improving context

app/proprietary/src/main/java/stirling/software/proprietary/config/ChatbotVectorStoreConfig.java

@@ -28,10 +28,12 @@ public class ChatbotVectorStoreConfig {
     public VectorStore chatbotVectorStore(
             ObjectProvider<JedisPooled> jedisProvider, EmbeddingModel embeddingModel) {
         JedisPooled jedis = jedisProvider.getIfAvailable();
+
         if (jedis != null) {
             try {
                 jedis.ping();
                 log.info("Initialising Redis vector store for chatbot usage");
+
                 return RedisVectorStore.builder(jedis, embeddingModel)
                         .indexName(DEFAULT_INDEX)
                         .prefix(DEFAULT_PREFIX)
@@ -45,6 +47,7 @@ public class ChatbotVectorStoreConfig {
         } else {
             log.info("No Redis connection detected; using SimpleVectorStore for chatbot.");
         }
+
         return SimpleVectorStore.builder(embeddingModel).build();
     }
 

app/proprietary/src/main/java/stirling/software/proprietary/controller/ChatbotController.java

@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ public class ChatbotController {
             warnings.add("Images detected - Images are not currently supported.");
         }
 
-        warnings.add("Only extracted text is sent for analysis.");
+        warnings.add("Images are not yet supported. Only extracted text is sent for analysis.");
         if (session != null && session.isOcrRequested()) {
             warnings.add("OCR requested – uses credits .");
         }

app/proprietary/src/main/java/stirling/software/proprietary/service/chatbot/ChatbotContextCompressor.java

@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+package stirling.software.proprietary.service.chatbot;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.springframework.ai.document.Document;
+import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;
+import org.springframework.util.CollectionUtils;
+
+@Component
+public class ChatbotContextCompressor {
+
+    private static final int DEFAULT_SUMMARY_LIMIT = 3000;
+    private static final int MIN_CHUNK_SNIPPET = 160;
+
+    public String summarize(List<Document> documents, int requestedLimit) {
+        if (CollectionUtils.isEmpty(documents)) {
+            return "No contextual snippets available for this session.";
+        }
+        int maxChars =
+                requestedLimit > 0
+                        ? Math.min(requestedLimit, DEFAULT_SUMMARY_LIMIT)
+                        : DEFAULT_SUMMARY_LIMIT;
+        StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
+        int perChunkLimit = Math.max(MIN_CHUNK_SNIPPET, maxChars / Math.max(documents.size(), 1));
+        for (Document doc : documents) {
+            if (builder.length() >= maxChars) {
+                break;
+            }
+            String chunkOrder = doc.getMetadata().getOrDefault("chunkOrder", "?").toString();
+            String text = trimContent(doc.getText(), perChunkLimit);
+            builder.append("Chunk ").append(chunkOrder).append(": ").append(text).append('\n');
+        }
+        if (builder.length() == 0) {
+            return "Unable to summarise context; original content unavailable.";
+        }
+        return builder.substring(0, Math.min(builder.length(), maxChars)).trim();
+    }
+
+    private String trimContent(String content, int perChunkLimit) {
+        if (content == null || content.isBlank()) {
+            return "(empty chunk)";
+        }
+        String normalized = content.replaceAll("\\s+", " ").trim();
+        if (normalized.length() <= perChunkLimit) {
+            return normalized;
+        }
+        return normalized.substring(0, Math.max(0, perChunkLimit - 3)) + "...";
+    }
+}

app/proprietary/src/main/java/stirling/software/proprietary/service/chatbot/ChatbotConversationService.java

@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ public class ChatbotConversationService {
     private final ChatbotCacheService cacheService;
     private final ChatbotFeatureProperties featureProperties;
     private final ChatbotRetrievalService retrievalService;
+    private final ChatbotContextCompressor contextCompressor;
+    private final ChatbotMemoryService memoryService;
     private final ChatbotUsageService usageService;
     private final ObjectMapper objectMapper;
     private final AtomicBoolean modelSwitchVerified = new AtomicBoolean(false);
@@ -79,6 +81,9 @@ public class ChatbotConversationService {
         List<Document> context =
                 retrievalService.retrieveTopK(
                         request.getSessionId(), request.getPrompt(), settings);
+        String contextSummary =
+                contextCompressor.summarize(
+                        context, (int) Math.max(settings.maxPromptCharacters() / 2, 1000));
 
