User Guide

This guide helps you get started with using DocuElevate for document management and processing.

Getting Started

DocuElevate offers an intuitive web interface for uploading, managing, and processing your documents.

Accessing the System

Navigate to your DocuElevate instance (typically at http://your-server-address:8000)
If authentication is enabled, you'll be prompted to log in using your credentials

Authentication

DocuElevate supports two main authentication methods:

Basic Authentication

If basic authentication is configured: 1. You'll see a simple login form 2. Enter your username and password as configured in the system 3. Click "Log In" to access DocuElevate

OpenID Connect (OIDC)

If OpenID Connect authentication is configured: 1. You'll see a login button 2. Clicking this will redirect you to your identity provider (e.g., Authentik, Keycloak, Auth0) 3. Log in with your existing credentials on that platform 4. You'll be redirected back to DocuElevate after successful authentication

Local User Accounts

If your administrator has created a local (email/password) account for you:

You'll see a "Sign in with username" form on the login page
Enter your username or email address — both are accepted
Enter your password and click Sign in

Forgot your password?

If you can't remember your password: 1. Click Forgot password? below the sign-in form 2. Enter your email address and click Send reset link 3. Check your inbox for a password reset email (valid for 24 hours) 4. Click the link in the email and enter your new password

Forgot your username?

If you can't remember your username: 1. Click Forgot username? below the sign-in form 2. Enter your email address and click Send username reminder 3. You'll receive an email with your username

Tip: You can always sign in with your email address directly — you don't need to look up your username.

Click the "Logout" button in the top navigation bar to end your session
For security, sessions automatically expire after a period of inactivity

Main Interface

DocuElevate features a simple navigation system with the following main sections: - Home: Dashboard and overview - Upload: For adding new documents to the system - Files: For viewing and managing processed documents - Search: Dedicated full-text search across all document content - About: Information about DocuElevate

Other Ways to Use DocuElevate

Beyond the web interface, DocuElevate is available through several additional clients:

Mobile App (iOS & Android) — Capture documents with your phone camera or upload from your photo library. See the Mobile App Guide for setup and usage.
Browser Extension — Clip web pages or send files to DocuElevate directly from Chrome, Firefox, or Edge. See the Browser Extension Guide for installation.
CLI Tool — Upload, download, search, and manage documents from the command line or scripts. See the CLI Guide for details.
REST & GraphQL API — Full programmatic access for automation and integrations. See the API Documentation.

Uploading Documents

DocuElevate provides multiple convenient ways to upload documents to the system.

Web Upload (Upload Page)

Navigate to the Upload page
Drag and drop files onto the upload area, or click the upload area to browse your files
Select files to upload (supported formats include PDF, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, images, and more)
The system will automatically validate and upload your files
You'll see real-time progress for each file being uploaded
Your documents will be processed automatically according to the system configuration

Supported File Types

Documents: PDF, Word (.doc, .docx), Excel (.xls, .xlsx), PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx)
Images: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, WebP, SVG, HEIC, HEIF
Text: Plain text (.txt), CSV, RTF, HTML, XML, Markdown
Maximum file size: 500MB per file

Drag-and-Drop on Files Page

For even more convenience, you can upload files directly from the Files page:

Navigate to the Files page where you view your processed documents
Drag files from your computer and drop them anywhere on the page
A visual overlay will appear to confirm you're in drag mode
Release the files to begin uploading
An upload progress modal will appear in the bottom-right corner
The page will automatically refresh to show your newly uploaded files once complete

This feature allows you to quickly add new files without navigating away from your document management view.

Email Attachments (IMAP Ingestion)

DocuElevate acts as an email client that automatically retrieves document attachments from one or more IMAP mailboxes. You do not need to set up DocuElevate as an email server — it simply polls an existing mailbox that you designate for document delivery.

How it works: 1. A document is sent as an email attachment to the configured mailbox (e.g. from a scanner, a colleague, or any email client) 2. DocuElevate polls the mailbox at the configured interval (typically every 1–5 minutes) 3. Email attachments in supported formats are automatically downloaded and enqueued for processing 4. Processed emails are marked with a label or star (Gmail) or tracked locally, so they are not re-processed

HP Scanners and MFPs (Scan to Email): Configure your scanner's "Scan to Email" feature to send scanned documents to a dedicated email account. Point DocuElevate at that mailbox using the IMAP settings. DocuElevate will retrieve the scanned PDFs automatically — no manual forwarding required.

