Save papers with the browser extension

Use the Distari extension in desktop Chrome or Firefox to save the paper you are looking at. It captures a paper’s details and, when accessible, its PDF. You choose the destination before saving; reading a page does not automatically import it or use plan usage. Open saved papers in the web app to read, annotate or ask questions.

You need a project where you have permission to add papers; create a project in the web app first if you do not have one.

Install and connect

Open the Apps page in the browser you want to use. Follow Add to Chrome or Add to Firefox, then confirm installation in the store.
Keep Distari within reach. In Chrome, open the puzzle-piece Extensions menu and click the pin beside Distari. In Firefox, open the puzzle-piece Extensions menu, open the gear or three-dot menu beside Distari and choose Pin to Toolbar. Browser wording can vary by version.
Click the Distari toolbar icon, then Connect this browser. Allow the requested access to Distari’s website and API so the extension can connect. In Firefox, the first time, this opens the extension’s settings in a tab: choose Connect there and allow the access.
In the Distari tab that opens, sign in to the account whose projects you want to use. Review the requested read and import permissions and choose Allow Distari browser extension. Return to your paper and reopen the popup; its header should say Connected.

Firefox also asks for consent to handle authentication information, browsing activity and website content. These categories cover the account connection and pages you explicitly save, as explained under Permissions and your data.

If your browser’s menus differ, see Chrome’s extension help or Firefox’s toolbar help.

You approve each browser separately. The extension receives its own revocable access token, never your password. Leave Connection settings at the production defaults for your ordinary Distari account.

Save your first paper

Open the paper’s article page, its arXiv abstract page, or a direct PDF in a normal browser tab. Open Distari from the toolbar.
Check the detected title, authors and identifier. PDF says whether the extension will try your browser access or Distari will look for an open copy; it does not promise that a PDF can be fetched.
Under Destination, select your Project, then a Folder. Choose No folder to save at the project root. The folder list changes with the project. Optional Tags are comma-separated.
Choose Save and process to request processing, which uses the project’s plan usage, or Save without processing to save now and process later. Scanned PDFs use more usage. See Plans and credits for how usage works.
If the browser asks for access to the PDF’s website, allow it to try fetching that PDF. You can decline and still save the reference; Distari will try its open-access sources instead.
Read the result, then choose Open in Distari. Check that the paper appears in the intended project’s Library and folder.

For a publisher article, start on the page that describes the paper rather than its journal’s home page. On arXiv, the abstract page is a useful starting point; opening the PDF directly also works. If the browser’s PDF viewer cannot expose page content, the extension can use the PDF URL instead. Check the result in all three cases, since a detected reference and an available PDF are separate outcomes.

Direct PDFs can show an identifier such as arXiv 1503.02531 or a filename instead of a full title, with no authors yet. Check the saved paper’s details in the web app.

What the result means

Saved and processing: the PDF was saved and parsing and summarizing were requested. Follow its progress in Distari.
Saved without processing: the PDF was saved without starting processing. Process it later when project permissions and usage allow.
Saved without a PDF: the reference was saved, but no PDF could be reached. It remains useful as a library record; add a PDF you are entitled to use from the web app later.
Already in your library: Distari found an existing match in that project. The link opens that paper instead of creating another copy.

If you can add papers but cannot spend the project’s usage, the popup offers Save without processing and tells you to ask the owner for spending permission. The same option is available when the plan’s usage is used up or their balance cannot be checked. Saving without processing still needs space in the project owner’s library.

After a successful save, the extension remembers the destination. Always check it before the next save, particularly when switching projects.

What it can recognize

The extension reads scholarly details published in the active page: citation tags, scholarly structured data, Dublin Core or embedded reference records. A DOI or arXiv identifier can also identify a paper when richer metadata is missing. An unrelated page with a paper-like number is not necessarily a paper.

This works across many publisher and repository pages, including arXiv, but a publisher changing its layout, hiding metadata or blocking access can prevent detection. A DOI can identify a reference without providing access to its PDF. The extension cannot unlock a paywall, supply an institutional login or guarantee access to every PDF.

