---
title: "Large document triage"
canonical_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/dws-viewer/troubleshooting/large-document-triage/"
md_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/dws-viewer/troubleshooting/large-document-triage.md"
last_updated: "2026-06-10T14:59:56.779Z"
description: "Troubleshoot large or problematic DWS Viewer documents with a repeatable workflow that combines upload, metadata checks, text/search validation, preview rendering, and support escalation data."
---

# Large document triage

Use this recipe when a large document is slow to inspect, hard to validate manually, or needs a support-ready diagnostics packet.

This workflow is optimized for support and triage:

1. Upload the document.

2. Capture document metadata.

3. Check document properties.

4. Verify text extraction and search behavior.

5. Render a first-page preview image.

6. Bundle the results into an escalation packet.

## Triage checklist

Use these endpoints in order:

- **Upload the document** — [`POST /viewer/documents`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/viewer/public/#tag/Documents/operation/upload-document)

- **Fetch document information** — [`GET /viewer/documents/{documentId}/document_info`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/viewer/public/#tag/Documents/operation/fetch-document-info)

- **Fetch document properties** — [`GET /viewer/documents/{documentId}/properties`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/viewer/public/#tag/Documents/operation/fetch-document-properties)

- **Search the document** — [`GET /viewer/documents/{documentId}/search`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/viewer/public/#tag/Documents/operation/search-document)

- **Fetch page text** — [`GET /viewer/documents/{documentId}/pages/{pageIndex}/text`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/viewer/public/#tag/Documents/operation/get-document-page-text)

- **Render a first-page preview** — [`GET /viewer/documents/{documentId}/pages/{pageIndex}/image`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/viewer/public/#tag/Documents/operation/render-document-page)

## Recommended workflow

Follow these steps to understand a document’s shape, identify potential issues, and gather the necessary data for support escalation if needed.

### 1. Upload the document

Start by uploading the file and saving the returned `document_id`:

```shell

curl -X POST https://api.nutrient.io/viewer/documents \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <api_key>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/pdf" \
  --data-binary @large-document.pdf \
  --fail

```

Response:

```json

{
  "data": {
    "document_id": "<document_id>",
    "title": "large-document"
  }
}

```

### 2. Capture document information

Fetch top-level document information:

```shell

curl -X GET "https://api.nutrient.io/viewer/documents/<document_id>/document_info" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <api_key>" \
  --fail

```

Use this response to confirm:

- Page count

- Page dimensions

- Permissions

- Metadata such as author, title, producer, and modification dates

This is the fastest way to understand the document’s shape before deeper inspection.

### 3. Capture document properties

Fetch document properties:

```shell

curl -X GET "https://api.nutrient.io/viewer/documents/<document_id>/properties" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <api_key>" \
  --fail

```

This is useful for support triage because it includes details such as:

- Byte size

- Password-protection status

- Source PDF SHA-256

- Storage type

- Created-at timestamp

### 4. Check text extraction and search

If the issue involves missing or suspicious text, inspect the first page’s extracted text:

```shell

curl -X GET "https://api.nutrient.io/viewer/documents/<document_id>/pages/0/text" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <api_key>" \
  --fail

```

Then run a targeted search against a known word or phrase from the file:

```shell

curl -G "https://api.nutrient.io/viewer/documents/<document_id>/search" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <api_key>" \
  --data-urlencode "q=invoice" \
  --fail

```

Use these together:

- If text extraction is empty or clearly wrong, the issue may be with the source file, OCR quality, or embedded text layer.

- If the page text looks correct but search results are unexpected, include both responses in your escalation.

### 5. Render a first-page preview image

Render page 0 as a PNG preview:

```shell

curl -X GET "https://api.nutrient.io/viewer/documents/<document_id>/pages/0/image?width=1600" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <api_key>" \
  -H "Accept: image/png" \
  --fail \
  -o page-0.png

```

This preview helps support confirm whether the problem is visible in server-side rendering without needing the full browser integration.

## Escalation packet

For a support-ready packet, include:

- The original input file, if shareable

- The returned `document_id`

- `document_info` response

- `properties` response

- One page-text response from an affected page

- One representative search response

- The rendered first-page preview image

- A short note describing the expected result versus the observed result

## Complete Node.js example

For a script that automates this workflow and writes the outputs to disk, refer to the [Node.js large document triage example](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/dws-viewer/examples/nodejs-large-document-triage.md).

## Related guides

- [Upload documents](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/dws-viewer/developer-guides/upload-documents.md)

- [Support](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/dws-viewer/support.md)
---

## Related pages

- [Troubleshooting](/guides/dws-viewer/troubleshooting.md)
- [Rendering and font diagnostics](/guides/dws-viewer/troubleshooting/rendering-and-font-diagnostics.md)