It is designed for flexibility and configurability through environment variables, making it easily customizable for different workflows. The system can fetch documents from multiple IMAP mailboxes, process them (OCR, metadata extraction, PDF conversion), and store them in the desired destinations.

The project includes a UI for uploading and managing files, and an API documentation page is available at /docs (powered by FastAPI).

Screenshots

Upload interface for adding new documents

Files view with processed documents and metadata

Workflow Process

DocuNova follows a streamlined document processing workflow:

Document Ingestion

Documents enter DocuNova through three possible channels:

Web Upload: Users manually upload files via the web interface
Email Attachments: Automatic polling of configured IMAP mailboxes (supports multiple accounts)
API: Direct programmatic uploads via the REST API

Processing Pipeline

Every document goes through the following steps:

PDF Conversion: Non-PDF files are converted to PDF format using Gotenberg
OCR Processing: Azure Document Intelligence extracts text from images/scans
Metadata Extraction: OpenAI analyzes document content to identify:
- Document type (invoice, receipt, contract, etc.)
- Key entities (dates, names, amounts, account numbers)
- Important data points specific to the document type
Enrichment: Metadata is attached to the document in a structured format

Distribution

Processed documents with their metadata can be automatically sent to:

Dropbox: For cloud storage and sharing
Nextcloud: For self-hosted file storage
Paperless-NGX: For advanced document management with search capabilities

Users can choose to send documents to any combination of these destinations through configuration settings or manual selection.

Features

Document Upload & Storage:
- Manual uploads (via API or UI) to Dropbox, Nextcloud, or Paperless.
OCR Processing (Azure):
- Extract text from scanned PDFs using Azure Document Intelligence.
Metadata Extraction (OpenAI):
- Use GPT to classify, label, or otherwise enrich the text with structured metadata.
PDF Conversion (Gotenberg):
- Convert non-PDF attachments (e.g., Word docs, images) into PDFs.
Document Management (Paperless NGX):
- Store processed documents and metadata in a Paperless NGX instance.
IMAP Integration:
- Fetch documents from multiple mailboxes (including Gmail) and automatically enqueue them for processing.
Authentication:
- Secure access to the system using Authentik for OAuth2-based login.

Frameworks Used

FastAPI: A modern, fast (high-performance) web framework for building APIs with Python.
Celery: A distributed task queue for asynchronous processing.
SQLAlchemy: A powerful ORM for database interactions.
Jinja2: A templating engine for rendering HTML pages.
Tailwind CSS: A utility-first CSS framework for styling the UI.

Environment Variables

The .env file drives all configuration. This table breaks down key variables—some are optional, depending on which services you actually use.

Core Settings

Variable	Description	Example
`DATABASE_URL`	Path/URL to the SQLite database (or other SQL backend).	`sqlite:///./app/database.db`
`REDIS_URL`	URL for Redis, used by Celery for broker & result store.	`redis://redis:6379/0`
`WORKDIR`	Working directory for the application.	`/workdir`
`GOTENBERG_URL`	Gotenberg PDF processing URL.	`http://gotenberg:3000`
`EXTERNAL_HOSTNAME`	The external hostname for the application.	`docunova.example.com`

IMAP Configuration (Multiple Mailboxes)

Variable	Description	Example
`IMAP1_HOST`	Hostname for first IMAP server.	`mail.example.com`
`IMAP1_PORT`	Port number (usually `993`).	`993`
`IMAP1_USERNAME`	IMAP login (first mailbox).	`user@example.com`
`IMAP1_PASSWORD`	IMAP password (first mailbox).	`*******`
`IMAP1_SSL`	Use SSL (`true`/`false`).	`true`
`IMAP1_POLL_INTERVAL_MINUTES`	Frequency in minutes to poll for new mail.	`5`
`IMAP1_DELETE_AFTER_PROCESS`	Delete emails after processing (`true`/`false`).	`false`
`IMAP2_HOST`	Hostname for second IMAP server (optional).	`imap.gmail.com`
`IMAP2_PORT`	Port number for second mailbox.	`993`
`IMAP2_USERNAME`	IMAP login for second mailbox.	`you@gmail.com`
`IMAP2_PASSWORD`	IMAP password for second mailbox.	`*******`
`IMAP2_SSL`	Use SSL for second mailbox (`true`/`false`).	`true`
`IMAP2_POLL_INTERVAL_MINUTES`	Frequency in minutes to poll second mailbox.	`10`
`IMAP2_DELETE_AFTER_PROCESS`	Delete emails after processing (`true`/`false`) for mailbox.	`false`

