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Connectors

Your documents already live somewhere: Google Drive, SharePoint, Dropbox. Uploading them to Docana by hand works, but it doesn't scale, and it goes stale the moment someone edits the original. Connectors fix both. Connect a source once, import what you need, and keep it in sync.

Docana supports these sources:

  • Google Drive
  • Dropbox
  • OneDrive
  • SharePoint
  • Box

Step 1: Connect a source​

  1. Open your collection from Knowledge Libraries
  2. Click Manage Connectors
  3. Pick a provider and follow its connection steps
  4. Authorize Docana in the provider's sign-in window

Accounts connect once and link anywhere. Every account you authorize appears in Developer → Files, the central table for your provider connections: which account, its health, and every folder linked through it. Connect there first if you prefer, then link folders from any collection by picking the account, with no second sign-in. When a connection expires, that page is also where you reconnect it, healing every linked folder at once. Connections are private to you: teammates never see your accounts, only the documents synced into shared collections.

The collection lists available connectors. Connect a provider, then choose the files or folders to import.
The collection lists available connectors. Connect a provider, then choose the files or folders to import.
Developer → Files is the central place to connect provider accounts. This example has no accounts connected yet.
Developer → Files is the central place to connect provider accounts. This example has no accounts connected yet.

Once connected, click Link a folder and browse to the folder you want. Docana mirrors it into your collection: every file inside, subfolders included, with the same folder structure you see at the provider.

From then on, sync keeps the mirror honest on its own:

  • New files added to the folder appear in the collection automatically
  • Edited files are re-imported, so agents always answer from the latest version
  • Renamed and moved files follow along without re-processing
  • Deleted files are removed from the collection and from search

Docana processes synced documents the same way as uploads: indexing text, reading tables, extracting what matters. Files you upload by hand keep living at the collection root, next to the linked folder, and sync never touches them.

Sync runs hourly by default. Use the schedule dialog to switch to every 15 minutes or daily, or click Sync now for an immediate pass.

Importing single files instead​

Prefer to hand-pick files? The classic flow still works: browse, select files with the checkboxes, and click Import. Hand-picked imports are refreshed by the schedule, but new files in their folders are not discovered. Linking a folder is the way to get that.

Managing connectors​

From the collection's Connectors section, you can:

  • Sync now: run a sync pass immediately
  • Check sync health: the status chip tells you when the connection needs attention. "Reconnect needed" means the provider sign-in expired, and "Folder missing" means the linked folder was deleted or access to it was removed.
  • Disconnect: remove the connection to your cloud account. Synced documents stay in the collection, frozen as they are.

Everything after the sign-in also works without the UI. The API lists the catalog (GET /api/v1/connectors/), browses provider folders, links a folder into a collection, triggers syncs, and disconnects. The CLI wraps the same operations: docana connections list, docana collections link, docana collections sync. The sign-in itself always happens in a browser, and docana connections connect GoogleDrive opens it for you and waits.

Best practices​

  1. One linked folder per collection topic: link your "Contracts" folder to your "Contracts" collection. Mixed folders make messy knowledge.
  2. Link the most specific folder that covers what you need: agents get more accurate when collections contain only what's relevant.
  3. Let the hourly schedule do the work: reach for "Sync now" when someone is waiting on a fresh document, not as a routine.

The connector catalog and your own OAuth app​

Docana ships pre-configured apps for Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive: click Connect, authorize, done. SharePoint and Box connect through your own OAuth app: you register an application in the provider's developer settings, paste its client ID and secret into the connect dialog, and authorize. Docana stores the credentials encrypted and uses them for that connection's whole life, token refreshes included.

The connect dialog walks you through it: it links the provider's app-registration docs and shows the exact redirect URI to allow. For the pre-configured providers the same form lives behind Use your own OAuth app, useful when you want the consent screen to show your organization's name instead of Docana's, or your own API quotas.

Folder sync into collections is live for all five providers. More join the catalog as their drivers land. Connections stay private to the person who authorized them, and client secrets are never shown again after saving.

Next steps​