         ModelReply nanoReply =
                 invokeModel(
@@ -87,6 +92,7 @@ public class ChatbotConversationService {
                         request.getPrompt(),
                         session,
                         context,
+                        contextSummary,
                         cacheEntry.getMetadata());
 
         boolean shouldEscalate =
@@ -106,6 +112,7 @@ public class ChatbotConversationService {
                             request.getPrompt(),
                             session,
                             context,
+                            contextSummary,
                             cacheEntry.getMetadata());
         }
 
@@ -116,6 +123,8 @@ public class ChatbotConversationService {
                         finalReply.completionTokens());
         session.setUsageSummary(usageSummary);
 
+        memoryService.recordTurn(session, request.getPrompt(), finalReply.answer());
+
         return ChatbotResponse.builder()
                 .sessionId(request.getSessionId())
                 .modelUsed(
@@ -200,8 +209,10 @@ public class ChatbotConversationService {
             String prompt,
             ChatbotSession session,
             List<Document> context,
+            String contextSummary,
             Map<String, String> metadata) {
-        Prompt requestPrompt = buildPrompt(settings, model, prompt, session, context, metadata);
+        Prompt requestPrompt =
+                buildPrompt(settings, model, prompt, session, context, contextSummary, metadata);
         ChatResponse response;
         try {
             response = chatModel.call(requestPrompt);
@@ -244,16 +255,9 @@ public class ChatbotConversationService {
             String question,
             ChatbotSession session,
             List<Document> context,
+            String contextSummary,
             Map<String, String> metadata) {
-        StringBuilder contextBuilder = new StringBuilder();
+        String chunkOutline = buildChunkOutline(context);
-        for (Document chunk : context) {
-            contextBuilder
-                    .append("[Chunk ")
-                    .append(chunk.getMetadata().getOrDefault("chunkOrder", "?"))
-                    .append("]\n")
-                    .append(chunk.getText())
-                    .append("\n\n");
-        }
         String metadataSummary =
                 metadata.entrySet().stream()
                         .map(entry -> entry.getKey() + ": " + entry.getValue())
@@ -277,8 +281,10 @@ public class ChatbotConversationService {
                         + session.isOcrRequested()
                         + "\n"
                         + imageDirective
-                        + "\nContext:\n"
+                        + "\nContext summary:\n"
-                        + contextBuilder
+                        + contextSummary
+                        + "\nContext outline:\n"
+                        + chunkOutline
                         + "Question: "
                         + question;
 
@@ -298,6 +304,27 @@ public class ChatbotConversationService {
         return builder.build();
     }
 
+    private String buildChunkOutline(List<Document> context) {
+        if (context == null || context.isEmpty()) {
+            return "No chunks retrieved for this question.";
+        }
+        StringBuilder outline = new StringBuilder();
+        for (Document chunk : context) {
+            String order = chunk.getMetadata().getOrDefault("chunkOrder", "?").toString();
+            String snippet = chunk.getText();
+            if (snippet != null) {
+                snippet = snippet.replaceAll("\\s+", " ").trim();
+                if (snippet.length() > 240) {
+                    snippet = snippet.substring(0, 237) + "...";
+                }
+            } else {
+                snippet = "(empty)";
+            }
+            outline.append("- Chunk ").append(order).append(": ").append(snippet).append("\n");
+        }
+        return outline.toString();
+    }
+
     private ModelReply parseModelResponse(
             String raw, long promptTokens, long completionTokens, long totalTokens) {
         if (!StringUtils.hasText(raw)) {

app/proprietary/src/main/java/stirling/software/proprietary/service/chatbot/ChatbotMemoryService.java

