gh-christianlouis-docuelevate/docs/UserGuide.md

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

1. Navigate to your DocuElevate instance (typically at http://your-server-address:8000)
2. 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

User Sessions

• Once authenticated, your session will remain active until you log out or it expires
• 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
• About: Information about DocuElevate

Uploading Documents

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

Web Upload (Upload Page)

1. Navigate to the Upload page
2. Drag and drop files onto the upload area, or click the upload area to browse your files
3. Select files to upload (supported formats include PDF, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, images, and more)
4. The system will automatically validate and upload your files
5. You'll see real-time progress for each file being uploaded
6. 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
• 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:

1. Navigate to the Files page where you view your processed documents
2. Drag files from your computer and drop them anywhere on the page
3. A visual overlay will appear to confirm you're in drag mode
4. Release the files to begin uploading
5. An upload progress modal will appear in the bottom-right corner
6. 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

If configured, DocuElevate can automatically fetch documents from email attachments:

1. Send an email with attachments to the configured email account
2. DocuElevate will poll the mailbox at the configured interval
3. Attachments will be automatically downloaded and processed
4. No further action is required

Managing Documents

The Files page provides access to all processed documents:

1. Navigate to the Files page
2. Use the search box to find specific documents
3. Click on any file to view its details
4. Sort the list by any column by clicking on the column header

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 ID and original filename
• File hash (SHA-256)
• File size and MIME type
• Creation timestamp
• Local path and disk status

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 OpenAI) had temporary issues
• Network connectivity was lost during processing
• Configuration has been updated and you want to reprocess with new settings

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 file as it was uploaded
• Processed File: The file after metadata has been embedded (if processing completed)

Both previews support:

• In-browser PDF viewing
• Opening in a new tab for full-screen viewing
• Side-by-side comparison of original and processed versions

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

API Access

For programmatic access, DocuElevate provides a comprehensive REST API:

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

Troubleshooting

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