Email ingestion enables organizations to submit documents to Docupath by sending them to organization email addresses that you configure. This capability streamlines document entry for high-volume workflows, allowing users to route documents to specific sub-organizations through intelligent email parsing.
Understanding email configuration and sub-organization assignment logic is critical for multi-tenant deployments.
How It Works
When you create an organization in Docupath, you set up the email address(es) used for document ingestion. (These addresses are configured by you; they are not generated automatically by the system.) Documents can be submitted to a Main Organization address or directly to a Sub Organization address.
Each organization has two ingestion email addresses, and the address you send to determines how the email's attachments are handled:
Single Primary Document with Optional Attachments: The email is processed as one primary document. Any other files attached to the email are kept as optional supporting attachments on that single primary document, rather than being treated as separate documents.
Multiple Primary Documents: Each attachment in the email is processed as its own independent primary document, with separate extraction, status tracking, and audit trail.
On the Single Primary Document address, an email with no attachment is also accepted: the message body itself is processed as the document. See Processing the Email Body as a Document.
Emails Addressed to More Than One Ingestion Address
One email is always handled as one submission to one organization. Putting several Docupath ingestion addresses in the To or Cc line does not deliver a copy of the documents to each organization. The last Docupath address on the message takes ownership of the whole email, and the earlier Docupath addresses are ignored.
That one address decides everything about the submission:
The organization or sub-organization the documents are stored under
Whether the attachments are split into separate primary documents or kept as one primary document with supporting attachments, because that follows the address type of the last address
Which attachment limit applies (10 documents, or one primary document plus 15 supporting attachments)
Which sub-organization's Email types setting governs the status reply
The address named in the reply when the recipient address matches no organization
The organizations behind the earlier addresses receive nothing: no documents are stored for them, and their users see nothing in their inbox. The sender still receives exactly one status reply, and it reports the outcome for the last address only.
To submit documents to more than one organization, send a separate email to each ingestion address.
Email Submission Process
Email Sending
User sends email to one of the organization's ingestion email addresses
The address chosen determines how attachments are handled (single primary document with optional attachments, or multiple primary documents)
If the email carries several Docupath ingestion addresses, only the last one is used, and the rest are ignored
Subject and body are optional; note that on the Single Primary Document address, the body is processed as the document when the email has no valid business-document attachment
Attachment Processing
Multiple Primary Documents address: Each attachment is processed as a separate primary document, extracted and queued independently, with no cross-document dependencies or batch grouping
Single Primary Document with Optional Attachments address: The email produces one primary document, and the remaining attachments are stored as supporting attachments on that document
Sub-Organization Assignment
Docupath loads all sub-organization configurations under the receiving Main Organization
If the Main Organization has exactly one sub-organization, the document is routed to that sub-organization
Otherwise, checks if the Primary Party (extracted from the document) matches any sub org's override trading party, and routes to the matching sub org if a single match is found
If no single override match is found, checks whether the sender (the email's From address, matched to a Docupath user account) is assigned to exactly one sub-organization under this Main Organization, and routes there if so
Records "No sub organization detected" when none of the above resolves a single sub-organization
Status Reply to the Sender
The sender receives one status reply per email, sent when the email lands (see below)
Status Updates
Processed documents appear in assigned organization's inbox
Email activity is recorded in the audit trail
Failed attachments logged with specific error details
Status Replies to the Sender
Every email submission is answered. The sender receives exactly one reply per email, sent at receive time, on the branded Docupath email design:
Reply | Sent when |
We've received your documents | One or more attached files are accepted (single or multi-file upload) |
We've received your email | The email has no attachment, so the message body is processed as the document |
Document processing issue | An attached file cannot be processed: too large (over 50 MB), empty, an unsupported file type, or the email carries more than 15 supporting attachments for a single primary document |
Document limit reached | The email is sent to a Multiple Primary Documents address and carries more than 10 attachments, so none of them are stored |
Delivery Failure Notice: Action Required | A single upload reaches a valid workspace, but the recipient address does not match a known organization |
Delivery Failure Notice: Tenant Not Found | The workspace in the recipient address does not exist |
Upload via Email Feature Not Available | The workspace does not have upload via email enabled |
Insufficient credits | The workspace does not have enough processing credits |
Behavior to know:
The reply is a receipt, not a processing result. It confirms what happened at intake. Processing outcomes are tracked on the dashboard; no email is sent when processing completes.