Per-User IMAP Accounts (Email Ingestion Dashboard)

In addition to the system-wide IMAP mailboxes configured by the administrator via environment variables, each user can configure their own personal IMAP accounts directly from the Email Ingestion page (/imap-accounts).

To add a personal IMAP account:

Navigate to Email Ingestion in the top navigation bar.
Click Add Account.
Fill in:
Label — a friendly name for this account (e.g. "Work Gmail", "Scanner inbox")
IMAP Host — your mail server hostname (e.g. imap.gmail.com)
Port — typically 993 for SSL or 143 for plain/STARTTLS
Username — usually your full email address
Password — your email password or app-specific password
Select Use SSL/TLS (recommended).
Click Test Connection to verify the credentials before saving.
Click Add Account to save.

Account options: - Active — when checked, the mailbox is polled on each cycle; uncheck to pause without deleting. - Delete emails after processing — when checked, processed emails are permanently deleted from the mailbox instead of being marked as read/labelled.

Quota limits are determined by your subscription plan:

Plan	IMAP accounts
Free	None (not available)
Starter	1
Professional	3
Power	Unlimited

The quota bar on the Email Ingestion page shows your current usage against your plan limit. If you have reached the limit, delete an existing account or upgrade your plan.

Integrations Dashboard

The Integrations page (/integrations) provides a unified view of all your configured ingestion sources and storage destinations. Instead of managing each integration type separately, you can create, edit, test, and delete any integration from a single dashboard.

Opening the dashboard: Click Integrations in the top navigation bar.

Quota indicators at the top of the page show your current usage: - Mailbox Sources — how many IMAP ingestion accounts you have vs. your plan limit - Storage Destinations — how many storage targets you have vs. your plan limit - An Upgrade Plan link appears when you have reached your plan limit

Adding a new integration:

Click Add Integration.
Choose a Direction — Source (ingestion) or Destination (storage).
Choose an Integration Type (e.g. IMAP, S3, Dropbox, WebDAV).
Fill in the type-specific fields — the form adapts dynamically based on your choice:
IMAP — host, port, username, password, SSL toggle, delete after processing, Gmail labels & star toggle
S3 — bucket, region, access key, secret key
WebDAV / Nextcloud — URL, folder, username, password
FTP / SFTP — host, port, remote path, username, password
Dropbox / Google Drive / OneDrive / SharePoint — folder path, with a link to the OAuth setup page
Email Forward — recipient email address
Watch Folder — source type (Local, S3, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Nextcloud, WebDAV), per-type config fields, delete after processing toggle
Paperless NGX — URL and API token
Webhook — no configuration needed; the form shows a quick-start guide with sample curl and Python snippets for uploading documents via the API
Click Test Connection to verify the settings before saving.
Click Save to persist the integration.

Managing existing integrations: - Click Test on any card to re-verify the connection. - Click Edit to update the configuration or credentials. - Click Delete to permanently remove the integration.

Watch Folders (Automatic Folder Ingestion)

Watch folders allow DocuElevate to automatically monitor directories for new files and ingest them without any manual action.

Local Watch Folders (including SMB/CIFS and NFS)

Mount a network share or local directory into the DocuElevate worker container and configure the path in WATCH_FOLDERS. DocuElevate scans the folder every minute (configurable via WATCH_FOLDER_POLL_INTERVAL) and enqueues any new documents it finds.

This is the recommended approach for: - HP Scanners / MFPs using "Scan to Network Folder" — point the scanner at a shared folder that DocuElevate also has access to - SMB/CIFS shares — mount the Windows/Samba share and add the path to WATCH_FOLDERS - NFS mounts — works identically, just configure the mount path - Any local directory on the server running DocuElevate

FTP / SFTP Watch Folders

DocuElevate can poll an FTP or SFTP directory for new files. Enable this with FTP_INGEST_ENABLED or SFTP_INGEST_ENABLED and set the corresponding ingest folder. DocuElevate downloads new files, enqueues them for processing, and optionally deletes them from the remote server.

See Configuration Guide — Watch Folder Ingestion for full setup instructions.

Webhook Ingestion (API Upload)

Webhook integrations allow external systems to push documents directly into DocuElevate via the REST API. Instead of DocuElevate polling for new files, your application sends files to DocuElevate using an HTTP request with an API token for authentication.

