BlogArchitecture7 min read
Readers

The provider-neutral reader layer

OCR, VLMs, layout parsers, and document-reading APIs can all be readers. FastScript decides what becomes insurance truth.

Readers are replaceable

A reader turns files into candidates: text, tables, boxes, layout, clauses, or preliminary fields. Different readers will be better for different document types.

PolDex should be able to route to OCR, vision models, Bedrock, Gemini, Claude, Textract, document parsers, or specialized reader APIs without changing the customer-facing result.

The product is the control layer

If a reader improves, PolDex should benefit. If a reader becomes expensive, inaccurate, unavailable, or unsuitable for a document family, PolDex should route around it.

That is only possible because FastScript owns schema contracts, evidence standards, normalization, conflict handling, abstention, benchmarks, and exports. The reader is a component. FastScript is the product behavior.

Why this matters for margin

Provider-neutral routing also protects gross margin. Simple documents can use cheaper reader paths. Complex scans can use enhanced paths. Premium or benchmark recovery can use heavier readers when the value justifies the cost.

Customers do not buy raw OCR. They buy reliable insurance output. The reader strategy should support that output without letting provider cost define the business.