Document Compare

Compare two documents side-by-side with visual diff highlighting and AI-powered analysis. Available on Pro plans and above.

Overview

Document Compare helps you understand the differences between two versions of a document or compare two similar documents. It’s perfect for:

  • Reviewing contract revisions
  • Tracking policy changes
  • Comparing proposals
  • Auditing document updates

Getting Started

Step 1: Open Compare

Navigate to Tools > Compare from the sidebar, or use the command palette (Cmd+K then type “Compare”).

Step 2: Select Documents

  1. First Document (Baseline) - Click to select the original or reference document
  2. Second Document (Revised) - Click to select the document to compare against

You can also drag and drop documents directly into the comparison slots.

Step 3: Run Comparison

Click Compare Documents to analyze the differences.

Understanding the Results

Split View

The comparison displays documents side-by-side:

Left Panel Right Panel
First document (baseline) Second document (revised)
Deletions highlighted in red Additions highlighted in green

Color Coding

Color Meaning
Green Content added in the second document
Red Content removed (present in first, absent in second)
Yellow Content modified (similar but changed)
Gray Unchanged content
  • Jump to Change - Click arrows to navigate between differences
  • Sync Scroll - Toggle to scroll both panels together
  • Expand/Collapse - Focus on changed sections only

AI Summary

Enable AI Summary for a natural language description of changes:

Summary of Changes:

1. Section 3.2 (Payment Terms): Changed from "Net 30" to "Net 45"
2. Section 5 (Indemnification): New clause added requiring mutual indemnification
3. Section 8.1 (Termination): Notice period increased from 30 to 60 days
4. Exhibit A (Pricing): Updated pricing table with 5% increase across all items
5. Section 12 (Arbitration): Removed - disputes now handled in court

Overall: 12 additions, 3 deletions, 8 modifications across 15 sections.

Summary Options

Option Description
Brief Key changes only (default)
Detailed All changes with context
Legal Focus on legal/contractual implications
Technical Emphasize technical specifications

Export Options

Download Report

Export comparison results as:

Format Contents
PDF Visual diff with highlights
HTML Interactive comparison view
Markdown Text-based diff for documentation
JSON Structured data for integration

Share Comparison

Generate a shareable link to the comparison (recipient needs Archivus access).

Comparison Types

Text Comparison

Default mode comparing extracted text content:

  • Word-level precision
  • Ignores formatting changes
  • Works with all document types

Semantic Comparison

AI-powered comparison by meaning:

  • Identifies paraphrased content
  • Detects moved sections
  • Highlights substantive vs. cosmetic changes

Enable via the Semantic toggle.

Best Practices

Selecting Documents

  • Same type - Compare similar document types for best results
  • Processed - Ensure both documents have completed AI processing
  • Readable text - Scanned documents need OCR processing first

Large Documents

For documents over 50 pages:

  • Use Section Compare to focus on specific parts
  • Enable Summary Only for high-level overview
  • Compare section by section for detailed analysis

Version Tracking

For ongoing document management:

  1. Upload new versions with consistent naming
  2. Use document versioning in Archivus
  3. Compare against previous versions from document history

API Usage

Compare documents programmatically:

curl -X POST https://api.archivus.app/api/v1/documents/compare \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "X-Tenant-Subdomain: your-tenant" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "document_a_id": "doc_original123",
    "document_b_id": "doc_revised456",
    "options": {
      "include_ai_summary": true,
      "summary_style": "detailed",
      "semantic_mode": true
    }
  }'

Response 

{
  "comparison_id": "cmp_xyz789",
  "status": "completed",
  "summary": "Summary of 15 changes across 8 sections...",
  "statistics": {
    "additions": 12,
    "deletions": 3,
    "modifications": 8,
    "unchanged_sections": 7
  },
  "changes": [
    {
      "section": "3.2",
      "type": "modification",
      "original": "Net 30",
      "revised": "Net 45",
      "significance": "high"
    }
  ],
  "report_url": "https://api.archivus.app/comparisons/cmp_xyz789/report"
}

Troubleshooting

No differences detected

  • Same document - Verify you selected two different documents
  • Identical content - Documents may actually be the same
  • Processing incomplete - Wait for document processing to finish

Comparison taking too long

  • Large documents - Documents over 100 pages take longer
  • Server load - Try again during off-peak hours
  • Simplify - Compare specific sections instead of full documents

Garbled text in comparison

  • OCR quality - Scanned documents may have extraction errors
  • Non-text content - Images and charts aren’t compared
  • Encoding issues - Re-upload document with standard encoding

AI summary not available

  • Feature disabled - Toggle AI Summary on
  • No credits - Check AI credit balance
  • Processing - Wait for comparison to complete first

Use Case Examples

Contract Review

“Before signing the revised vendor agreement, I compared it against the original. The AI summary immediately flagged the changed payment terms and new liability clause that needed legal review.”

Policy Updates

“Our compliance team uses Compare to audit quarterly policy updates. The visual diff makes it easy to see exactly what changed, and we export reports for our records.”

Proposal Analysis

“When evaluating competing proposals, I compare them side-by-side to understand the differences in scope, pricing, and terms without reading everything twice.”

Next Steps