This is ideal for: - CI/CD pipelines — upload build artifacts or generated reports - Scanner integrations — push scanned documents from network scanners - Automation scripts — send documents from any system with HTTP support

To set up webhook ingestion:

Go to Integrations and add a new Source → Webhook integration. The integration form shows copy-ready code snippets.
Go to API Tokens (in your user menu) and create a personal API token.
Use the token to upload documents:

curl -X POST "https://your-instance/api/files/ui-upload" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer de_your_token_here" \
  -F "file=@/path/to/document.pdf"

See the API Documentation for detailed API token management.

API Tokens

API tokens provide secure, programmatic access to the DocuElevate API. Each user can create multiple tokens, each with a descriptive name.

Features: - Multiple tokens — create separate tokens for different scripts or integrations - Usage tracking — see when each token was last used and from which IP address - Revocation — instantly disable a compromised token without affecting others

Managing tokens:

Click your avatar in the top navigation and select API Tokens, or go to /api-tokens.
Enter a descriptive name and click Create Token.
Copy the token immediately — it is shown only once.
To revoke a token, click Revoke next to it in the token list.

Security tip: Create a dedicated token for each integration and revoke it immediately if compromised. Never share tokens or commit them to source control.

DocuElevate lets you share individual documents with anyone via a secure, time-limited link. Recipients do not need a DocuElevate account.

Creating a Shared Link

Open the document detail page (/files/{id}) and click the Share button in the Actions panel — this opens the Shared Links page with the file ID pre-filled. Alternatively, go to Avatar → Shared Links in the navigation.
Enter the File ID you want to share (shown in the document detail URL).
Choose an optional label (e.g. "For Alice") to identify the link later.
Set an expiry — choose from 1 hour up to 30 days, or leave blank for a link that never expires.
Optionally set a max downloads limit. Once that number is reached the link is automatically invalidated.
Optionally set a password. Recipients will be prompted to enter it before they can download the file.
Click Create Link and copy the generated URL to share with the recipient.

What Recipients See

When a recipient visits the /share/{token} URL they see a simple landing page:

The document filename and optional label.
Expiry date and remaining download count (if set).
If the link is password-protected they must enter the password first.
A Download button that serves the file directly.

If the link has expired, been revoked, or reached its download limit, the recipient sees a clear "Link Unavailable" message.

Managing Your Shared Links

The Shared Links management page (/shared-links) shows all links you have created with their current status:

Status	Meaning
Active	Link is valid and can be used by recipients
Expired	Link's expiry date has passed
Limit reached	View/download count has been exhausted
Revoked	You manually deactivated the link

Click Revoke next to any active link to immediately invalidate it.

Security tip: Revoke shared links as soon as they are no longer needed. Use short expiry times and download limits for sensitive documents.

Managing Documents

The Files page provides access to all processed documents:

Navigate to the Files page
Use the search box to find specific documents by filename, or the full-text search bar to search document content, metadata, and tags
Click on any file to view its details
Sort the list by any column by clicking on the column header

Tip: When documents are being processed, a blue banner appears at the top of the Files page showing how many items are queued or currently processing. Files will appear in the list once their processing completes. Admins can click "View Queue" in the banner to open the Queue Monitor dashboard.

Queue Monitor (Admin)

The Queue Monitor dashboard provides real-time visibility into the document processing pipeline. It is available to admin users under Admin → Queue Monitor in the navigation bar.

The dashboard shows: - Queued Tasks — number of tasks waiting in Redis-backed Celery queues - Active Tasks — tasks currently being executed by Celery workers - Files Processing — files with at least one in-progress processing step - Workers Online — number of connected Celery worker processes - Redis Queues — per-queue breakdown of pending task counts - Processing Pipeline — database-level summary of file states (completed, processing, pending, failed) - Recently Processing Files — the most recent files being actively processed, with links to their detail pages

The dashboard auto-refreshes every 10 seconds.

Searching Documents

DocuElevate provides two ways to search your documents:

Full-Text Search on the Files Page

The Files page includes a full-text search bar (labelled "Full-Text Search") that searches across OCR-extracted text, AI metadata, tags, sender, recipient, and document type. Type at least 2 characters and results appear automatically below the search bar.

