deepresearch-flow 0.14.1

ai-deepresearch-flow

From documents to deep research insight — automatically.

English | 中文

Core Pain Points

• OCR Chaos: Raw markdown from OCR tools is often broken — tables drift, formulas break, references are non-clickable.
• Translation Nightmares: Translating technical papers often destroys code blocks, LaTeX formulas, and table structures.
• Information Overload: Extracting structured insights (authors, venues, summaries) from hundreds of PDFs manually is impossible.
• Context Switching: Managing PDFs, summaries, and translations in different windows kills focus.

Solution

DeepResearch Flow provides a unified pipeline to Repair, Translate, Extract, and Serve your research library.

Key Features

• Smart Extraction — Turn unstructured Markdown into schema-enforced JSON (summaries, metadata, Q&A) using LLMs.
• Precision Translation — Translate OCR Markdown to Chinese/Japanese while freezing formulas, code, tables, and references.
• Local Knowledge DB — Web UI with Split View (Source/Translation/Summary), full-text search, and multi-dimensional filtering.
• Snapshot + API Serve — Production-ready SQLite snapshot with static assets and read-only JSON API.
• OCR Post-Processing — Fix broken references, merge split paragraphs, repair LaTeX and Mermaid diagrams.
• Semantic Search — LanceDB-backed vector search with hybrid recall and cloud reranking.
• MCP Integration — FastMCP server for AI agent access with bounded read tools, static-bearer Streamable HTTP/SSE, and GitHub OAuth at /oauth/mcp.

Quick Start

1) Installation

uv pip install deepresearch-flow
# or: pip install deepresearch-flow

2) Configuration

cp config.example.toml config.toml

Minimal config with weighted multi-provider routing:

main_model = [
  { model = "openai/gpt-4o-mini", weight = 4 },
  { model = "claude/claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929", weight = 1 }
]

[[providers]]
name = "openai"
type = "openai_compatible"
base = [
  { url = "https://api.openai.com/v1", weight = 1, key = [
    { value = "env:OPENAI_API_KEY", weight = 4 }
  ] }
]
models = [
  { model_name = "gpt-4o-mini", is_support_json_schema = true }
]

[[providers]]
name = "claude"
type = "claude"
base = [
  { url = "https://api.anthropic.com", weight = 1, key = [
    { value = "env:ANTHROPIC_API_KEY", weight = 1 }
  ] }
]
models = [
  { model_name = "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929" }
]

Keys use env:VAR_NAME syntax to keep secrets out of config files. Multiple providers (Ollama, Gemini, DashScope, Azure OpenAI) are supported. For full configuration options (embedding, rerank, translator defaults, search), see config.example.toml.

3) The "Zero to Hero" Workflow

Start with ./pdfs/ and, optionally, ./papers.bib. You do not need an existing JSON library, SQLite database, or processed Markdown directory.

The workflow produces these roots:

pdfs/ + papers.bib
  → ocr_output/
  → md_simple/            # local image files
  → md_base64/            # images embedded as data URLs
  ├─ summary_json/<template>.json
  └─ md_base64_translated/

Run the data-root script

Place PDFs in DATA_ROOT/pdf/. From the repository root, prepare config.toml and ocr.toml, then install the Node dependencies with npm install for Mermaid validation. Run the full workflow:

uv run python scripts/process_data_root.py DATA_ROOT \
  --config config.toml --ocr-config ocr.toml --model openai/gpt-4o-mini

Replace the model with a configured provider/model. Outputs are ocr/, md_simple/, md_base64/, simple.json, deep_read.json, and md_base64_translated/, all under DATA_ROOT. The script repairs OCR before organizing Markdown. After extraction and translation, it repairs formatting and formulas in both JSON files and translated Markdown, then repairs Mermaid only in deep_read.json. Translation defaults to Chinese; use --target-lang to change it.

