PDF TL;DR — when 'just tell me what it says' is the right answer
Not every PDF deserves a detailed summary. Sometimes you just need a 2-4 sentence read of what's inside before deciding whether to invest the time to read it properly. The TL;DR is the smallest meaningful summary unit on the platform — tighter than Summarize, shorter than Key Points, designed for the triage decision rather than the comprehensive read. Here is what it produces, the four triage scenarios where it earns its 2-credit cost, and the difference between TL;DR and the other summary depths.
What TL;DR produces
Drop any text-based PDF. The tool extracts the page text, runs a single-paragraph summary prompt, and returns a 2-4 sentence answer to the question "what is this document about?" The output is deliberately tight. There are no headings, no bullets, no section breakdowns — just the dense executive-summary paragraph.
The first sentence states the topic. The second sentence (and sometimes third and fourth) state the substantive content — what the document actually argues, finds, or proposes. The output reads like an abstract written by someone who finished the document, in roughly the same time it takes to make coffee.
Four triage scenarios where TL;DR earns its place
Cases where 2-4 sentences is exactly the right shape of output:
- Email-attachment triage. You received a PDF in an email and the email body doesn't explain what's inside. Run TL;DR to decide whether the document warrants opening properly, forwarding to someone else, filing for later, or ignoring.
- Search-result preview. You found a relevant-looking PDF in research, but the title alone doesn't tell you whether the document actually addresses your question. TL;DR gives you the topical answer before you commit to reading.
- Document-pile prioritization. Faced with a stack of PDFs to read, run TL;DR on each. The summaries tell you which to read first, which to delegate, and which to skip.
- Pre-meeting prep. A meeting starts in 20 minutes and someone shared a 30-page document. TL;DR in 30 seconds tells you what you need to know to participate meaningfully — full read can happen after the meeting if warranted.
TL;DR vs the other summary depths
Four related tools, each for a different depth:
- TL;DR (2 credits). 2-4 sentence paragraph. Use for triage.
- Key Points (3 credits). 6-12 bullet points with page citations. Use when you want the substantive claims surfaced individually but don't need full prose.
- Summarize / Standard (3 credits). TL;DR + Key Points + section breakdown in prose. Use when you actually want to understand the document without reading the whole thing.
- Summarize / Detailed (3 credits). Section-by-section detailed summaries that read like an expanded outline. Use when you need to refer back to specific sections later.
Three patterns to know
Specific behaviors:
- Length variance. Most TL;DRs are 3 sentences. Very short documents (1-page abstracts, brief news articles) come back as 2 sentences. Long documents (50+ pages) sometimes come back as 4 sentences to capture the structural complexity. The tool picks based on how much there actually is to say.
- Quoted text preservation. If the source has a specific quote that's central to the argument, the TL;DR sometimes incorporates it as a direct quote with attribution. The exception to the "no specifics" rule is when the specifics ARE the topic.
- Tone matching. The TL;DR matches the source's register — formal for legal/academic, conversational for blog posts. The summary doesn't shift the tone of the document.
When TL;DR isn't enough
Three signals you should use a deeper summary tool instead:
- You'll need to refer back later. TL;DR is a one-time read. If you'll need the summary as a reference document, use Summarize / Standard so you have section structure to navigate.
- You need to cite specific claims. TL;DR doesn't carry page citations. If your downstream use requires citing where claims came from in the source, use Key Points (which does cite pages).
- Document is too long for one paragraph to capture. A 200-page book doesn't fit in 4 sentences. The TL;DR will give the top-level topic but miss substantive content. Use Summarize / Detailed for long documents.
Limits and pricing
PDF TL;DR charges 2 credits per document — the cheapest AI summary tier. The tool handles PDFs up to 25 MB. Processing runs on our servers; the document is in memory only during summarization and is never persisted. Output is a 2-4 sentence paragraph.
Common pairings: TL;DR for triage → if relevant, escalate to Summarize / Key Points / Study Notes for deeper reading. Scan a folder of PDFs by running TL;DR on each, then pick the ones worth a deeper pass.