Dedicated Search Page

For a more focused content-finding experience, use the Search page accessible from the main navigation:

Navigate to the Search page
Type your query into the search box — results appear automatically as you type (or press Enter)
Use the content-finding filters to narrow results:
Document Type — e.g. Invoice, Contract
Tags — filter by a specific tag
Sender — filter by sender / absender
Language — filter by ISO language code (e.g. de, en)
Text Quality — filter by OCR text quality (High, Medium, Low, No text)
Date From / Date To — restrict results to a date range
Results are displayed in a Google-style format showing:
Document title (linked to the file detail page)
Filename
Document type, sender, and tag badges
Content preview with highlighted matching terms
Use pagination to browse through large result sets

Saved Searches

Both the Files and Search pages support saved searches — named filter presets you can create and reuse:

Apply your desired filters (and optionally a search query on the Search page)
Click Save Current in the saved searches bar
Enter a name for the saved search
Your saved search appears as a clickable tag — click it to instantly re-apply those filters
Click the × button next to a saved search to delete it

On the Search page, saved searches store the full-text query (q) along with all active content-finding filters. On the Files page, saved searches store the file management filters (filename search, MIME type, status, etc.).

The search page is also accessible via URL with a pre-filled query: /search?q=invoice

File Detail View

When you click on a file, you'll see a comprehensive detail view with the following sections:

File Information

This section displays metadata about the file:

File Information

This section displays metadata about the file: - File ID and original filename - File hash (SHA-256) - File size and MIME type - Creation timestamp - Original file path and status (shows if the immutable original is available) - Processed file path and status (shows if the final processed file is available)

Extracted Metadata (GPT)

If metadata has been extracted by GPT, this section displays structured information including: - Document Type: Classification (Invoice, Receipt, Contract, etc.) - Suggested Filename: AI-recommended filename based on content - Document Date: Extracted date from document - Sender (Absender): Sender or issuing party information - Recipient (Empfänger): Recipient information - Amount (Betrag): Financial amounts (for invoices, receipts) - Account Number: Bank account information - Tags: Document categories and labels

Show JSON: Click this button to toggle the full metadata in JSON format. This is useful for: - Viewing all extracted fields at once - Debugging metadata extraction issues - Copying metadata for external use - Understanding the complete data structure

Document Previews

View your documents with type-specific viewers: - Original Document: The immutable original file as first ingested, before any processing - Processed Document: The final file with embedded metadata

PDF Preview (pdf.js): - In-browser PDF rendering via pdf.js — no native browser PDF plugin required - Page navigation controls (previous / next) with page counter - High-quality canvas-based rendering that works consistently across browsers - Side-by-side comparison of original vs processed versions on the detail page

Image Preview (JPEG, PNG, TIFF, WebP): - In-browser image display with zoom and pan controls - Zoom in / out buttons and mouse-wheel zoom - Click-and-drag panning for large or zoomed images - Reset button to return to the original size - Zoom percentage indicator

Text File Preview: - Syntax-highlighted display with line numbers - Monospace font for readable code and data - Copy-to-clipboard button for the full text content - Supports plain text, CSV, source code, and other text MIME types

View Extracted Text buttons below each preview to see the full text content

Text Extraction Modals: Click "View Extracted Text" to open a fullscreen modal showing: - Complete extracted text from OCR or PDF text layer - Dark-themed, scrollable display for easy reading - Copy-friendly pre-formatted text - Close by clicking the close button or clicking outside the modal

Note: The original file is stored in an immutable archive (workdir/original/) and is never modified. The processed file is stored in workdir/processed/ with the suggested filename and embedded metadata.

Processing History

View the complete processing history with a timeline showing: - Each processing step that was executed - Status of each step (success, failure, in progress, pending) - Error messages for failed steps - Timestamps for each operation

Retry Processing: If a file's processing has failed, you can use the "Retry Processing" button to reprocess the entire file. This is useful when: - External API services (like the configured AI provider) had temporary issues - Network connectivity was lost during processing - Configuration has been updated and you want to reprocess with new settings

Force Cloud OCR: For files with low-quality embedded text, you can use the "Reprocess with Cloud OCR" option to force high-quality Azure Document Intelligence OCR processing, even if the PDF already contains embedded text. This is useful when: - The embedded text quality is poor or contains errors - OCR accuracy needs to be improved - The embedded text is corrupted or garbled - You need the highest quality text extraction possible

Process Flow Visualization

The process flow visualization shows a visual representation of the document processing pipeline: - Green indicators: Successful stages - Red indicators: Failed stages with error messages - Gray indicators: Stages that were not executed (e.g., because a previous stage failed)

