The document viewer is Emma's central workspace for reviewing a single file. It combines a full-screen preview of the document on the left with a Document Review sidebar on the right, where you inspect metadata, risks, key terms, and team comments without leaving the file.
You can open the viewer from almost anywhere in Emma — the Documents page, the Matrix, the Red Flag Report, disclosure schedules, and deep links from risk rows or key-term cells.
Layout
The viewer fills most of the screen and has two main areas:
Area | What it shows |
File panel (left, ~8/12 width) | The document preview — PDF, Word, Excel, or image depending on file type |
Document Review sidebar (right, ~4/12 width) | Tabs for Info, Risks, Key terms, and Comments, plus review and action controls |
A floating navigation bar sits at the top of the file panel when the viewer opens as a dialog (for example from the Documents page). It shows the document name, previous/next document controls, and a close button.
Opening the document viewer
Common entry points:
Documents → Folder view — click a file name or choose Open from the row menu
Documents → IRL view — click a file in the Documents tab of a document type
Matrix — click a document name in any tab, or double-click a key-term cell to jump to the source location
Red Flag Report — click the file icon on a document row, or use View risk in document on a risk row
Direct URL — shareable links that open a specific document with optional tab and selection pre-set
When you open the viewer from a filtered list (for example only documents in one document type, or only unreviewed files), Emma remembers that context. The previous and next document buttons in the header then walk through that same filtered list — not the entire data room.
Navigating between documents
When navigation context is available:
Click Previous document or Next document in the floating header (double-chevron icons)
Use the Left arrow and Right arrow keyboard shortcuts while focus is not in a text field
The header auto-hides when you scroll down in a long PDF and reappears when you scroll back up, so you can read without obstruction.
Closing the viewer returns you to the page you came from, with your scroll position preserved in places like the Red Flag Report.
Document Review sidebar
The sidebar header shows Document Review and three action controls:
Control | Purpose |
Approve | Mark the document as reviewed by you; optionally confirm AI risk levels as human-reviewed |
Actions menu (when disclosure schedules are enabled) | Add or remove the document from the disclosure schedule |
Close (X) | Close the viewer |
Below the header, a processing banner appears while Emma is still working on the file (for example classification or risk extraction). The banner shows the current pipeline step.
Four tabs run across the sidebar. Each tab shows a count in parentheses when relevant:
Tab | Count reflects | Detailed guide |
Info | — | Info tab |
Risks | Number of relevant risk findings | Risks tab |
Key terms | Number of extracted key terms | Key terms tab |
Comments | Total comment threads | Comments tab |
Clicking a risk, key term, or comment in the sidebar scrolls the file panel to the linked location in the document and highlights it.
File panel capabilities
What you can do in the file panel depends on the file type:
File type | Preview | Annotations & tools |
Full continuous scroll viewer | Search, zoom, rotate, risk highlights, bounding-box selection, comments, page jump — see PDF viewer | |
Word (.docx, .doc, .dotx) | Rendered preview | Download only |
Excel (.xlsx, .xls, .xlsm, .csv) | Spreadsheet preview | Download only |
Images (jpg, png, tiff, etc.) | Image preview | Download only |
Pending conversion (e.g. legacy .doc) | "Creating preview…" spinner | Auto-refreshes when conversion completes |
Unsupported | Message with download button | Download the original file |
PDF is the richest experience: risk annotations from AI checks appear as coloured overlays, and you can add manual findings, select text, and pin comments directly on the page.
Emma Agent (document chat)
At the bottom of the sidebar, the Emma Agent button opens an AI chat scoped to the current document. Ask questions about the file's content, clause wording, or implications. The agent is available once the document has finished processing.
See Document chat assistant for full details.
Deep linking and cross-feature navigation
Emma uses URL parameters to open the viewer in a specific state. This powers links from the Matrix, report editor, and risk matrix:
tab— opens a specific sidebar tab (info,risks,key-terms,comments)answer_id— pre-selects a risk finding and scrolls to its highlightsproperty_id— pre-selects a key termbounding_box_id— scrolls to a specific source location
When you click a risk in the Red Flag Report's View risk in document action, Emma opens the viewer on the Risks tab with that finding selected and the PDF scrolled to the evidence.
Changes you make in the viewer — editing a risk summary, updating jurisdiction, resolving a comment — sync live to the Matrix, report editor, and data-room risk views. If another team member is editing the same risk simultaneously, Emma shows a presence lock so you do not overwrite each other.
Supported workflows at a glance
Use the document viewer when you need to:
Verify AI output — read the source PDF alongside extracted summaries, risks, and key terms
Add or edit findings — draw bounding boxes on the PDF and link them to checks
Review and sign off — approve the document and mark signature pages as fully signed
Collaborate — leave pinned comments with @mentions for teammates
Correct metadata — fix categorization, jurisdiction, legal entities, or display name
Manage bundles — group a main document with annexes into a single scrollable PDF view
Ask questions — use Emma Agent for ad-hoc Q&A on the open file
Related articles
PDF viewer — search, zoom, viewer modes, risk annotations, bundles
Info tab — document metadata, summary, signatures, duplicates
Risks tab — review AI and manual findings, recommendations
Key terms tab — extracted values and source navigation
Comments tab — threaded comments, resolve, assign
Document chat assistant — AI Q&A on the open document
Categorize a single document — change document type from the viewer or Documents page
If you need additional help with the document viewer or encounter any other problem, don't hesitate to reach out through the chat bubble in the bottom right or contact [email protected].