You may see this in the Queue as Prepare for search.
No AI runs until you ask
When a paper has finished its steps, its status reads Ready · AI analysis not run yet. Reading, OCR and storing are free. AI analysis uses credits, so CurTask never starts it by itself: you choose Expand analysis, see the estimate first, and decide. See Analyse a paper with AI and Credits.
Once a paper has an analysis, its status reads Ready · AI analysis in Baggage and the last part of the bar fills in. See Baggage.
What each status means
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Queued | Waiting for its turn. | Nothing. |
| Processing | One of the steps above is running. | Nothing. |
| Reading with page numbers | Your computer is reading the text. | Keep the tab open. |
| Waiting for a computer | The paper waits for CurTask to be open on a computer to read it. | Open CurTask on a computer and keep the tab open. |
| Paused | The work was paused, for example in the Queue. | Choose Resume in the Queue. |
| Text incomplete | Reading stopped before the end. AI analysis waits until all the text is read. | Choose Resume. |
| Review OCR | Some scanned pages were hard to read. | Choose Review OCR and check them. See Check scanned pages. |
| Add details | CurTask couldn't find the title, authors and year. The paper is otherwise ready. | Choose Add details and fill them in. See Fix a paper's details. |
| No PDF | The paper was saved with its details only. | See Papers without a PDF. |
| Failed | The file couldn't be imported. | Open the Queue to see why and what to do. |
When a file fails
The Queue says why in plain words and offers the fitting action. For example:
- Password protected: remove the password and choose Import again.
- Damaged file: download or export it again from its source.
- Larger than 100 MB or More than 1,000 pages: split the document into parts.
- Storage full: free up space or change plan, then retry. See Storage, compression and freeing space.
When you choose Retry, steps that already finished are not repeated.