Add files you already have

The quickest way to bring files from your computer into Pangur is to drop them on the library. Pangur stores each file, works out which work it is, and then either creates an item for it or attaches it to an item you already have. A file it cannot identify is stored all the same and waits for you to say what it is, so nothing you drop is lost.

Photographs are handled differently, because Pangur prepares them for zoomable viewing and can arrange them as the folios of a manuscript. They have their own page: Photograph a manuscript.

Dropping files on the libraryCopy Anchor Link

1. Open your library. If you want the new items filed in a collection, open that collection first.
2. Drag the files from your desktop or file manager onto the library. The page invites you to drop them.
3. Release them. The Files being added tray opens and follows each file.

Pangur files the new items into the collection you were viewing. You can drop many files at once, and Pangur sends them in groups of 50.

What Pangur does with each fileCopy Anchor Link

For each file, the web client first calculates a fingerprint of its contents and asks Pangur's server for a place to upload it. Once the file has arrived, the server reads its first pages for an identifier (a DOI, an ISBN or an arXiv identifier) and checks whether your library already has that work, and whether it already has this exact file. Depending on what it finds, it creates a new item for the work and attaches the file, attaches the file to the item your library already has, or stores the file on its own with a draft record and any possible matches, until you say what it is.

Because the file is stored in every case, a file that cannot be identified is never lost while you decide. The fingerprint also means that if you drop the same file again later, Pangur recognises its contents and does not store a second copy.

The Files being added trayCopy Anchor Link

The tray shows a row for each file, with its progress while it is being sent and identified, and then one of these results:

The tray's summary line counts each result. It also counts as "not added" any files of a kind Pangur does not accept here, such as images. Open on a row goes to its item, and Close dismisses the tray.

Identifying a file Pangur could not placeCopy Anchor Link

A row marked Stored; needs a reference offers two ways to finish the job. It's "…" accepts the best match Pangur found; check the title before you choose it, because Pangur found a likely match but could not confirm it. Add details… opens the form for a new item, filled in from the file's own title page and metadata, for you to correct and save.

Either way, the stored file is filed under the item you choose. On the command line, pangur ingest status lists files that are waiting and pangur ingest resolve settles one.

Accepted formatsCopy Anchor Link

The table lists the formats you can drop on the library. The last column says whether Pangur extracts the file's words, which is what makes them searchable and available to Ask. A file whose text is not read can still be stored and opened.

Recordings are not transcribed when you add them; you ask for a transcript later, as described in Record audio and video. What happens to a file's text after it has been read is explained in How Pangur reads your sources.

LimitsCopy Anchor Link

Each file can be up to 1,024 MB, and Pangur sends large files in parts of 50 MB. Files count against your plan's storage, which by default is 2 GB on the Free plan and 20 GB on the Researcher plan (in an organisation's project the storage belongs to the organisation). Before uploading, Pangur checks that the file fits, and refuses the upload if it would take you past your plan's storage. Each account can add up to 60 identified files a minute.

These figures are defaults that an administrator can change; the ones that apply to your account are listed under plans and limits. If Pangur's library store is busy, the upload is refused with a message asking you to try again shortly. Trying again is safe.

Adding a file to an item you already haveCopy Anchor Link

To attach a file to a particular item, open the item's Read tab, choose Add a copy, and drop the file there or click to choose it. Pangur adds the file to that item as a new copy without trying to identify it. See resources, copies and surrogates for what a copy is.

Other ways to add filesCopy Anchor Link

• iPhone and iPad. In Library, choose Add to library and then Import files. Files go to the Uploads queue, which keeps sending in the background. You can also share files to Pangur from other apps; see Share to Pangur from other apps.
• The command line. pangur ingest files <paths…> sends files and folders, searching folders for PDF, Markdown, text and HTML files, with -c to choose a collection. pangur upload <file> --item KEY attaches a file to one item. See the command-line reference.
• An assistant. The MCP tools request_ingest_urls, ingest_status and ingest_resolve let an assistant send files the same way. See MCP tools.