OCR and organize can run independently without an LLM model:

uv run python scripts/process_data_root.py DATA_ROOT --steps ocr --ocr-config ocr.toml
uv run python scripts/process_data_root.py DATA_ROOT --steps organize

Select steps with --steps, or run from one step through the end with --from-step:

# Requires existing md_simple/ and md_base64/
uv run python scripts/process_data_root.py DATA_ROOT \
  --model openai/gpt-4o-mini --steps simple,deep_read,translate

# Requires md_base64/ and both JSON files to exist
uv run python scripts/process_data_root.py DATA_ROOT \
  --model openai/gpt-4o-mini --from-step translate

Available steps, in execution order:

ocr, fix, fix-math, organize, simple, deep_read, translate,
fix-simple, fix-math-simple, fix-deep_read, fix-math-deep_read,
fix-translated, fix-math-translated, fix-mermaid-deep_read

The two selection options are mutually exclusive. --steps accepts comma-separated names, runs them in workflow order, and runs duplicate names only once. It does not add upstream steps. Inputs must exist or be produced by an earlier selected step. Only selected steps require their configuration files and tools; translation alone needs neither PDFs nor OCR configuration nor mmdc. --model is required only for extraction, translation, formula repair, and Mermaid repair. OCR, formatting fixes, and organize can run without it. Add --dry-run to preview commands without creating files or calling providers.

Error reports and intermediate artifacts stay under DATA_ROOT/logs/. Commands keep the caller working directory, except extraction, which runs under logs/ to contain its relative intermediate-output directory. Each command displays its output, errors, and native progress bars directly in the current terminal; output is not redirected to files. progress.json records the latest run, and pipeline.log records step start, completion, and failure events. Configuration paths resolve against the caller's directory; use absolute paths for custom file paths inside configs. Nonzero command exits stop the workflow. Some commands return zero despite per-file failures, so check error reports and terminal output even when progress says completed. Reruns execute the selected steps using each command's existing-output skip rules, not the progress file. Repairs modify generated outputs in place, not source PDFs.

Step 1: OCR PDFs or Images

Copy and configure the OCR settings:

cp ocr.example.toml ocr.toml
# Set: export PADDLE_OCR_TOKEN=xxx
# The example uses PaddleOCR-VL-1.6's asynchronous Job API.
# Adjust poll_interval_seconds and job_timeout_seconds in ocr.toml if needed.

uv run deepresearch-flow recognize ocr ./pdfs \
  --config ocr.toml \
  --output-dir ./ocr_output
# Processes up to 4 files concurrently by default; override with --workers 2.

The backend writes MinerU-compatible layouts: one full.md and images/ directory per document. The configured timeout stops local polling only; it does not cancel the remote PaddleOCR job.

Step 2: Repair Nested OCR Outputs

Each OCR document is nested below ocr_output/, so both repair commands must use -r:

# Repair Markdown structure in every OCR document
uv run deepresearch-flow recognize fix \
  --input ./ocr_output -r --in-place

# Repair LaTeX formulas in every OCR document
uv run deepresearch-flow recognize fix-math \
  --input ./ocr_output -r \
  --model openai/gpt-4o-mini \
  --in-place

Step 3: Organize Source Markdown

Create both source representations in one pass. organize also needs -r to discover nested OCR layouts. Do not pass --fix: Step 2 has already repaired the OCR source.

uv run deepresearch-flow recognize organize \
  --input ./ocr_output -r \
  --output-simple ./md_simple \
  --output-base64 ./md_base64

md_simple/ keeps image files under md_simple/images/; md_base64/ embeds images, so it is the translation input.

