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Documentation
  • Tutorials
  • How-to guides
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Getting started
  • Start here
  • Your first research project in Atlas
  • Add your first source
Projects
  • Work with the three-panel workspace
  • Create and manage projects
  • Project structure
Sources
  • Import a PDF into Atlas
  • Add a website source
  • Add a YouTube source
  • Search and add academic papers
  • Read PDFs
  • Source types
  • PDF viewer
Chat & citations
  • Ask a grounded question
  • Synthesize across multiple sources
  • Follow citations back to source
  • Use mentions in chat and notes
  • Use web search
  • Add files to chat
  • Citation system
  • Search modes
  • How Atlas grounds answers in sources
  • Verifiable AI: the citation trust model
Notes
  • Write your first note
  • Import Markdown notes
  • Note editor
  • Note editor formatting
Knowledge maps
  • Generate a knowledge map
  • Edit and export a knowledge map
  • Knowledge map controls
  • Map node types
  • Why visual knowledge maps
Semantic maps
  • Read the semantic map
  • Semantic map controls
Search, summaries & questions
  • Find research in a project
  • Use summaries to triage sources
  • Summaries
  • Question suggestions
Workspace
  • Use tabs and split view
  • Workspace layout
  • Command palette
  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • Mobile app
Account, billing & limits
  • Sign in and reset your password
  • Manage billing
  • Delete your account
  • Plans and limits
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Troubleshooting
  • Troubleshoot source processing
  • Troubleshoot citations and weak answers
  • Troubleshoot billing and limits
  • Troubleshoot mobile and browser issues

Troubleshoot source processing

Start here when an imported source does not become usable for search, chat, maps, summaries, or citations.

Start with the source state

Open the project source list and check what Atlas says about the source.

StateWhat it means
UploadingFile or URL transfer is not done
ProcessingAtlas is extracting and indexing content
FailedAtlas could not process the input
UnsupportedAtlas cannot use this kind of source
BlockedPlan, quota, or account state prevents the action

Do not keep retrying until you know which state you are seeing.

If the source is a PDF

Check whether the PDF is:

  • password-protected
  • too large for the current plan
  • scanned or image-only
  • malformed
  • unreadable in another PDF reader
  • missing selectable text.

If you can, try a cleaner text-based copy of the same document.

If the source is a website

Open the URL in a private browser window. If you cannot see the main content without logging in or accepting complex scripts, Atlas may not be able to capture it.

Try a direct article URL, a print-friendly page, or a different source format.

If the source is YouTube

Check transcript availability. A video can be viewable and still lack transcript text that Atlas can use.

If the source is blocked by limits

Resolve the limit before retrying. Repeating the same upload or import against the same quota state will not help.

Use Plans and limits and Troubleshoot billing and limits.

Retry only after changing something

Good retry changes include a smaller PDF, a text-selectable file, a direct article URL, a video with transcript, or an account/plan state that now permits the action.

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