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+package stirling.software.proprietary.service.chatbot;
+
+import java.time.Instant;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import org.springframework.ai.document.Document;
+import org.springframework.ai.vectorstore.VectorStore;
+import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;
+import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
+
+import lombok.RequiredArgsConstructor;
+import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
+
+import stirling.software.proprietary.model.chatbot.ChatbotSession;
+
+@Slf4j
+@Service
+@RequiredArgsConstructor
+public class ChatbotMemoryService {
+
+    private final VectorStore vectorStore;
+
+    public void recordTurn(ChatbotSession session, String prompt, String answer) {
+        if (session == null) {
+            return;
+        }
+        if (!StringUtils.hasText(prompt) && !StringUtils.hasText(answer)) {
+            return;
+        }
+        Map<String, Object> metadata = new HashMap<>();
+        metadata.put("sessionId", session.getSessionId());
+        metadata.put("documentId", session.getDocumentId());
+        metadata.put("turnType", "conversation");
+        metadata.put("turnTimestamp", Instant.now().toString());
+        metadata.put("userId", session.getUserId());
+
+        StringBuilder contentBuilder = new StringBuilder();
+        if (StringUtils.hasText(prompt)) {
+            contentBuilder.append("User: ").append(prompt.trim()).append("\n");
+        }
+        if (StringUtils.hasText(answer)) {
+            contentBuilder.append("Assistant: ").append(answer.trim());
+        }
+        try {
+            vectorStore.add(List.of(new Document(contentBuilder.toString(), metadata)));
+        } catch (RuntimeException ex) {
+            log.warn("Failed to persist chatbot conversation turn: {}", ex.getMessage());
+        }
+    }
+}

frontend/public/locales/en-GB/translation.json

@@ -5145,8 +5145,7 @@
     "title": "Stirling PDF Bot",
     "alphaBadge": "Alpha",
     "alphaTitle": "Experimental feature",
-    "alphaDescription": "This Chatbot feature is in currently in alpha and is subject to change. Image-based content is not supported yet. Responses may be imperfect, so double-check important answers.",
+    "alphaDescription": "Chatbot is in currently in alpha and is subject to change. Responses may be imperfect, please check responses.",
-    "acceptAlphaLabel": "I understand this feature is experimental and image content is not supported yet.",
     "fileLabel": "Document to query",
     "filePlaceholder": "Select an uploaded PDF",
     "noFiles": "Upload a PDF from File Manager to start chatting.",
@@ -5193,6 +5192,14 @@
     "noTextTitle": "No text detected in this PDF",
     "noTextBody": "We could not find selectable text in this document. Would you like to run OCR to convert scanned pages into text?",
     "noTextDismiss": "Maybe later",
-    "noTextRunOcr": "Run OCR and retry"
+    "noTextRunOcr": "Run OCR and retry",
+    "usage": {
+      "limitReachedTitle": "Chatbot limit reached",
+      "limitReachedBody": "You have exceeded the current monthly allocation for the chatbot. Further responses may be throttled.",
+      "nearingLimitTitle": "Approaching usage limit",
+      "nearingLimitBody": "You are nearing your monthly chatbot allocation. Consider limiting very large requests."
+    },
+    "autoSyncInfo": "Selected documents are synced automatically when the chatbot opens.",
+    "autoSyncPrompt": "Acknowledge the alpha notice to start syncing automatically."
   }
 }

frontend/src/core/components/chatbot/ChatbotDrawer.tsx

@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import { useEffect, useLayoutEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState, type KeyboardEvent } from 'react';
 import {
-  ActionIcon,
   Badge,
   Box,
   Button,
@@ -13,14 +12,12 @@ import {
   Switch,
   Text,
   Textarea,
-  Tooltip,
 } from '@mantine/core';
 import { useMediaQuery, useViewportSize } from '@mantine/hooks';
 import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next';
 import SmartToyRoundedIcon from '@mui/icons-material/SmartToyRounded';
 import WarningAmberRoundedIcon from '@mui/icons-material/WarningAmberRounded';
 import SendRoundedIcon from '@mui/icons-material/SendRounded';
-import RefreshRoundedIcon from '@mui/icons-material/RefreshRounded';
 import CloseRoundedIcon from '@mui/icons-material/CloseRounded';
 
 import { useChatbot } from '@app/contexts/ChatbotContext';
@@ -47,8 +44,6 @@ interface ChatMessage {
   createdAt: Date;
 }
 
