# Follow one document through Docbank This guide follows a single document from import to backup. Each step says what Docbank stores and what is left for you to decide. The processing steps apply only if you set up processing. 1. [Import the file](#ingest) 2. [Move, rename, or replace it](#identify) 3. [Review what processing will send](#authorize) 4. [Extract the text](#render) 5. [Add search by meaning](#embed) 6. [Find the document again](#retrieve) 7. [Export the versions you reviewed](#export) 8. [Processing outputs stay separate](#replace) 9. [Use any interface](#serve) 10. [Back up, then test a restore](#prove) ## Import the file Docbank copies the file into the vault and leaves the source where it was. The copy appears in a folder tree you can browse. Docbank records a checksum at import, so it can tell later whether the stored bytes have changed. ![The web app showing a folder of imported documents in a synthetic vault](https://docbank.ai/assets/generated/web-vault-browser.png) A vault of synthetic documents after import. [Importing documents](/docs/usage/importing/) ## Move, rename, or replace it Every document has a node ID that stays the same for its whole life. Moving or renaming the document changes its path and nothing else. Replacing its content saves a new version, and the earlier versions you keep can still be opened or downloaded. ![The version history of one document, with a download button for the selected version](https://docbank.ai/assets/generated/web-retained-version-download.png) Each saved version of a document can be downloaded. [Editing and versions](/docs/architecture/editing-and-versions/) ## Review what processing will send Processing is set up as profiles. Choose one, and Docbank shows its plan for the selected version: each provider, where it runs, and the kind of content it will receive. Give consent once you have read the plan. A vault restored from a backup needs new consent before any network processing. ![A processing plan listing the providers and the content each one will receive](https://docbank.ai/assets/generated/web-document-processing-plan.png) The plan for one version, shown before anything is sent. [Processing and consent](/docs/usage/document-processing/) ## Extract the text Processing produces a rendition: the document’s text as Markdown, saved against the version it came from. Start it from the web app, TUI, CLI, HTTP API, or Go API. The original file is not changed. With a supported provider, optical character recognition (OCR) reads text from scans and images. ![The extracted Markdown text of a saved document, shown in the web app](https://docbank.ai/assets/generated/web-document-rendition.png) The extracted text of one saved version. [Document processing](/docs/usage/document-processing/) ## Add search by meaning An embedding is a list of numbers that stands for a piece of content, so similar content can be found by comparing numbers. Configure an embedding service, review what it will receive, and process the versions you want to search. The web app and TUI then offer Semantic and Hybrid search. Finding similar documents compares embeddings already in the vault and calls no provider. ![A list of documents ranked by similarity to the selected file](https://docbank.ai/assets/generated/web-similar-1440.png) Similar documents, ranked from stored embeddings. [Search by meaning](/docs/usage/search/) ## Find the document again Search file names and extracted text, then narrow the results by tag, folder, file type, or date. Save the queries and highlight terms you use often. A lexical (keyword) query can also be frozen: its rows, counts, and facets stay as they were when it ran, whatever changes in the vault afterwards. ![A frozen query in the web app, with its result rows and facet counts](https://docbank.ai/assets/generated/web-snapshot-workspace.png) A frozen query keeps the versions it found. [Searching](/docs/usage/searching/) ## Export the versions you reviewed Select documents, or take a whole frozen query. Docbank lists the originals and processing outputs the export will include, then builds a ZIP and verifies it. If a document changes after you start, the export still holds the version you selected. For search counts over a date range, download the CSV report with its evidence ZIP. ![The export drawer reporting a verified ZIP that is ready to download](https://docbank.ai/assets/generated/web-export-ready.png) A finished export, verified and ready to download. [Verified export bundles](/docs/usage/export-bundles/) ## Processing outputs stay separate Text, previews, embeddings, and indexes are derivatives: outputs computed from a saved document. Docbank stores them apart from the original and records which version each one came from. Processing and retention rules decide when a derivative can be replaced or removed. ![A cycle of consent, processing, search, and removal around an original that does not change](https://docbank.ai/assets/derivative-cycle.svg) [Processing and retention](/docs/architecture/overview/) ## Use any interface The command line, web app, terminal browser, and HTTP API all go through the local daemon. A local agent connects with `docbank mcp` and works with the same versions and revision checks. A Go application can instead own a separate vault in its own process. ![The CLI, web app, TUI, HTTP API, Go API, and agents all reading the same documents and versions](https://docbank.ai/assets/interface-map.svg) [Docbank for agents](/docs/agents/) ## Back up, then test a restore Create an incremental backup and verify it. Then restore it into a separate vault and check the result before you need it. A backup holds document content, metadata, and version history. ![Three steps: take a snapshot, verify it, and restore it into a separate vault](https://docbank.ai/assets/recovery-flow.svg) [Backup and restore](/docs/usage/backup/) ## Next steps Run the [quickstart](/docs/quickstart/) to try these steps on your own files. The [task guides](/docs/) cover commands, automation, storage, and recovery. [Meet the contributors](https://github.com/kenn-io/docbank#contributors).