# agent parser failed on scanned pdf rfp schedule: how to fix it

An agent parser failing on a scanned PDF schedule needs OCR before parsing, not a better PDF parser. Run the pages through OCR, then parse the text. Scanned pages are images, and no text parser can read them directly.

```text
agent parser failed on scanned pdf rfp schedule
```

## When to use this skill
- Parsing fails on scanned PDF schedules
- The PDF has no selectable text

## When not to use this skill
- The PDF has text but parses wrong (a parser issue)
- OCR text exists but dates misparse (a format issue)

## Tool compatibility
Agent document parsing pipelines. OCR preprocessing.
Related area: document export, rendering, and OCR tooling.
Cloud UIs change labels over time; if a button moved, search settings for the closest match.

## Before you start
- Sign in to the tool and keep one tab open so sessions stay clean
- Copy the exact error text and note the time it happened
- Set aside 15 to 20 minutes; most of these resolve in a single pass

## Quick diagnosis
Make sure this is the right skill before you invest the 15 minutes.
- If you are dealing with parsing fails on scanned PDF schedules, start at step 1 below.
- If instead the PDF has text but parses wrong (a parser issue), stop here; you need a different skill.
- If neither quite matches, compare your screen against the verbatim error block at the top; that block is exactly what this skill covers.

## Fix it in steps
### 1. Detect scanned pages

```
Check whether the PDF pages contain text or just images.
```
Expected: image-only pages confirmed.

### 2. Run OCR on the images

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Process the pages with an OCR engine to extract text.
```
Expected: searchable text for every page.

### 3. Parse the OCR text

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Feed the OCR output into the normal schedule parser.
```
Expected: dates and milestones extracted.

### 4. Spot check the dates

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Verify a few extracted dates against the visual schedule.
```
Expected: the critical dates match.

## Confirm each step worked
Run through this checklist before moving on. If a check fails, redo that step instead of pushing ahead.
- Step 1 (detect scanned pages): Expected: image-only pages confirmed.
- Step 2 (run ocr on the images): Expected: searchable text for every page.
- Step 3 (parse the ocr text): Expected: dates and milestones extracted.
- Step 4 (spot check the dates): Expected: the critical dates match.

## Quick recap
1. Detect scanned pages
2. Run OCR on the images
3. Parse the OCR text
4. Spot check the dates

## Still stuck?
Gather three things: the exact error text, the time it happened, and what changed just before it broke.
Check the vendor status page for an active incident. Then open a support ticket with those three things;
it cuts the back-and-forth in half. For agent runs, attach the last 50 lines of the agent log too,
since the loop or timeout signature in the log usually names the cause.

## Variant phrasings
### scanned pdf parser failed
OCR first, parse second. If this matches what you saw, the steps above apply as written.

### agent cant read scanned schedule
Image-only pages need OCR, always. If this matches what you saw, the steps above apply as written.

## Why it happens
Scanned PDFs are photographs of pages with no text layer. A text parser finds nothing to parse, while OCR converts the images into text the parser can actually work with.

## Edge cases
- OCR struggles with small fonts and skewed scans, quality matters
- Tables in schedules OCR poorly, verify them by hand
- Cache OCR results, rerunning OCR on every pass wastes time

## Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_jhCapLBkUSyaPXfSsHznwg