Step 4: Generate Structured Summaries

Generate one JSON bundle per selected prompt template. This example uses deep_read; repeat it for every template you need, naming each output ./summary_json/<template>.json.

uv run deepresearch-flow paper extract \
  --input ./md_simple \
  --model openai/gpt-4o-mini \
  --prompt-template deep_read \
  --output ./summary_json/deep_read.json

Step 4.1: Verify and Retry Summary Fields

Keep verification reports outside summary_json/ so JSON repair scans only summary bundles. paper db verify validates the JSON bundle; it does not require a database. Repeat this unit for every selected template.

uv run deepresearch-flow paper db verify \
  --input-json ./summary_json/deep_read.json \
  --prompt-template deep_read \
  --output-json ./summary_verify/deep_read.json

uv run deepresearch-flow paper extract \
  --input ./md_simple \
  --model openai/gpt-4o-mini \
  --prompt-template deep_read \
  --output ./summary_json/deep_read.json \
  --retry-list-json ./summary_verify/deep_read.json

Step 5: Translate Base64 Markdown

uv run deepresearch-flow translator translate \
  --input ./md_base64 \
  --target-lang zh \
  --model openai/gpt-4o-mini \
  --fix-level moderate \
  --output-dir ./md_base64_translated

Step 6: Repair Generated Artifacts

Repair every summary JSON after extraction and retry. JSON inputs require --json; keep -r because the directory can contain multiple template bundles.

uv run deepresearch-flow recognize fix \
  --input ./summary_json --json -r --in-place

uv run deepresearch-flow recognize fix-math \
  --input ./summary_json --json -r \
  --model openai/gpt-4o-mini \
  --in-place

uv run deepresearch-flow recognize fix-mermaid \
  --input ./summary_json --json -r \
  --model openai/gpt-4o-mini \
  --in-place

Repair the translated Markdown separately. Mermaid repair is only part of the summary JSON branch.

uv run deepresearch-flow recognize fix \
  --input ./md_base64_translated -r --in-place

uv run deepresearch-flow recognize fix-math \
  --input ./md_base64_translated -r \
  --model openai/gpt-4o-mini \
  --in-place

Step 7: Build a Snapshot Database or Serve Locally

Both commands consume the repaired summary JSON. Add one --input option for each additional file in summary_json/; neither command consumes the other command's output.

Build a persistent SQLite snapshot and static assets:

uv run deepresearch-flow paper db snapshot build \
  --input ./summary_json/deep_read.json \
  --bibtex ./papers.bib \
  --md-root ./md_simple \
  --md-translated-root ./md_base64_translated \
  --pdf-root ./pdfs \
  --output-db ./dist/paper_snapshot.db \
  --static-export-dir ./dist/paper-static

Or start the local web UI directly from the same inputs:

uv run deepresearch-flow paper db serve \
  --input ./summary_json/deep_read.json \
  --bibtex ./papers.bib \
  --md-root ./md_simple \
  --md-translated-root ./md_base64_translated \
  --pdf-root ./pdfs \
  --host 127.0.0.1

If you have no BibTeX file, omit --bibtex ./papers.bib.

Step 8: Add Semantic Search (Optional)

Build a LanceDB vector index from the same repaired summaries and Markdown roots:

uv run deepresearch-flow paper embed \
  --config ./config.toml \
  --input ./summary_json/deep_read.json \
  --md-root ./md_simple \
  --md-translated-root ./md_base64_translated \
  --max-concurrency 4 \
  --document-window 8 \
  --output-embed-db ./paper_vectors

Serve with semantic search enabled:

uv run deepresearch-flow paper db serve \
  --input ./summary_json/deep_read.json \
  --bibtex ./papers.bib \
  --md-root ./md_simple \
  --md-translated-root ./md_base64_translated \
  --pdf-root ./pdfs \
  --embed-db ./paper_vectors \
  --search-access-token "your-token"

Step 9: MCP Integration (Optional)

The project exposes bounded MCP tools for AI agent access via FastMCP. See the MCP documentation for endpoint, auth, and tool reference.

Further Reading

• Advanced Workflows — Incremental builds, merging JSON/BibTeX, supplementing templates
• Deployment — CDN serving, Nginx/Caddy config, Docker, Compose
• API & MCP — Admin API, push/push-semantic, MCP endpoints, auth, and tools
• Reference — Translator, Extract, DB & Recognize in detail
• Snapshot Management — Snapshot migration, supplement, update

Built with love for the Open Science community.