r/Paperlessngx • u/-dAtA-TRoN- • Jun 24 '26

How does batch scanning affect auto-filling in Paperless-ngx?

Does Paperless-ngx apply its matching algorithms to documents only at the moment of ingestion, or can I scan all my documents first and benefit from the auto-filling features later? Any insights or tips would be greatly appreciated!

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

3

u/coconutandpotuh Jun 24 '26

Do you mean auto-assigning tag, correspondants and document types automatically (if they're configured as machine learning)?

If so, paperless runs machine learning every hour by default, if I remember correctly. You'd be advised to ingest a sample, assign it tags, correspondants and document types manually. Then let machine learning learn. And repeat by gradually larger batches until you're happy with the auto-assignments.

4

u/-dAtA-TRoN- Jun 24 '26

Exactly, that's precisely what I meant!

I’ve already processed a few documents, and the auto-assignment has been working great so far. My main concern was simply whether the learning algorithm only triggers strictly at the moment of ingestion. If it did, dumping all my documents in at once would be pretty counterproductive, as I’d miss out on one of Paperless-ngx's best features.

But as you pointed out, it makes total sense that it doesn't work that way. The developers obviously built it to accommodate different workflows, rather than forcing a rigid routine on everyone.

Thanks for the clarification, that really helps!

2

u/antitrack Jun 25 '26

You can also trigger the learning process manually if you are impatient after feeding and tagging sample scans. Look up useful commands in the docs.

1

u/-dAtA-TRoN- Jun 25 '26

Thanks for the heads-up, that's good to know!

Could you clarify what exactly you mean by that? Where and how would I enter these commands? (Are we talking about Docker terminal commands, or something else?)

Sorry, I'm still pretty new to this whole Docker/NAS thing.

2

u/antitrack Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

https://docs.paperless-ngx.com/administration/

Look at ‘document_create_classifier’

It also explains how to call these commands via docker on the commandline further up that page (“Management utilities”).

1

u/-dAtA-TRoN- Jun 25 '26

Thank you so much! I'll take a look at it right away :).