This helps you understand: - Which processing path your document took (local text extraction vs. OCR) - Where exactly the processing failed - Which stages were skipped and why

File Previews

If your file is still available on disk, you can preview it directly in the browser: - Original File: The immutable original file as it was first ingested - Processed File: The file after metadata has been embedded (if processing completed)

Both previews support: - In-browser PDF viewing with pdf.js (canvas-based, no browser plugin needed) - Image viewing with zoom/pan for JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and WebP - Text file viewing with line numbers for plain text, CSV, and source code - Side-by-side comparison of original and processed versions - Full text extraction viewing via modal overlays

Quick Preview from File List: On the main Files page, each file row includes an eye icon button that opens a slide-out side panel with a quick preview. This lets you: - Preview PDFs, images, and text files without leaving the file list - Navigate PDF pages within the panel - Zoom and pan images - Open the full document view or download the file from the panel footer

View Extracted Text: Each preview includes a button to view the complete extracted text in a fullscreen modal. When you click this button: - The system extracts text from the PDF file on-demand using pypdf - A loading indicator shows while extraction is in progress - The extracted text is displayed in a scrollable, copy-friendly format - The text is cached so subsequent views load instantly

This is useful for: - Verifying OCR accuracy - Searching within document content - Copying text for external use - Reading documents without downloading them

Note: The original file is stored in an immutable archive (workdir/original/) and is never modified. This ensures you always have access to the file exactly as it was uploaded, which is valuable for: - Auditing and compliance - Debugging processing issues - Reprocessing with improved algorithms

Document Processing Features

Depending on the system configuration, DocuElevate can perform:

OCR - Extract text from images and scanned PDFs
Metadata Extraction - Automatically identify document types, dates, and other key information
PDF Conversion - Convert various file formats to PDF
Document Distribution - Store documents in Dropbox, Nextcloud, or Paperless NGX

Paperless-ngx Integration

If Paperless-ngx is configured, DocuElevate can automatically upload processed documents and set custom fields with extracted metadata:

Automatic Upload: After processing, documents are automatically uploaded to Paperless-ngx
Custom Fields Support: DocuElevate can automatically populate custom fields in Paperless with extracted metadata
Flexible Field Mapping: Map any extracted metadata field to any custom field in Paperless

Setting Up Custom Fields

Basic Setup (Single Field):

# In your .env file
PAPERLESS_CUSTOM_FIELD_ABSENDER=Absender

Advanced Setup (Multiple Fields):

# Map multiple metadata fields to Paperless custom fields
PAPERLESS_CUSTOM_FIELDS_MAPPING='{"absender": "Sender", "empfaenger": "Recipient", "language": "Language", "correspondent": "Correspondent"}'

Available Metadata Fields: - absender - Sender/author - empfaenger - Recipient - correspondent - Issuing company (short name) - language - Document language (e.g., "de", "en") - document_type - Classification (Invoice, Contract, etc.) - reference_number - Invoice/order/reference number - kommunikationsart - Communication type - kommunikationskategorie - Communication category - And more...

Requirements: - Create the custom fields in Paperless-ngx first (Settings → Custom Fields) - The field names in your configuration must exactly match the names in Paperless - Ensure PAPERLESS_HOST and PAPERLESS_NGX_API_TOKEN are configured

How It Works: 1. DocuElevate extracts metadata from your documents using AI 2. The document is uploaded to Paperless-ngx 3. After successful upload, custom fields are automatically populated 4. You can view the populated fields in your Paperless-ngx document details

Processing Pipelines

Processing pipelines let you define exactly what happens to your documents when they are uploaded. Each pipeline is an ordered sequence of steps — for example: convert to PDF → OCR → extract metadata → send to storage.

Key concepts

Term	Meaning
Pipeline	A named, ordered list of processing steps
Step	A single processing action (e.g., OCR, metadata extraction)
System pipeline	Created by an admin; visible to all users as a shared default
User pipeline	Created by a regular user; private to that user
Default pipeline	Marked `is_default=true`; used automatically for new uploads

Managing your pipelines

Navigate to Pipelines in the top navigation bar.
Click New Pipeline to create a pipeline, give it a name and optional description.
Expand the pipeline card and click Add Step to build the workflow.
Use the ↑ / ↓ arrows to reorder steps, or click the edit icon to change step settings.
Mark a pipeline as Default so new documents are automatically processed by it.

