Photo did not classify
How to handle photos where the AI category suggestion never lands or returns the wrong category.
The category chip on a photo has four states: pending, suggested, confirmed, unclassified. Most photos move from pending to suggested within seconds of upload. Occasionally the chip stays on pending or lands on unclassified. This page covers what each state means and what to do.
What each chip state means
- Pending. Upload has not finished yet, or the classifier has not run. Wait. The chip resolves on its own.
- Suggested. The AI returned a category. Tap to confirm, or pick a different category yourself.
- Confirmed. You agreed with the suggestion (or set the category manually).
- Unclassified. The classifier ran and could not produce a confident answer. The photo is fine; the report just won't group it by category until you set one manually.
Photo capture covers the full chip lifecycle.
Pending forever
If the chip sits on pending for more than a couple of minutes after the upload drained, two likely causes:
- The upload itself is stuck. Open the sync indicator at the top of the workbench. If the photo is still in the queue, the sync-stuck troubleshooter covers the recovery path.
- The classifier service is unreachable. Less common. The classifier retries with backoff; if it has run out of retries the chip flips to unclassified. Wait a few minutes and reload the workbench; if still pending, set the category manually and move on.
Wrong category
The classifier is right most of the time but it is not infallible. Common patterns:
- Photo is mostly context, not the subject. A wide shot of a corridor with a fire door at the end may classify as "escape route" instead of "fire door". Take a close-up of the fire door for the next observation; both photos can attach to the same observation if useful.
- Two evidence types in one frame. A fire door with signage above it could go either way. The AI picks one; you confirm or override.
- Unusual angle. Bottom-up shots and very dark photos classify worse. The remedy is the photo, not the AI.
To override: tap the chip on the observation card, pick the correct category from the dropdown. The override is remembered against the photo and surfaces in the report's photo appendix grouping.
Unclassified
A photo that lands on unclassified is treated as "category not set" in the report. The photo still attaches to its observation and prints in the photo appendix; it is just not grouped under a specific evidence category.
You can set the category manually at any time via the chip dropdown. Doing so does not re-run the classifier; the chip reflects your manual pick from then on.
When the classifier is consistently wrong
If a specific class of photos (e.g. detection devices) keeps landing on the wrong category, send us three or four representative photos plus the categories you would expect. The classifier's prompt + behaviour can be tuned for the patterns we see at pilot scale.
Where to go next
- Photo capture for the capture flow that produces the chip in the first place.
- Sync is stuck for the upstream upload-drain issue.
- Edit and delete observations for swapping a photo if the issue is the picture itself.