STEP 01

Start with a document — typed, classified, ready

A new contract closes. You create a document titled “MSA — Acme Corp,” pick the Contract type (with metadata for counterparty, value, term, renewal date), and place it in the Active Contracts collection. NexDok knows what it is before you’ve even uploaded the file.

• Document Types define schemas with metadata, retention, and approval rules
• Collections inherit permissions and organize by project, team, or topic
• Custom metadata fields validated, filterable, queryable via API

Industry quick-starts pre-configure types & collections for Higher Ed, Healthcare, Finance, Professional Services, Manufacturing, and Government.

STEP 02

Upload a file — or author natively in NexDok

Drag-and-drop the contract PDF. NexDok stores it as version 1, renders a PDF preview automatically for Office files, and starts the indexing pipeline. Subsequent edits create v2, v3, vN — never lost.

• 14 file formats accepted — PDFs, Office, structured data, plain text
• Native rich-text editor for documents authored directly in NexDok
• Bulk upload, drag-and-drop, or API for thousands of files at once

Mix native-editor versions and binary uploads in the same document history — one story per document.

STEP 03

AI indexing — documents become intelligence

Within seconds the version flips from “Indexing” to “Indexed” with a green AI badge. Text is extracted, split into ~512-word chunks, embedded with 1,536-dimensional vectors, and ready for semantic search and AI Q&A.

• 9 formats indexed automatically — PDF, DOCX, CSV, JSON, XML, HTML, MD…
• Per-version status: queued → indexing → indexed (visible at a glance)
• Re-indexed on every new version — AI knowledge is always current

Failure transparency built in — if something can’t be indexed, you see exactly why and can retry with one click.

STEP 04

Search by meaning — or just ask

An employee asks “Can I work from a different time zone for two weeks?” Ask returns a clear, two-sentence answer citing the Remote Work Policy v3 and the Travel Policy. They click the citation, verify, and have an accurate answer in 30 seconds.

• Semantic Search finds by meaning — not just keywords
• Ask answers in plain English with citations to source documents
• Always permission-aware — users only see what they should

Deep Ask scopes to a single document for in-depth analysis. Ask spans the entire authorized corpus.

STEP 05.a

Submit for approval — governance you can prove

Marketing drafts a customer announcement. Submit for approval. Compliance, Legal, and CMO each get an inbox entry. Within an hour all three approve — the version publishes with a clean audit trail showing who approved, when, and what they said.

• Configure approvals per document type, per collection, or per document
• My Approvals inbox surfaces exactly what’s waiting on each approver
• Every decision logged: identity, timestamp, comment, exact version

Tamper-evident. Exportable. Webhook-deliverable to your compliance dashboard. Optional — only used where governance requires it.

STEP 05.b

Send for eSignature — signed PDF returns as a new version

After approval, send the contract to the counterparty for signature via SignDok. They sign on any device. The signed PDF lands back as a new version automatically — same document, same history, sealed and chain-of-custody intact.

• Built-in two-way bridge between NexDok and SignDok
• Multi-signer workflows with order, fields, expiration, watermarks
• Signed PDF returns as a new version — never lose the chain

Use it for contracts, policy acknowledgements, board attestations, NDAs, vendor onboarding documents, and offer letters.