Sources

Sources are your material: lecture notes, PDFs, presentations, spreadsheets, images. They are the reason Nuvia can give grounded answers — and they also feed card creation and the understanding map.

What a source is

A source is a file or piece of content that you put into a folder and that the tutor may use as context. Once a source is processed, Nuvia can quote from it, answer questions about it and draw connections.

Without sources the learning chat works more freely — and mistakes are more likely. For subject questions it is worth the effort to store material.

Adding material

There are three ways:

• Upload – via the button in the sources area.
• Drag and drop – drag files straight onto the area; the app shows you where they will be uploaded.
• From the learning chat – if you attach a file to a message, it is also stored in the folder’s source directory.

You see the progress while uploading. Larger files take a moment.

Organising sources

For extensive material, structure pays off:

• Create source folders – one area per topic or term.
• Rename – the name can be changed at any time.
• Move – by dragging and dropping into another source folder, including several files at once.
• Default area – the top level is called Default area. It takes files that are not assigned to a folder of their own.

If you delete a source folder, the sources inside move back to the default area and are not lost.

Processing and status

After uploading, a source goes through several steps until it is available to the tutor. The status is shown on each source:

• Ready – the source is usable.
• Indexed or Tutor indexed – the source is also prepared for the tutor’s search.
• Not indexed or Preparing – processing is still running.
• Outdated – the tutor is working with an older state. A click on Sync source brings it up to date.
• Failed – processing stopped. The app names the reason, such as an encrypted file or an unsupported type; retrying usually helps.

Without readable text — with image-only pages or poor scans — the app can extract less. A low extraction quality hint tells you not to rely on that source as a strict citation basis.

Searching and finding

• Search across title, file name and type. During a search the app also shows which source folder a hit sits in.
• Sort – in list view by name, type, status or date changed.
• Switch view – tiles or list, whichever gives you a better overview.
• Multi-select – mark several files to move, download or delete them together. Select all takes the whole list.

Viewing

One click marks a file, a double click opens it. The preview shows, depending on the file type:

• PDFs – with zoom levels and text selection.
• Images, audio and video – playable right there.
• Text and code – as readable content.
• Office files – spreadsheets with their sheets, presentations and text documents.

Inside an open document you page through the other files of the same folder with the arrow keys. Full screen, download and Open in new tab are available too. For file types without a preview, the app offers the download.

Using sources in the learning chat

For a source to influence answers, it has to be in reach. Two ways lead there:

• Source scope in the chat – All sources, Selected folder or Individual files. This setting applies to your questions until you change it.
• Source picker on a message – that selection applies to the next message only.

While an answer is running the scope cannot be changed. That protects against switching the basis in the middle of an answer.

From the preview you can also open a source in the learning chat split screen and continue a PDF in notes, meaning as a drawing surface with the page underneath.

Storage and cleaning up

Your material takes up storage, and depending on your plan a certain amount is available to you. The storage overview shows how much is used and how the usage splits up.

Cleaning up works like this:

• Delete individual sources – via a file’s menu.
• Delete several – via multi-select.
• Delete a source folder – the files are kept and move to the default area.

You can remove individual chats and documents directly in the respective area. What else happens with your data is described in Privacy.

Where management lives

The full file management with all areas is in a folder under Sources. Which areas exist there and how they work together is described in Files and explorer.

Common questions

Which file types can I upload? Common documents, PDFs, presentations, spreadsheets and images. If a type is not supported, the app tells you during upload.

Why is my source not ready yet? Processing runs in the background. Large files take longer. Check the status on the source; if it stays put, sync it again.

Does a source change my learning? Yes, if it is in reach: answers draw on it, card creation uses it, and the understanding map builds concepts from it.

Do I lose material if I delete a source folder? No. The files move to the default area.