OpenAI & Azure Document Intelligence

Variable	Description	How to Obtain
`OPENAI_API_KEY`	API key for OpenAI services (used for metadata extraction/refinement).	OpenAI platform
`OPENAI_BASE_URL`	Base URL for OpenAI API (optional, defaults to OpenAI's endpoint).	`https://api.openai.com/v1`
`OPENAI_MODEL`	OpenAI model to use for tasks (e.g., GPT-4).	`gpt-4`
`AZURE_AI_KEY`	Azure Document Intelligence key (for OCR).	Azure Portal
`AZURE_REGION`	Azure region of your Document Intelligence instance.	e.g. `eastus`, `westeurope`
`AZURE_ENDPOINT`	Endpoint URL for Document Intelligence.	e.g. `https://<yourendpoint>.cognitiveservices.azure.com/`

Authentik

Variable	Description
`AUTH_ENABLED`	Enable or disable authentication (`true`/`false`).
`AUTHENTIK_CLIENT_ID`	Client ID for Authentik OAuth2.
`AUTHENTIK_CLIENT_SECRET`	Client secret for Authentik OAuth2.
`AUTHENTIK_CONFIG_URL`	Configuration URL for Authentik OpenID Connect.

Paperless NGX

Variable	Description
`PAPERLESS_NGX_API_TOKEN`	API token for Paperless NGX.
`PAPERLESS_HOST`	Root URL for Paperless NGX (e.g. `https://paperless.example.com`).

Dropbox

Variable	Description	How to Obtain
`DROPBOX_APP_KEY`	Dropbox API app key.	Dropbox Developer Console
`DROPBOX_APP_SECRET`	Dropbox API app secret.	Dropbox Developer Console
`DROPBOX_REFRESH_TOKEN`	OAuth2 refresh token for Dropbox.	Follow Dropbox OAuth flow to retrieve
`DROPBOX_FOLDER`	Default folder path for Dropbox uploads.	e.g. `"/Documents/Uploads"`

Nextcloud

Variable	Description
`NEXTCLOUD_UPLOAD_URL`	Nextcloud WebDAV URL (e.g. `https://nc.example.com/remote.php/dav/files/<USERNAME>`).
`NEXTCLOUD_USERNAME`	Nextcloud login username.
`NEXTCLOUD_PASSWORD`	Nextcloud login password.
`NEXTCLOUD_FOLDER`	Destination folder in Nextcloud (e.g. `"/Documents/Uploads"`).

Running as a Docker Container

This project uses Celery (with Redis) for asynchronous task management and Gotenberg for PDF conversion. The docker-compose.yml file defines these services:

API Service: Runs the FastAPI application via uvicorn.
Worker Service: Runs the Celery worker for processing tasks (PDF conversions, OCR, etc.).
Redis: Provides the message broker & result backend for Celery.
Gotenberg: Offers PDF conversion capabilities.

Running the Application with Docker Compose

Install Docker and Docker Compose on your system.

Clone the repository and navigate into it:

git clone <repository_url>
cd <repository_name>

Create and configure the .env file:
- Fill in the variables from the tables above.
- (At minimum, you need DATABASE_URL, REDIS_URL, WORKDIR, plus whichever service creds you plan to use.)
Launch the services:
```
docker-compose up -d
```
The API will be available at http://localhost:8000, and the API documentation is available at http://localhost:8000/docs.

Services in `docker-compose.yml`

Below is the default structure:

services:
  api:
    image: christianlouis/document-processor:latest
    container_name: document_api
    working_dir: /workdir
    command: ["sh", "-c", "cd /app && uvicorn app.main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000 --proxy-headers"]
    environment:
      - PYTHONPATH=/app
    env_file:
      - .env
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
    depends_on:
      - redis
      - worker
    volumes:
            - /var/docparse/workdir:/workdir

  worker:
    image: christianlouis/document-processor:latest
    container_name: document_worker
    working_dir: /workdir
    command: ["celery", "-A", "app.celery_worker", "worker", "-B", "--loglevel=info", "-Q", "document_processor,default,celery"]
    env_file:
      - .env
    environment:
      - PYTHONPATH=/app
    depends_on:
      - redis
      - gotenberg
    volumes:
            - /var/docparse/workdir:/workdir

  gotenberg:
    image: gotenberg/gotenberg:latest
    container_name: gotenberg

  redis:
    image: redis:alpine
    container_name: document_redis
    restart: always

To-Do List

Make upload targets configurable (e.g., easily choose only Dropbox, Nextcloud, or Paperless).

Questions or Issues?

Feel free to open an issue or pull request.
For local testing or development, use docker-compose up and watch the logs via docker-compose logs -f.
Ensure your .env aligns with the environment variables listed above. If you see unexpected errors, check for typos or missing values.

Languages

Python 79.7%

HTML 17.2%

TypeScript 1.4%

JavaScript 1.3%

CSS 0.2%

README.md

DocuNova

Overview