Uploaded files are not ready for review right away. After you upload, the processing pipeline prepares your files for full-text search and AI-assisted review. A processing indicator in the top toolbar tracks progress. When it disappears, your documents are ready in the document browser.
How processing works
When you add files to a case, a multi-step processing pipeline starts. Your files upload in parallel, and each one moves through ESI processing independently. The pipeline runs in the background without any action from you.
Each stage handles a specific task:
- Upload -- Your files transfer from your computer or cloud provider to Hintyr. Multiple files transfer at the same time.
- Text extraction -- Searchable text is extracted from each document for full-text search and AI-assisted review. This works across PDFs, Word documents, spreadsheets, and other supported file types. Scanned PDFs go through optical character recognition (OCR), which may take longer.
- Metadata extraction -- Author, creation date, last modified date, and file size are captured from each document. This metadata is stored alongside the document so you can filter and sort during review.
- AI analysis -- Each document is reviewed by the AI agent, which generates summaries, identifies key facts, and applies classifications. These results appear in the Table of Contents and support your review workflow.
Tracking progress
While your documents move through the pipeline, you see a processing indicator in the toolbar at the top of the case view. It shows a message like "Processed 12 of 24 documents" and updates as each document completes.
The count increases as each document finishes. Once every document completes, the indicator disappears and all your documents are available in the document browser.
You do not need to wait for processing to finish. You can move to other parts of the case, start reviewing completed documents, or upload more files while the pipeline runs.
How to know when processing is complete
Two signals tell you your documents are ready:
- The processing indicator disappears -- When no items remain, the toolbar removes the indicator. This is the clearest sign that all your documents are ready for review.
- Documents appear in the document browser -- Processed documents show up in the Uploads tab and Table of Contents. Click any document to open it in the viewer.
Processing times
Processing time depends on how many documents you upload and how large they are. A small set of standard PDFs or Word documents typically finishes quickly. Larger collections with hundreds or thousands of files take longer.
Some file types need more time than others. Scanned PDFs that require OCR take longer than native text documents. Very large files near the 4.5 GB per-file limit also take longer because of the added data volume.
Keep working while files process
Processing runs in the background while you keep working. You can review completed documents, apply tags, or upload another batch. You do not need to wait for the full pipeline to finish before starting your review.
If you leave the case or close your browser, the pipeline keeps running on the server. When you come back, documents that finished while you were away are already in the document browser.