On supported result lists from arXiv, Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, PubMed, OpenReview and ACL Anthology, invoking capture adds save controls and an optional multi-selection toolbar. They appear only after you invoke capture, and saving remains an explicit action. A result without an identifier may need a search match or your choice between matches. Use the ordinary popup when you want to check the project, folder and processing first.

The Alt+Shift+P shortcut (Option+Shift+P on Mac) saves to the last destination; your browser may let you change it or report a conflict with another shortcut. Distari’s right-click menu offers recent destinations. These quicker actions use existing PDF-site permissions and cannot request new ones, so they may save a reference without a PDF where the popup could ask for access.

Permissions and your data

The invoked tab: opening the popup, using the shortcut or choosing the context-menu action lets Distari inspect the active page for paper details. Installation alone grants no access to every website and starts no background capture of your ordinary browsing.
The Distari website and API: connecting requests access to these hosts so the browser can approve its connection, list available destinations and import your chosen paper.
The PDF’s website: saving may request access to that specific host. Firefox needs this permission for its background PDF fetch even when the PDF is on the same host as the article. Chrome can use temporary active-tab access for a same-host PDF. A separate PDF host may need another grant.
Browser features: local storage remembers connection settings and destinations, menus provide save actions, and notifications report capture results. The scripting permission runs capture on demand. Optional website grants can remain until you revoke them in the browser’s extension settings.

An explicit save sends the detected paper details, source URL, selected destination and tags to your configured Distari server. If a PDF can be fetched, its bytes are uploaded too. A PDF request may use your existing browser session on the publisher’s site; the extension does not send your publisher password or session cookies to Distari. The connection token is kept privately by the extension, and its read/import permissions do not let it manage your password, billing or project membership. The extension adds no automatic browsing telemetry.

When capture does not work

No paper found here

Open the actual paper page or direct PDF and try again. Browser internal pages and some protected viewers cannot be read. If the site supplies no usable scholarly details, use Add papers in the web app to paste its DOI, arXiv identifier or link, or upload a PDF you can access. Do not treat every detected title as correct: check it before saving.

Not connected, or the connection expired

Choose Connect this browser and approve it in the Distari tab, then reopen the popup. Access normally lasts 90 days; expired access needs approval again. A temporary network error may instead say Distari is not ready: restore your connection and retry.

If the wrong account is connected, open Extension settings, choose Disconnect, then reconnect with the intended account. The settings page also links to Settings → Access tokens on the web, where you can revoke this browser from another device.

Permission was denied, or a prompt seems missing

Allow access to the Distari hosts to finish connecting. If you declined PDF-site access, the reference can still be saved while Distari looks for an open copy. Retry from the popup to request access when needed; shortcuts and right-click saves cannot open that prompt.

In Firefox, the PDF permission prompt can open behind the popup. Click outside the popup to reveal the browser prompt, answer it, then reopen Distari and check the result. Do not repeatedly click Save while a prompt is waiting.

A paywalled or institutional PDF was not saved

Sign in through your institution in the same browser and open the actual PDF before retrying capture. A login page returned in place of a PDF is not uploaded as a paper. Some authenticated redirects and institutional sites still cannot be captured; this workflow is not guaranteed. If the result says Saved without a PDF, download a permitted copy yourself and add it to the existing paper in Distari. Avoid creating another reference just to attach the file.

Usage or storage prevent processing or saving

Use Save without processing when offered, then process from Distari later. For spending permission, ask the project owner; buying extra credits does not grant that permission. If Library storage is full appears, the paper was not saved. Follow Free up space or Plan & credits, then retry. Saving without processing cannot bypass the storage limit.

Disconnect or remove the extension

To stop this browser’s access while keeping the extension installed, open its Extension settings and choose Disconnect. Your saved papers stay in Distari. Forget under Recent destinations clears remembered destinations without deleting papers.

To uninstall in Chrome, open Extensions → Manage extensions, find Distari and choose Remove. In Firefox, open Add-ons and themes → Extensions, open Distari’s menu and choose Remove. Disconnect first, or revoke the browser’s access token in Distari’s web settings if you have already uninstalled it. Removing the extension does not delete research already saved to your account.