Documents Center overview

The Documents Center is the per-tenant archive of every document the platform has generated: quotation PDFs, booking confirmations, MAWB/MBL, delivery orders, arrival notices, invoices, customs declarations, and more. Lives at /app/documents.

What's in it

Every document generated — whether from the Designer, a regulatory renderer, or an automated flow — is stored with:

• Document number — the stable business number (QT-xxx, INV-xxx, MAWB 157-xxx).
• Document type — quotation / invoice / delivery order / MAWB / etc.
• Linked record — the originating quote / booking / invoice.
• Version — if the document was regenerated (e.g. after edits), each version is kept.
• Generated at + by — timestamp + user.
• File format — almost always PDF; some regulatory exports emit XML / JSON too.

Finding a document

Three ways:

1. From the source record — e.g. a booking's detail page shows every document linked to it. Fastest if you know which booking.
2. Documents Center search — filter by customer, document type, date range. Useful when the customer asks "did you send the Feb 15 invoice?"
3. Document number lookup — type the number into the top-bar global search.

Regenerating

If an upstream record changed after the document was generated (e.g. commercial terms updated on a quote), click Regenerate on the document row. A new version is created; the old version remains accessible. Both versions carry the same document number.

Regeneration is audit-logged; the reason field is required if the change is post-customer-send.

Versioning

Each document has a version number (v1, v2, etc.). When you regenerate:

• A new version is created; the old versions remain.
• The "current" version is what shows on detail pages and is linked in new emails.
• Customers who received the old version by email still have their copy; don't assume they saw the latest.
• Commercial changes that affect the document (not just cosmetics) should trigger a customer communication alongside the regeneration.

Email copies

Every outgoing document email is logged in Communications against the related record. Each log entry has:

• Recipient email.
• Subject.
• Sent at.
• Delivery status (sent / bounced / failed).
• Attached document reference.

Click the communication entry to see the exact version of the PDF that was sent.

Storage & retention

• Documents are stored in the platform's file storage (S3 or equivalent).
• Retention is indefinite by default; configurable per tenant to auto-delete after N years (for data-minimisation compliance).
• Docs related to active records are never auto-deleted, even past retention.
• Soft-delete a document (rare) — it becomes inaccessible but is restorable by an admin for 30 days.

Bulk export

For audit / archive purposes:

• Documents Center → Export → pick filters and date range → generates a ZIP of the PDFs + a manifest CSV.
• Large exports run async; email when ready.

Common pitfalls

Integrations

• Zoho / QuickBooks — AR invoices sync across and are stored in both systems.
• Microsoft / Google email — inbound email ingestion picks up replies to sent documents and links them to the source record.
• Customer Portal — customers see their own documents (invoices, quotes, shipping documents they're party to) in their portal.

Related

• PDF Designer — customise how new documents look.
• Version history & publishing — how template versioning works.