Available step types

Step Type	Description
`convert_to_pdf`	Convert non-PDF files to PDF using Gotenberg
`check_duplicates`	Detect duplicate files by content hash
`ocr`	Extract text with OCR (supports multi-language configuration, see below)
`extract_metadata`	Extract structured metadata (type, sender, tags) with AI
`embed_metadata`	Write extracted metadata into the PDF document properties
`compute_embedding`	Compute semantic embeddings for similarity search
`send_to_destinations`	Upload the processed document to all configured storage destinations
`classify`	Classify the document type using rules (filename patterns, content keywords, metadata)

Classify step – rule-based document classification

The classify step assigns a category to each document by evaluating built-in and custom classification rules. Rules are matched against three signals:

Filename patterns — regex matched against the original filename (e.g. (?i)invoice matches filenames containing "invoice").
Content keywords — pipe-separated keywords matched against the OCR text (e.g. invoice number|amount due).
Metadata match — field=value matched against existing AI metadata (e.g. document_type=Invoice).

Pre-built categories include: Invoice, Contract, Receipt, Letter, Report, Bank Statement, Tax Document, Insurance, and Payslip. You can also define your own custom categories.

The classification result is stored in the document's ai_metadata under the classification key with the matched category, confidence score, and list of matched rules. If no document_type was previously set by AI metadata extraction, the classify step will also populate it.

Tip: Manage custom classification rules via Settings → Classification Rules or the /api/classification-rules/ API. See the API Documentation for details.

Option	Type	Default	Description
`use_builtin_rules`	boolean	`true`	Include the pre-built classification rules

OCR step options

The ocr step supports two optional configuration fields:

Option	Type	Default	Description
`force_cloud_ocr`	boolean	`false`	Always run cloud OCR even if the PDF already has embedded text
`ocr_language`	string	`"auto"`	Language(s) to use for OCR text extraction (see below)

ocr_language — per-pipeline language override

This option enables manual language control per pipeline, overriding the global Tesseract/EasyOCR language settings for all documents processed by that pipeline. The following values are supported (28 languages total):

Value	Language	Value	Language
`auto`	Auto (use system default)	`jpn`	Japanese
`ara`	Arabic	`kor`	Korean
`chi_sim`	Chinese (Simplified)	`nor`	Norwegian
`chi_tra`	Chinese (Traditional)	`pol`	Polish
`ces`	Czech	`por`	Portuguese
`dan`	Danish	`ron`	Romanian
`nld`	Dutch	`rus`	Russian
`eng`	English	`spa`	Spanish
`fin`	Finnish	`swe`	Swedish
`fra`	French	`tha`	Thai
`deu`	German	`tur`	Turkish
`ell`	Greek	`ukr`	Ukrainian
`heb`	Hebrew	`vie`	Vietnamese
`hin`	Hindi
`hun`	Hungarian
`ita`	Italian

Notes: - The language override applies to Tesseract and EasyOCR providers. Azure Document Intelligence and Mistral OCR perform automatic language detection regardless of this setting. - For multi-language documents with Tesseract, combine codes with +, e.g. eng+deu. - Setting ocr_language to auto or leaving it unset uses the global TESSERACT_LANGUAGE / EASYOCR_LANGUAGES environment variables.

Assigning a pipeline to a file

You can assign (or change) the pipeline for an individual document via the file detail page or the API:

POST /api/files/{file_id}/assign-pipeline?pipeline_id=3

Pass no pipeline_id to clear the assignment and fall back to the system default.

Admin: system-wide pipelines

Admins can create system pipelines that appear in every user's pipeline list. These can be set as the global default so all users benefit from a consistent processing baseline. Navigate to Pipelines and check the System pipeline box when creating a new one (admin only).

Conditional routing rules

Routing rules automatically assign incoming documents to the right pipeline based on their properties — no manual pipeline selection required.

How it works:

Define one or more routing rules via the API (POST /api/routing-rules).
Each rule specifies a field to inspect, an operator (condition), a value to compare against, and a target pipeline.
When a document is processed, rules are evaluated in position order (lowest first). The first matching rule wins and the document is routed to that pipeline.
If no rule matches, the document is processed by the default pipeline.

