Summaries

A summary is the short version of a save that Lazy Reader writes for you. It is what you read first when you open an item. Most saves only need their summary.

How a summary is written

1. You save a link. The item appears in the feed with the label Queued.
2. Lazy Reader gets the text of the page. Sometimes it already has it: the Chrome clipper and Safari's share sheet send the text along with the link. Otherwise Lazy Reader fetches the page itself.
3. It sends that text to an AI model through OpenRouter, with your own key, together with what you wrote under What I care about in Settings.
4. The model writes the summary, in about a minute. The label goes away.

A link you save is always summarized. Lazy Reader never skips it or decides it is not worth your time: a save means you wanted it.

What a summary looks like

Every summary starts with a headline that says what the piece gives you, then one sentence of context. After that, the layout follows the kind of piece:

Kind of piece	Layout
How-to	Numbered steps, then what you get
List of things	Numbered items, each with a bold name
Tool or product	What it does, cost, link, when to use it
Event	What, where, when, price, link
Opinion	The claim, the reasons, the example
Roundup of links	One line per item, with its link

Numbers, prices, dates and names are kept exactly as the source has them. The summary stays in the language of the article. The model adds no opinions of its own.

You can change these rules. Under Settings, Reading taste, Summary style lets you write your own. See Shape your summaries.

Your key, your model

Each summary uses a little of your OpenRouter credit. The model is set under Settings, AI model: leave Model empty for the default, or type any OpenRouter model id. If the model fails three times, the Backup model gets a try, when you have set one. The Usage page shows what your summaries used.

The full text

Under the summary, Read the full text opens the whole article inside the app, as Full text. It is there when Lazy Reader could read the page. To see the page on its own site, use Open original.

When a summary goes wrong

• Stuck: the save has been queued for more than five minutes. Open it and press Try again.
• Couldn't summarize: the model or the key failed. The item says why, with Try again or Fix it in Settings.
• Summarize again: on a finished save, this button at the top of the item writes a new summary. Lazy Reader asks first, and the current one stays until the new one is ready.

See also A save has no summary.