# Tracking and approvals

> Approve a site, document or video, review every approval later, and pause capture entirely.

Source: https://cognipage.io/docs/tracking

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.

**Where** Settings → Tracking · plus the card that appears over the page you are reading, and the tray menu

## 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:

**Allow**

Capture from this source, now and in future.

**Never**

Block it permanently. You will not be asked about it again.

**Later**

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 is broader than allowing, on purpose.**
>
> 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](https://cognipage.io/docs/capture-areas) 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*.

> **Nothing here is permanent.**
>
> 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](https://cognipage.io/how-capture-works).