SmartDMS
// Getting started

The SmartDMS Guide

Everything from your first upload to approval chains and plain-English search — in thirteen short chapters.

// Chapter 05

Folders & auto-filing

Folders are where documents live; routing rules are how they get there without you lifting a finger. Set both up once and every future document files itself.

Folders

  1. Create a folder.

    On the Folders page, click the + button in the sidebar, name the folder, and optionally pick a color. (If you chose an industry during setup, a full folder structure is already waiting — see chapter 12.)
  2. Browse by folder.

    Select any folder to see its documents; All documents at the top shows everything. Rename, recolor, or delete a folder from its row.
  3. Deleting a folder is safe by default.

    You choose what happens to its documents: Move to Uncategorized keeps every document, or Delete all documents removes them permanently (a separate, deliberately restricted permission).

Auto-filing with routing rules

Routing rules connect the AI's classification to your folders: "when a document is classified as an invoice, file it in Invoices." You'll find them on the Workflows page under Advanced.

  • Each rule has a run order, the document type it matches, a destination folder, and an on/off toggle.
  • Rules run top-down by run order, and the first match wins — a document is filed exactly once.
  • No matching rule? The document simply stays put until you add one — nothing is ever misfiled by guesswork.

Workflows: the bigger picture

Routing rules are the simplest automation. Full workflows — built on the same page — define everything that should happen to a document type: how it arrives, what the AI does with it, who has to approve it, and where it goes afterwards (Slack notifications, archival storage, and more). Each workflow targets one document type and runs once per document.

A workflow that isn't finished yet can be saved as a paused draft — it won't touch documents until you activate it. Approval steps and sign-off chains are covered in chapter 7.