đ RayRay for Dummies
The friendly guide to not breaking things while helping build a PDF extraction system.
What Even Is This Thing?
RayRay is a tool that helps defense analysts extract data from PDFs about radar systems (and other detection stuff) without losing track of where the numbers came from.
The big idea: Click any extracted value â see exactly where it came from in the original PDF. No more "where did you get that number?" in meetings.
Important rule: AI does the first pass, but a human MUST review before anything gets saved. This isn't optional - it's required by OMB Memo M-25-21.
Quick reference for every page in RayRay and what it's for.
Documents
/documents"Your PDF library"
Upload, manage, and organize PDFs and spreadsheets. This is where the extraction workflow starts.
Document Detail
/documents/[id]"Deep dive into one document"
View a single document, run extractions, review AI results, and see page-by-page source highlighting.
Compare
/compare"Side-by-side analysis"
Select multiple documents and compare their extracted values. Scores and ranks them based on a scoring profile.
Radar
/radar"Radar system database"
Browse and search radar systems. View extracted specs, compare capabilities, and see data sources.
Sources
/sources"Intel feed control center"
Manage data ingestion pipelines. Monitor OSINT feeds, official sources, research papers, and internal reports.
Settings
/settings"Your account & preferences"
Manage your profile, security settings (including MFA), and developer tools.
Scoring Profiles
/settings/profiles"Define how scoring works"
Create and manage scoring profiles used in comparisons. Set weights, normalization methods, and attributes.
Home
/home"Your command center"
The landing page after login. Shows quick stats, recent activity, and navigation shortcuts.
Dashboard
/dashboard"The big picture"
High-level overview of system activity, stats, and metrics. Good for managers and quick status checks.
History
/history"Your audit trail"
View past extraction workflows, reviews, and comparisons. Essential for M-25-21 compliance.
Roadmap
/roadmap"Where we're headed"
Development roadmap showing completed, in-progress, and planned features.
Builder's Log
/builders-log"Dev changelog"
Developer notes on what's been built, changed, or fixed. Technical details and decisions.
The Pudding Page
/the-pudding-page"The proof is in the pudding"
Hard numbers on ROI, time savings, and why RayRay matters. Great for convincing leadership.
About
/about"What is RayRay?"
Overview of the platform, mission, and team. Good for onboarding new users.
Common Oopsies & Fixes
Reading the Logs
The API terminal shows what's happening. Here's the decoder ring:
[UPLOAD]PDF being uploaded[WORKFLOW]Extraction process steps[LLM ANTHROPIC]AI is thinking[ERROR]Something broke[WORKFLOW ERROR]Extraction specifically brokeThe Golden Rules
- 1Always review extractions - M-25-21 requires it
- 2Start API before Web - Order matters
- 3Check your API keys - If extraction fails, 90% of the time it's the key
- 4Click-to-source is your friend - Use it to verify
- 5When in doubt, restart both terminals - Clears a lot of weird state
Still stuck? Check the API logs in the uvicorn terminal.
Questions? Check the logs first, then ask a developer.