Available fields:

Field	Description
`file_type`	MIME type, e.g. `application/pdf`
`filename`	Original filename
`size`	File size in bytes
`document_type`	AI-classified type (Invoice, Contract, …)
`category`	Alias for `document_type`
`metadata.<key>`	Any key from the AI-extracted metadata JSON

Available operators:

Operator	Description
`equals` / `not_equals`	Exact match (case-insensitive)
`contains` / `not_contains`	Substring match (case-insensitive)
`regex`	Full Python regex match (case-insensitive)
`gt` / `lt` / `gte` / `lte`	Numeric comparison (greater/less than)

Example: Route invoices to one pipeline and large files to another:

Rule 1: field=document_type, operator=equals, value=Invoice, target_pipeline=3
Rule 2: field=size,          operator=gt,     value=1048576, target_pipeline=5

With first-match-wins logic, an invoice of any size matches Rule 1 and is routed to pipeline 3. A non-invoice file larger than 1 MB matches Rule 2 and is routed to pipeline 5. Everything else falls back to the default pipeline.

You can test your rules without actually routing a document using the evaluate endpoint (POST /api/routing-rules/evaluate). For the full API reference, see API Documentation.

Comments & Annotations

The file detail page includes a collaboration panel for threaded comments and PDF annotations, allowing team members to discuss documents directly within DocuElevate.

Comments

The Comments panel is on the left side of the collaboration section at the bottom of the file detail page.

Viewing Comments

Open any file's detail page (/files/{id}/detail). Existing comments load automatically, displayed in a threaded tree — replies are nested under their parent.

Adding a Comment

Type your comment in the text area at the bottom of the Comments panel.
Use @username to mention another user — an autocomplete dropdown appears as you type after the @ symbol. Use arrow keys and Enter to select a user.
Click Add comment to post.

Replying to a Comment

Click the Reply button on any top-level comment. A reply text area appears inline; type your response and click Reply to post.

Editing & Deleting

You can edit or delete your own comments using the Edit and trash buttons. Edits re-extract @mentions automatically.

Resolving Threads

Click Resolve on a top-level comment to mark the thread as resolved (shown with a green badge). Click Reopen to re-open it.

Annotations

The Annotations panel is on the right side of the collaboration section.

Adding an Annotation

Type the annotation content in the text area.
Set the Page number the annotation refers to.
Choose a Type: Note, Highlight, Underline, or Strikethrough.
Pick a Color using the color picker.
Click Add annotation to save.

Editing & Deleting

You can edit or delete your own annotations using the pencil and trash buttons. When editing, you can also change the annotation type.

@Mention Autocomplete

When typing @ followed by characters in the comment input, an autocomplete dropdown shows matching users (sourced from the /api/users/mentionable endpoint). Navigate with arrow keys and press Enter or click to insert the mention.

API Access

For programmatic access, DocuElevate provides a comprehensive REST API:

Navigate to /docs on your DocuElevate instance
The interactive Swagger documentation allows you to test API endpoints directly
Obtain an API token if authentication is enabled

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues while using DocuElevate, please refer to the Troubleshooting Guide.

User Guide

Getting Started

Accessing the System

Authentication

Basic Authentication

OpenID Connect (OIDC)

Local User Accounts

Forgot your password?

Forgot your username?

Main Interface

Other Ways to Use DocuElevate

Uploading Documents

Web Upload (Upload Page)

Supported File Types

Drag-and-Drop on Files Page

Email Attachments (IMAP Ingestion)

Per-User IMAP Accounts (Email Ingestion Dashboard)

Integrations Dashboard

Watch Folders (Automatic Folder Ingestion)

Local Watch Folders (including SMB/CIFS and NFS)

FTP / SFTP Watch Folders

Webhook Ingestion (API Upload)

API Tokens

Sharing Documents

Creating a Shared Link

What Recipients See

Managing Your Shared Links

Managing Documents

Queue Monitor (Admin)

Searching Documents

Full-Text Search on the Files Page

Dedicated Search Page

Saved Searches

File Detail View

File Information

File Information

Extracted Metadata (GPT)

Document Previews

Processing History

Process Flow Visualization

File Previews

Document Processing Features

Paperless-ngx Integration

Setting Up Custom Fields

Processing Pipelines

Key concepts

Managing your pipelines

Available step types

Classify step – rule-based document classification

OCR step options

Assigning a pipeline to a file

Admin: system-wide pipelines

Conditional routing rules

Comments & Annotations

Comments

Viewing Comments

Adding a Comment

Replying to a Comment

Editing & Deleting

Resolving Threads

Annotations

Adding an Annotation

Editing & Deleting

@Mention Autocomplete

API Access

Troubleshooting