Managing workspace document sources
Document sources are reusable PDF blueprints owned by the workspace — upload a PDF once, tag it with a file category, and reference it from any number of templates and automations. Manage them from the Templates page sidebar under the DOCUMENTS tab, where each document type lists its sources.
A workspace document source is the upstream half of most template work: the blank or partly-filled PDF that a template builds its pages on, and that an automation points at when it ingests recurring documents from Gmail or Drive. Sources live at the workspace level — peers to templates, not nested inside them — so one upload of a cover sheet, terms page, or standard form serves every template and automation in the workspace.
What a document source is
Each source bundles four things:
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | How the source appears in pickers and tabs (e.g. Bid Invitations) |
| The uploaded file — page images for the canvas plus the original PDF for high-fidelity rendering and form-field filling | |
| File category | The single most important setting — the category on the source is what declares the input category of every template that references it |
| Linked automations | Optional — automations that ingest recurring documents of this kind |
When you upload a PDF as a source, Document Blueprint also parses it for built-in (AcroForm) form fields, so templates created from the source can fill those fields directly.
Where to manage them
Sources are managed on the Templates page. The left sidebar has a DOCUMENTS / TEMPLATES switch; pick DOCUMENTS to open the Document Types catalog. Each active document type (file category) renders as a row — its colored chip, the template that produces it (when one does), and a file count — with that type's sources folded underneath as compact rows.
Clicking a source row opens its detail card in a modal. From there you can:
- Edit source — rename it, reassign its category, change its color
- Open original PDF — view the uploaded file
- Delete source — with a confirmation dialog
- See and navigate its Automations and Templates chip rows, including
+ Automation(wire up ingestion) and+ Template(create a new template from this source)
If a source's document type is deleted, the source doesn't vanish — it surfaces in an Unassigned sources group at the bottom of the catalog so you can re-categorize it from the same detail modal.
Uploading a new source
Two entry points, same result:
The upload panel pre-fills the category with the type you started from. The name is optional; the category tag is required. Typing a category name that doesn't exist yet creates it on the spot — and creation is find-or-create, so typing an existing type's name (case-insensitive) reuses it rather than minting a duplicate.
The second entry point is inside the template editor: the document bar's + Add menu has an Upload new file option that uploads to the workspace and adds the new source to the template in one step. See Source tabs for that flow.
How templates reference sources
A template points at sources through the source tabs in its document bar — each tab is a row in the template's assembly list that references a workspace source and contributes that source's pages to the output. The reference does double duty:
- Visual base — the source's pages are what the template's fields are placed on.
- Routing declaration — the source's file category becomes one of the template's input categories. That category is what makes the autofill picker offer this template when a user opens a file of that category.
Because the category lives on the source (not on each template), changing a source's category instantly updates the routing of every template that references it — no per-template re-tagging.
How automations link to sources
Automations target sources indirectly, through the template you pick in the Extract Data step of the flow builder: enabling Extract data with a template and selecting a template links the automation to that template's workspace source (automatically when the template has exactly one). Files the automation ingests are tagged with the source's category, and the source link itself annotates each ingested file with where it came from. The full mechanics are in Linking automations to document sources.
The catalog makes these links visible in both directions — a source's detail card lists its linked automations and templates as clickable chips, and the template editor's + Add picker shows a lightning-bolt chip on any source that has an automation feeding it.
Replacing or deleting a source
Deleting a source asks for confirmation (Delete Source — "This action cannot be undone") and removes it from the workspace. Deletion is deliberately orphan-tolerant:
- Templates that referenced it keep their now-dangling source tabs, shown as
Missing source. - The template canvas renders blank pages where the missing source's pages would have been.
- Nothing is auto-repaired or flagged as an error — it's a normal in-progress state.
To repair, open the affected template, remove the dangling tab with its ×, then add the replacement source from + Add and drag it into position. There is no in-place "re-point this tab" control — repair is always remove-then-re-add.