# FAQ

**Can I read these files without the studio's software?**
Yes.
Every file is JSON or JSON Lines, every format is specified in [spec/](../spec/README.md), and [the examples](examples.md) read a package with a few lines of Python.

**Why not keep using PDFs and page numbers?**
A page number names a region, not a statement, and it changes between a preprint and the version of record.
An address names a sentence or a cell, survives reconversion, and can be checked against the exact text.

**Why are numbers stored as strings?**
Because databases and JSON libraries rewrite numbers: `310.0` becomes `310` and `1.5260` becomes `1.526`, and the printed digits are part of what a paper says.

**What happens when a better converter comes along?**
Its reading is aligned with the established document sentence by sentence.
Sentences it reads the same keep their IDs; every difference becomes a suspect for review; nothing changes until a correction passes the gate.

**Do I need receipts, rights records and spot-checks for a personal library?**
No.
One person can leave receipts out entirely and record only a license.
The fields are defined so that a personal library loads into a team's store later without conversion.

**Is a model allowed to correct a document?**
A model may propose corrections and answer suspects in a review session, under the same gate as a person, and its corrections record the model and the run.
Only a named person can sign a receipt.

**Why are annotations W3C Web Annotations?**
So existing tools can read them.
A tool that does not know the anchor selector falls back to the text-quote selector beside it.

**What is the difference between a claim and an annotation?**
A statement true independently of the paper, such as "K_r is the bond force constant of the AMBER energy", is a claim and belongs in Lode, where it is checked.
A statement about reading the paper, such as "the authors pass quickly over the scaling here", is an annotation in a layer, attributed but not checked.

**Can a team share notes on a paywalled paper?**
Yes, without sharing the paper: a checks-only package or a public layer carries IDs, offsets and keyed hashes, and is shown over each reader's own copy.
Whether a team may do so is a question for its own counsel; nothing here is legal advice.

**How do I add a node kind or a run kind?**
Propose it with the vector or fixture that shows it; a new kind is a minor version.
See [CONTRIBUTING.md](../CONTRIBUTING.md).

**What are the files in `tools/` for?**
They compute and check every vector and fixture so that no expected value is typed by hand.
They are not a library; implementations follow the specification.