Cross-book summaries

When the topic you are studying is spread across several books, a single-source summary is not enough. In Theca you can select several books at once and get a summary where each section cites all the sources that back it up.

What they are for

A multi-book summary is useful when you want to contrast how different authors approach the same topic, or when your study material is split across several texts. The summary brings the information together and makes it clear which source each claim comes from.

How to choose the books to include

When creating a New summary in the Summaries section, step 1 shows the Books included selector. You can pick as many books from your library as you need. The summary will only cite the books you select; the rest of your library is not consulted.

Choose books that actually cover the topic. Including loosely related books can produce sections with few citations or a No matches status.

How to track progress while it generates

Once you click Generate summary, Theca processes the table of contents section by section. In the Summaries list and in the detail view you can see:

• A progress bar showing the number of processed nodes out of the total.
• A status message indicating where in the generation process things stand.
• A Completed badge when all sections are ready.

You can close the screen and come back later: progress is preserved on the server.

What to do if it stops partway through

If generation is interrupted (by a token quota limit or a manual pause), the sections already processed are kept. A Process remaining button appears both in the list and in the detail view. Clicking it opens a confirmation modal; click Process to resume. Theca will continue from the first pending section.

If you stopped generation with the cancel button, you can also resume with Process remaining: partial content is not lost.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a limit on the number of books I can combine? There is no fixed limit on selection. Generation time and token usage increase with more books and a larger outline.

Can I add more books to a summary that is already generated? No. Once a summary is created, its books are fixed. If you want to include a new book, create a new summary.

What does the "Process remaining" label mean? It means the summary has pending sections that have not been generated yet. You can resume them at any time by clicking that button.

Next step

• Editing the outline — adjust the sections before generating content.
• Citations and traceability — how to verify each claim against the source book.
• Summaries — return to the entry document to review the full flow.