Tracking and approvals
Approve a site, document or video, review every approval later, and pause capture entirely.
CogniPage never reads a window until you have said it may. This page covers how that decision is put to you, how far each answer reaches, and how to change your mind later.
The three tracking modes
| Mode | What happens |
|---|---|
| Ask each time | The default, and the one to keep. When a window CogniPage has not seen before comes to the front, it asks. Nothing is captured until you answer. |
| Track everything | Every window is captured automatically, with no prompt. Fast, but it means CogniPage reads whatever happens to be in front of you. |
| Track nothing | Reading capture is paused entirely. Your existing materials, cards and reviews are untouched — nothing new is captured until you switch it back. |
How you are asked
In Ask each time, a small card appears over the window in question. It names the app, what exactly is being asked about, and how far approving reaches. You have three answers:
Capture from this source, now and in future.
Block it permanently. You will not be asked about it again.
Dismiss without deciding. You will be asked again next time.
If the card is in your way, turn off Show the tracking card in Settings → Tracking. The same pending request still appears in the CogniPage tray menu and under Settings → Tracking, so you lose the prompt, not the ability to answer it.
What an approval actually covers
This is the part worth reading closely: approving one thing is deliberately not approving the next.
| You approve | It covers | It does not cover |
|---|---|---|
| A website | All pages on that origin — https://example.com and everything under it. |
Other sites, other tabs on other sites, or videos played on that site. |
| A document | That one file. | Other files, even in the same folder or the same app. |
| A video or podcast | That one piece of media, and only it. | The next video on the same platform — you are asked again. |
| An app | That application. Used only as a fallback, when a window offers nothing more specific. | Browsers never fall back to this — every tab is asked about separately. |
Blocking a site also blocks media served from it, so "never here" means never and you never have to block the same place twice.
Reviewing and changing approvals
Settings → Tracking lists everything you have decided on, grouped into Allowed, Blocked and Authored (sources you drew a capture area for). For each entry you can:
- Allow or Block it — move it between the two lists.
- Forget it — remove the decision entirely, so CogniPage asks about it fresh next time.
- Clear its area, if you drew one, so text is found automatically again.
The tracking card
While a tracked window is in front, a small card sits over it showing what CogniPage is reading and letting you stop. It is draggable, can be collapsed to a compact size, and stays out of the way of clicks.
- Drag it anywhere; the position is remembered.
- Dragged it onto a screen you no longer have? Settings → Tracking → Move the card back returns it to the top of your display.
- Do not want it at all? Turn off Show the tracking card.
From the tray
With the main window closed, the menu-bar (macOS) or system-tray (Windows) icon still carries the live decisions: a pending Track "…" / Block "…" pair when a new source appears, the assess prompt for a reading you just finished, plus Open CogniPage, Settings, Documentation and Quit.
Every approval is revocable, and switching to Track nothing stops capture instantly without touching what you have already learned. What CogniPage does with an approved window is described in full in How capture works.