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Most Pulse workflows start the same way: run Extract to create a reusable extraction_id. The question is what you do next. If you receive mixed document types through one intake, there is an optional step before that: run Classify to identify each document and route it to the right pipeline. See Do I need Classify? below.

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Quick Picker

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Common Decisions

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Do I need Classify?

Use Classify when a single intake receives more than one kind of document and each kind needs different handling — for example a shared inbox or upload form that receives invoices, bank statements, and contracts. Classify reads the raw file (no extraction required), inspects the first five pages by default, and returns the matching classification plus the pipeline_id you assigned to it. You then run that pipeline, which applies its own extraction settings. Skip Classify when:
  • every document is the same type, or
  • the source system already tells you the type (folder, email subject, form field, or upstream metadata).
Classify costs 0.5 credits per page — half the Extract rate — because it only needs enough of the document to identify its type, not a full-fidelity parse. Treat the result as routing guidance and validate downstream where correctness matters. See Classify Document for the request shape and Pipeline Overview for how routing fits the wider pipeline.

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Schema or Tables?

Use Schema when your final output is a JSON object with named fields:
Use Tables when the table itself is the output, especially if row and column relationships matter:
Many production workflows combine these steps: Tables preserves complex financial schedules, Charts reconstructs plotted data, and Schema extracts summary fields.

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Split or Page Range?

Use a page range when you already know where the content lives, such as 1-5 for a cover memo. Use Split when the location changes across documents or when topics are semantic rather than fixed by page number. Split assigns pages to named topics and returns a split_id you can reuse with Schema, Tables, or Charts.

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Inline Config or Saved Preset?

Use inline config while you are experimenting. Use saved presets once a workflow is stable:
  • Extract presets store settings like page range, figures, chunking, and spreadsheet options.
  • Split presets store topic names and descriptions.
  • Schema presets store JSON Schema and prompts.
  • Table presets store merge and chart-to-table settings.
Saved presets keep production code smaller and make changes easier to roll out.
  1. Start in the Platform Quickstart with one representative document.
  2. Use this picker to choose your next step.
  3. Save presets only after output quality looks right.
  4. Use Show Code to move into the API.
  5. Use Chaining Steps to understand how IDs connect each step.
You can always rerun Schema, Split, Tables, or Charts from a saved extraction. You usually do not need to upload and extract the document again while iterating on downstream steps.