-const ALPHA_ACK_KEY = 'stirling.chatbot.alphaAck';
-
 function createMessageId() {
   if (typeof crypto !== 'undefined' && crypto.randomUUID) {
     return crypto.randomUUID();
@@ -68,7 +63,6 @@ const ChatbotDrawer = () => {
   const { show } = useToast();
   const files = selectors.getFiles();
   const [selectedFileId, setSelectedFileId] = useState<string | undefined>();
-  const [alphaAccepted, setAlphaAccepted] = useState(false);
   const [runOcr, setRunOcr] = useState(false);
   const [isStartingSession, setIsStartingSession] = useState(false);
   const [isSendingMessage, setIsSendingMessage] = useState(false);
@@ -94,11 +88,6 @@ const ChatbotDrawer = () => {
       return;
     }
 
-    const storedAck = typeof window !== 'undefined'
-      ? window.localStorage.getItem(ALPHA_ACK_KEY) === 'true'
-      : false;
-    setAlphaAccepted(storedAck);
-
     if (preferredFileId) {
       setSelectedFileId(preferredFileId);
       setPreferredFileId(undefined);
@@ -161,6 +150,8 @@ const ChatbotDrawer = () => {
       setContextStats(null);
       setMessages([]);
       setWarnings([]);
+      setPendingOcrRetry(false);
+      setNoTextModalOpen(false);
     }
   }, [sessionInfo, selectedFileId]);
 
@@ -192,17 +183,6 @@ const ChatbotDrawer = () => {
     };
   }, [isMobile, isOpen, sidebarRefs.toolPanelRef]);
 
-  const handleAlphaAccept = (checked: boolean) => {
-    setAlphaAccepted(checked);
-    if (typeof window !== 'undefined') {
-      if (checked) {
-        window.localStorage.setItem(ALPHA_ACK_KEY, 'true');
-      } else {
-        window.localStorage.removeItem(ALPHA_ACK_KEY);
-      }
-    }
-  };
-
   const withStatus = async <T,>(label: string, fn: () => Promise<T>): Promise<T> => {
     setStatusMessage(label);
     try {
@@ -228,14 +208,6 @@ const ChatbotDrawer = () => {
     if (!ensureFileSelected() || !selectedFile) {
       return;
     }
-    if (!alphaAccepted) {
-      show({
-        alertType: 'neutral',
-        title: t('chatbot.toasts.ackTitle', 'Accept alpha notice'),
-        body: t('chatbot.toasts.ackBody', 'Please acknowledge the alpha warning before starting.'),
-      });
-      return;
-    }
     setIsStartingSession(true);
     try {
       let workingFile: File = selectedFile;
@@ -271,7 +243,7 @@ const ChatbotDrawer = () => {
         text: extractionResult.text,
         metadata,
         ocrRequested: shouldRunOcr,
-        warningsAccepted: alphaAccepted,
+        warningsAccepted: true,
       };
 
       const response = await withStatus(
@@ -302,6 +274,36 @@ const ChatbotDrawer = () => {
     }
   };
 
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (
+      !isOpen ||
+      !selectedFile ||
+      sessionInfo ||
+      isStartingSession ||
+      pendingOcrRetry ||
+      noTextModalOpen
+    ) {
+      return;
+    }
+    let cancelled = false;
+    handleSessionStart().catch((error) => {
+      if (!cancelled) {
+        console.error('[Chatbot] Auto-sync failed', error);
+      }
+    });
+    return () => {
+      cancelled = true;
+    };
+  }, [isOpen, selectedFile, sessionInfo, isStartingSession, pendingOcrRetry, noTextModalOpen, runOcr]);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!sessionInfo) {
+      return;
+    }
+    setSessionInfo(null);
+    setContextStats(null);
+  }, [runOcr]);
+
   const handleSendMessage = async () => {
     if (!sessionInfo) {
       show({
@@ -495,25 +497,6 @@ const ChatbotDrawer = () => {
         transitionProps={{ transition: 'slide-left', duration: 200 }}
       >
         <Stack gap="sm" h="100%" style={{ minHeight: 0 }}>
-        <Box
-          p="sm"
-          style={{
-            border: '1px solid var(--border-subtle)',
-            borderRadius: 8,
-            backgroundColor: 'var(--bg-subtle)',
-            display: 'flex',
-            gap: '0.5rem',
-            alignItems: 'flex-start',
-          }}
-        >
-          <WarningAmberRoundedIcon fontSize="small" style={{ color: 'var(--text-warning)' }} />
-          <Box>
-            <Text fw={600}>{t('chatbot.alphaTitle', 'Experimental feature')}</Text>
-            <Text size="sm">
-              {t('chatbot.alphaDescription', 'This chatbot is in alpha. It currently ignores images and may produce inaccurate answers. Your PDF text stays local until you confirm you want to chat.')}
-            </Text>
-          </Box>
-        </Box>
 
