Creating a collection

A collection is a folder inside a library. You upload documents into it, connect external sources to it, and hand it to applications so agents can answer questions from your actual data.

How collections fit into your workflow

Agents read collections to answer questions, and templates read them to generate documents from your knowledge.

Prerequisites

You need to have:

• A Docana account with appropriate permissions
• An existing library (see Creating a Library if you need to create one first)

Video tutorial

Creating a collection to organize documents within a library

Step 1: Open your library

1. Go to platform.docana.com and sign in
2. Click Knowledge Libraries in the sidebar
3. Click the library where you want to add a collection

Find Product Documentation in the library list, then open it to add a collection.

Step 2: Create a new collection

Once you're inside your library, click Create Collection.

Open the library and select Create Collection.

Step 3: Enter details

Enter these details:

1. Collection Name: Pick a name that describes what documents go in this collection (e.g., "Contract Templates", "Employee Handbook", "Product Specs", "Training Videos").

2. Icon: Choose an icon so the collection stands out in the list. Click the icon picker to browse options.

3. Description (optional): Explain what this collection is for. This helps your team understand it.

4. Private: Choose whether the collection is private or public:

   • Private (default): Only you and people you invite can see this collection
   • Public: Everyone in your company can see this collection

warning

If your library is private, you can't make collections public. To make a collection public, you first need to make the library public.

Create User Guides with a name, icon, description, and privacy setting. A collection in a private library stays private.

Click Save to finish.

Step 4: What's next

After creating your collection, you'll see it in your library:

The new User Guides collection appears inside Product Documentation.

In your collection:

• Upload documents (PDFs, Word files, images, videos, audio)
• Connect external data sources (connectors)
• Add members and set permissions
• View and manage documents

Add Documents opens a file picker. Select the files, click Upload, and close the completed upload with Done.

Use your collection:

• Add it to agents so they can answer questions using your documents
• Use it in applications for document generation and templates
• Search documents at Enterprise Search

Managing collections

From the library page, you can:

• Open: Click a collection name to see its documents and settings
• Edit: Click the edit icon to change the collection name, icon, description, or privacy settings
• Delete: Click the delete icon to remove permanently

danger

Deleting a collection removes all documents inside it. You can't undo this.

Best practices

1. Use clear names: Pick names that show what documents go in the collection (e.g., "Contract Templates", "Employee Handbook", "Product Specs").

2. Organize by purpose: Create collections for specific use cases. This makes it easier to find documents and helps agents work better.

3. Add descriptions: Use the description field to explain what the collection is for. This helps your team and helps agents understand context.

4. Set privacy carefully: Use private collections for sensitive documents. Use public collections for documents everyone needs.

5. Add documents: Upload documents or connect external sources so your collection has content to work with.

6. Use in applications: Add collections to your agents and applications so they can use your documents to answer questions.

Next steps

• Creating an Agent: Use collections in agents to answer questions
• Enterprise Search: Search across all your documents
• Creating a Library: Create more libraries to organize your knowledge