Summarize long files in Claude: cut by open issues, not page numbers

A hundred pages in one paste looks efficient. The failure is stable: it summarizes the contents and the first chapters; appendix exceptions vanish. Page slices (1–20, 21–40) split a single clause.

I slice by questions that are still open: payment, breach, data, signers. Each slice has a heading. The model restates, then compresses.

Three questions per slice

All three ban storytelling. Claude obeys that ban better than many models and still skips. Tick the real table of contents. Do not only read its grid.

1. What is this slice about (use the source heading).
2. Sentences that fight, two quotes max each.
3. Whose action is still missing (signature, annex, date). Write “not stated” if absent.

Build the master table last

Collect every “not stated.” Those blanks are who you call. Do not let the model fill them with “industry practice.”

Follow company policy on contracts. A local model is not the same as a web chat.