         <Group align="flex-end" justify="space-between" gap="md" wrap="wrap">
           <Select
@@ -526,11 +509,6 @@ const ChatbotDrawer = () => {
             style={{ flex: '1 1 200px' }}
           />
           <Stack gap={4} style={{ minWidth: 160 }}>
-            <Switch
-              checked={alphaAccepted}
-              label={t('chatbot.acceptAlphaLabel', 'Alpha notice acknowledged')}
-              onChange={(event) => handleAlphaAccept(event.currentTarget.checked)}
-            />
             <Switch
               checked={runOcr}
               onChange={(event) => setRunOcr(event.currentTarget.checked)}
@@ -539,19 +517,6 @@ const ChatbotDrawer = () => {
           </Stack>
         </Group>
 
-        <Button
-          fullWidth
-          variant="filled"
-          leftSection={<RefreshRoundedIcon fontSize="small" />}
-          loading={isStartingSession}
-          onClick={() => handleSessionStart()}
-          disabled={!selectedFile || !alphaAccepted}
-        >
-          {sessionInfo
-            ? t('chatbot.refreshButton', 'Re-sync document')
-            : t('chatbot.startButton', 'Send document to chat')}
-        </Button>
-
         {statusMessage && (
           <Box
             p="sm"
@@ -596,6 +561,28 @@ const ChatbotDrawer = () => {
                     </Group>
                   </Box>
                 ))}
+              {isOpen && (
+                <Box
+                  p="sm"
+                  bg="var(--bg-muted)"
+                  style={{ borderRadius: 12, border: '1px solid var(--border-subtle)' }}
+                >
+                  <Group gap="xs" align="flex-start">
+                    <WarningAmberRoundedIcon fontSize="small" style={{ color: 'var(--text-warning)' }} />
+                    <Box>
+                      <Text size="sm" fw={600}>
+                        {t('chatbot.alphaTitle', 'Experimental feature')}
+                      </Text>
+                      <Text size="sm">
+                        {t(
+                          'chatbot.alphaDescription',
+                          'This chatbot is in alpha. It currently ignores images and may produce inaccurate answers.'
+                        )}
+                      </Text>
+                    </Box>
+                  </Group>
+                </Box>
+              )}
               {messages.length === 0 && (
                 <Text size="sm" c="dimmed">
                   {t('chatbot.emptyState', 'Ask a question about your PDF to start the conversation.')}

frontend/src/core/components/viewer/useViewerRightRailButtons.tsx

@@ -7,14 +7,10 @@ import LocalIcon from '@app/components/shared/LocalIcon';
 import { Tooltip } from '@app/components/shared/Tooltip';
 import { SearchInterface } from '@app/components/viewer/SearchInterface';
 import ViewerAnnotationControls from '@app/components/shared/rightRail/ViewerAnnotationControls';
-import { useFileState } from '@app/contexts/FileContext';
 
 export function useViewerRightRailButtons() {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
   const viewer = useViewer();
-  const { selectors } = useFileState();
-  const filesSignature = selectors.getFilesSignature();
-  const files = useMemo(() => selectors.getFiles(), [selectors, filesSignature]);
   const [isPanning, setIsPanning] = useState<boolean>(() => viewer.getPanState()?.isPanning ?? false);
 
   // Lift i18n labels out of memo for clarity