The received confirmations carry a "Track on your dashboard" button that opens the workspace's document review page (signing in is required).
Multi-file uploads with unmatched files: files that cannot be matched to an organization are noted inside the "We've received your documents" reply (for example "1 document couldn't be matched to an organization in your workspace and won't be processed."), instead of a separate failure reply per file. A single-file upload with no matching organization receives the full delivery failure reply.
One reply per email, not one per address. An email carrying several Docupath ingestion addresses still produces a single reply, reporting the outcome for the last address only. Nothing is sent on behalf of the earlier addresses.
Failure replies echo the original message: the address it was sent to, the time it was received, and the attachment list (shown as "Email body" when there was no file).
Replies land in the sender's email thread. Status replies answer the original message, so mail clients group them into the same conversation with a "Re:" subject. Delivery failure notices can arrive as a separate new email instead.
See the Email Notifications article for the full notification inventory, labels, and sender address.
Example Sub-Organization Routing
Scenario: Three Sub-Organizations with Override Parties
This example uses the Multiple Primary Documents address, so each attachment is treated as a separate document and routed on its own.
Main Org Email: financedocs-tenantname@docupath.app Sub Organization 1 (US Finance) Override Trading Party: "Apple Inc." Sub Organization 2 (EU Finance) Override Trading Party: "Siemens AG" Sub Organization 3 (APAC Finance) Override Trading Party: "Sony Corporation"
Email Received with Attachments:
Invoice from Apple Inc. routed to US Finance (override trading party match)
PO from Siemens AG routed to EU Finance (override trading party match)
Receipt from Sony Corporation routed to APAC Finance (override trading party match)
Payment from an unknown party: if the sender is a Docupath user assigned to exactly one of these sub-organizations, it is routed there; otherwise it is recorded as "No sub organization detected"
Note: If a Main Organization has only one sub-organization, every document sent to its address routes to that sub-organization automatically, without needing an override trading party match or a sender lookup.
Supported Configurations and Options
Email Address Configuration
Configuration Level | Email Address | Scope |
Main Organization | Two ingestion addresses you configure (Single Primary Document with Optional Attachments; Multiple Primary Documents) | Documents submitted to the main organization; can route to sub-organizations by primary party matching |
Sub Organization | Organization-specific address(es) you configure | Documents submitted directly to that sub-organization |
Attachment Processing Rules
Supported File Types
PDF documents
Image files (JPG, PNG, TIFF, etc.)
Structured documents (XML, JSON where applicable)
Attachment Limits
Multiple Primary Documents address: maximum 10 attachments per email, because each attachment becomes its own document. An email over the limit is refused in full, none of its attachments are stored, and the sender receives the Document limit reached reply. Split larger batches across several emails
Single Primary Document with Optional Attachments address: the first file is the primary document and up to 15 further attachments are stored against it as supporting files, 16 files in total. The limit counts only the supporting attachments, so an email with 16 files is accepted and one with 17 is refused, with the sender receiving the Document processing issue reply
When an email carries several Docupath ingestion addresses, the limit that applies is the one belonging to the last address, not the first
Each file, primary or supporting, must be 50 MB or smaller
Total email size limit: per organization policy
Oversized emails: rejected, and the sender receives the Document processing issue reply
Per-Attachment Processing
On the Multiple Primary Documents address, each attachment receives a unique document ID, runs through an independent extraction pipeline, and has separate status tracking and audit trail, with no grouping or batching
On the Single Primary Document with Optional Attachments address, the attachments are grouped under one primary document as supporting files
Sub-Organization Assignment Logic
When a document is sent to a Main Organization address, Docupath resolves the sub-organization in the following order of precedence and stops at the first rule that identifies a single sub-organization:
Single sub-organization. If the Main Organization has exactly one sub-organization, the document is routed to it. No further checks are performed.
Override trading party match. The Primary Party extracted from the document is compared against each sub-organization's override trading party. If exactly one sub-organization matches, the document is routed to it.
Sender membership. If no single override match is found, Docupath identifies the sender by matching the email's From address to a Docupath user account. If that user is assigned to exactly one sub-organization under this Main Organization, the document is routed to it.
No match. If none of the above resolves a single sub-organization, the document is recorded as "No sub organization detected."
