Upload a file. Build shared understanding from it.
Select a file — a ZIP, a document (PDF, DOCX, XLSX), a text file (TXT, MD, CSV), or a video — and ask the
first question. Distil prepares it on the server and returns a reusable context handle. Use it to address
a situation, evaluate advice, support a proposal, or surface a risk with the evidence available for review.
Context Handle
Your AI run is ready.
What it costs
to prepare this handle
—
one time
first question
—
charged for this run
total charged for this run
—
preparation + first question
future questions with this handle
—
each additional question
text/documents without a handle
—
premium-model resend estimate, each time
video without a handle
—
human-review estimate, each time
Context Crystal
What a Context Crystal actually is
A Context Crystal is a prepared, reusable reference to your material — not a search index
you query every time. You upload a source once; Distil compresses it into a durable handle.
Every question after that runs against the prepared handle directly, instead of re-reading
the original file from scratch.
How it's different from a typical "search your documents" AI tool
Most AI tools re-search your source material on every question — read the file, find the
relevant passage, paste it into the prompt, repeat. That's search grounding (often called
RAG), and it's good at pulling an exact quote.
A Context Crystal is prepared once. The AI's understanding of your material is already
built into the handle, so it doesn't have to re-search or re-read the source for every
question — it works from a durable reference instead. The two approaches pair well
together: some questions need an exact quote (search), others need synthesis across the
whole source (a prepared handle).
Two ways to use a crystal
Inside PDC Dev Studio — ask questions against your crystal directly in the chat interface. No code required.
As a handle in your own project — the same crystal is a context_handle you can call from your own application through the Distil API. Anyone can create a crystal without writing code; using it outside the Studio does require an API key.
What people use it for
Reviewing a proposal or contract against the full source material
Evaluating advice or a recommendation with the evidence on hand
Surfacing a risk buried in a large document set
Giving a support or research workflow durable memory of a source, instead of re-uploading it every session
Questions
Frequently asked
What is a Context Crystal?
A Context Crystal is a prepared, reusable reference to a document, codebase, or video, created by Distil. You upload the source once; questions after that run against the prepared handle instead of the raw file.
Is a Context Crystal the same as RAG?
No. RAG re-searches your source material for each question. A Context Crystal is prepared once into a durable handle, so it doesn't need to re-search the source every time. The two work well together — Distil supports both.
Do I need to know how to code to make one?
No. Anyone can create a Context Crystal on this page. Using the resulting handle inside your own application does require a Distil API key.
What can I upload?
A ZIP, a document (PDF, DOCX, XLSX), a text file (TXT, MD, CSV), or a video.
Where does my crystal live?
Server-side, as a hosted handle. You get a reference to query, not a downloadable copy of the prepared context.