Configuration


Tags, Document Types, Correspondent & more

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Paperless-ngx is a wonderful tool to scan, classify, and organize your documents. In this article, we’ll discuss three important organizational elements: Document Types, Correspondent, and Tags. Along the way, we’ll ask guiding questions to help you figure out how best to categorize any piece of paperwork you might want to store in Paperless-ngx.


Document Types

Document Types refer to the broad category of the document in question. Is it a letter, a receipt, or a bill? You don’t need to overthink this category; just assign the document to a generalized type. For example, you might have a Receipts doctype for all the receipts you scan in, or even confirmations you receive after paying certain bills.

Correspondent

The Correspondent is the person or organization associated with the document. A credit card bill from Capital One would have “Capital One” as the correspondent. A W2 might have the IRS as the correspondent. Broadly defining your correspondent is key so you don’t complicate future searches with overly specific labels.

Tags

Tags let you categorize documents by answering basic questions like who, what, and when the document references. They can also be used for special categories or important groups of documents.

OCR Considerations

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is undoubtedly helpful for searching within the text of scanned documents. However, it shouldn’t be your only search strategy. Combining OCR with at least 1–2 well-chosen metadata fields (like Document Type or Correspondent) plus relevant Tags can make finding a specific document much easier—especially when you have years and years of paperwork.

Garbage In, Garbage Out

Like with any data system, the quality of your searches in Paperless-ngx is only as good as the data you choose to include. Spend a little extra time specifying at least one metadata field and adding a couple of relevant tags. This way, when you need to find an important document, you can rely on your carefully curated system to do the work for you.

In summary, Document Types, Correspondent, and Tags form a powerful trifecta in Paperless-ngx to keep your records neat and easily searchable. Leverage OCR, but don’t depend on it alone. And remember: the small effort to add good data up front will pay big dividends when you need to retrieve those documents later.

SMTP Setup

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Setting up an SMTP server for the backend in Paperless-ngx allows you to send emails directly from the system, most commonly for password reset purposes. These environment variables closely mirror the corresponding Django email settings, ensuring easy configuration.

Environment Variables

To configure these in a Docker environment, simply add them to your docker-compose.yml under the environment section of the paperless-ngx service. For example:

services:
  paperless-ngx:
    image: ghcr.io/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx:latest
    environment:
      - PAPERLESS_EMAIL_HOST=smtp.yourprovider.com
      - PAPERLESS_EMAIL_PORT=587
      - PAPERLESS_EMAIL_HOST_USER=youremail@provider.com
      - PAPERLESS_EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD=supersecretpassword
      - PAPERLESS_EMAIL_FROM=youremail@provider.com
      - PAPERLESS_EMAIL_USE_TLS=true

Once set, Paperless-ngx will use these SMTP settings to send necessary notifications, such as password reset emails. Adjust values as needed based on your email provider’s requirements.

It’s generally best practice to use TLS or SSL for secure email communication. Make sure you enable the correct protocol flags (PAPERLESS_EMAIL_USE_TLS or PAPERLESS_EMAIL_USE_SSL) for your provider.