Ambiguity and safeguards
Multiple override trading party matches record "No sub organization detected" (ambiguity safeguard)
A sender assigned to multiple sub-organizations under the Main Organization does not resolve a routing decision, and the document records "No sub organization detected"
A sender who is not a Docupath user, or is assigned to no sub-organization under this Main Organization, does not affect routing
Override Trading Party Configuration
Defined at sub organization level
Typically represents vendor/supplier identifier
Must be unique across sub organizations (no overlaps)
Can be updated without re-submitting documents
Document Retention Per Sub Org
Documents remain in assigned sub org inbox
Cannot be moved between sub orgs post-assignment
Original routing decision is immutable
Other Technical Specifications
Email Processing Architecture
Type: asynchronous processor
Trigger: email received at organization address
Processing: documents are queued and processed after receipt
Retry Logic: automatic retry on transient failures
Subject and Body Handling
Subject line: optional metadata, not parsed for routing (use for human reference only)
Body text: not used for routing. On the Single Primary Document address, the email body is processed as the document when the email has no valid business-document attachment; when a valid document is present, the body is kept as a read-only reference and is not parsed. See Processing the Email Body as a Document.
Primary Party Extraction
Source: document content (invoice, PO, receipt, etc.)
Method: AI-powered entity extraction
Fallback: "Unknown Party" if extraction fails
Email Address Configuration
Addresses are configured by the organization (not auto-generated) on the docupath.app domain
Addresses will follow the format
<name>-<workspace>@docupath.app; the system validates the format and uniqueness when the address is savedAliases: additional email addresses can forward to a primary address
Status Replies
One reply per incoming email, sent at receive time, whatever the number of Docupath addresses on the message
Sender: Docupath AI auth@docupath.ai
Status replies answer the original message and appear in the sender's thread; delivery failure notices can arrive as a new email
Audit Trail
Email metadata logged: sender, recipient, timestamp, attachment count
Document-level log: routing decision, extracted party, assigned sub org
Retention: per organization policy
Notes
Multiple Matching Parties
If document lists multiple parties, only primary party used for routing
Secondary parties ignored for sub-organization assignment
Scenario: invoice lists "Sold By: Apple Inc., Billed To: Acme Corp"
Behavior: routes based on "Sold By" (primary); Acme assignment ignored
Mitigation: ensure primary party is unambiguous in document
No Sub Organization Match
Document receives "No sub organization detected" status and remains in the Main Organization inbox for manual review
Unmatched documents are visible to parent/admin users for triage; sub-organization users do not see them until they are assigned
A reviewer can assign the correct sub-organization from the organization selector (which lists the document's Main Organization and its sub-organizations) and reprocess the document
Does NOT default to any sub-organization beyond the assignment rules above
Best Practice: investigate and classify unmatched documents
Party Extraction Failure
If Docupath cannot identify a Primary Party, it defaults to "Unknown Party"
Without a Primary Party, the override trading party match cannot apply, but the single sub-organization rule and the sender membership rule can still route the document
If no rule resolves a single sub-organization, the document falls back to the Main Org inbox as "No sub organization detected"
Recovery: manually assign the organization and reprocess, or re-submit with a clearer document
Attachment Order
On the Multiple Primary Documents address, attachments are processed in the order received, with no dependencies between them
If one fails, others continue processing (partial success is possible: 9 succeed, 1 fails)
Several Ingestion Addresses on One Email
Addressing one email to several Docupath ingestion addresses is not a way to submit the same documents to several organizations
The last Docupath address on the message owns the submission: it sets the storing organization, the way the attachments are split, the attachment limit that applies, and the single status reply the sender receives
A sender who expects each organization to be served will see documents in one organization only, and the reply confirms that organization alone, so the omission is easy to miss
Mitigation: send one email per ingestion address
Email Duplicate Submissions
No deduplication on re-sent emails
Sending same email twice creates duplicate documents
Mitigation: unique document IDs prevent confusion; operators must deduplicate manually
Override Party Changes
Changing a sub org's override party does NOT affect already-routed documents
New routing rules apply only to future emails
Existing documents locked to original assignment
Workaround: manual re-assignment if necessary
Subject Line Ambiguity
Subject lines are NOT parsed for routing information
Even if subject contains org name or party, ignored for assignment
Document content only determines routing
Prevention: rely on document content, not email metadata