What you can add
- Links: YouTube, Apple and Spotify podcast episodes, web pages and direct PDF links.
- Files: PDF, MD, DOCX, PPTX, EPUB, MOBI, TXT and audio.
- Audio formats: MP3, WAV, AAC, FLAC, OGG, OGA, M4A, WEBM, AIFF, AIF and OPUS.
Gistr does not accept the old .doc and .ppt formats. Save these files as DOCX or PPTX first.
Add a source
- On the home page, select Add sources, then New source. In a thread, select + in the message box, or Add source in the source list.
- Paste your links, one on each line. Or select Upload File, or drag your files to the window.
- Select Create thread to make a new thread, or Add source to add to the current thread.
Gistr shows its progress while it reads the source. A new thread then opens at the chat.
Limits by plan
| Plan | Largest file | Sources in a thread |
|---|---|---|
| Guest | 5 MB | 5 |
| Free | 10 MB | 5 |
| Curious | 50 MB | No limit |
| Explorer | 100 MB | No limit |
| Thinker | 100 MB | No limit |
On each plan, you can add up to 20 sources at one time.
YouTube videos and playlists
Paste the link of a video. Gistr gets the captions and uses them as the transcript.
If a video has no captions, Gistr can make a transcript from the audio. This uses extra credits, based on the length of the video.
Playlists are on the Explorer and Thinker plans. Paste the playlist link, then select the videos that you want. Gistr does not import a full YouTube channel from a channel link.
Podcasts and audio
Paste the link of one episode. For Apple Podcasts, the link must include ?i=. For Spotify, the link must have the form open.spotify.com/episode/.... Gistr does not import a full show from one link.
You can also upload an audio file.
PDFs and documents
Gistr opens PDF, EPUB, DOCX and MOBI files in its document viewer. See Read and highlight for the tools.
Gistr needs text that it can read. If your PDF is a scan, run text recognition (OCR) on it first, then upload it again.
Web pages
Paste the link. Gistr imports the visible text of the page. It cannot import private or paywalled content. To save a page while you read it, use the browser extension.
Find new sources
Ask AI can look for sources on a topic. Open the + menu in the message box, select Tools, then Find sources. Select the results that you want, then select Add to thread. See Ask AI.
When a source fails
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Invalid URL format detected | Make sure that the link starts with http:// or https://. |
| Invalid URL, check the link for spaces or typos | Copy the link again. |
| Unable to fetch PDF | Download the PDF, then upload the file. |
| Invalid podcast URL | Use the link of one episode, not the show. |
| File too large | Use a smaller file, or upgrade your plan. |
| X is not a supported file type | Save the file in a supported format. |
| You've reached your free plan limit | Remove a source, or upgrade your plan. |
| No transcript available | You can still watch the video and write notes, but Ask AI cannot use this source. |
| Unable to process source | Try again. If the problem continues, contact support. |