Every document you upload to Relm goes through an indexing pipeline before it's available to chat or downstream agents. Relm shows where each document is in that pipeline in two places.
The states
While a batch is processing, the File Processing panel in the bottom-left corner lists each file:
- PREPARING — Relm is saving your upload choices and starting the batch.
- PROCESSING — extraction, OCR, chunking, embedding in flight.
- DONE — finished.
- FAILED — couldn't finish; see below.
On the Documents page, each document card shows its search status:
- Pending — not indexed yet.
- Indexed — done, fully available to chat and agents.
- Not indexed — the file is stored, but it wasn't added to AI search.
- Vector failed — indexing failed.
The list view shows the same statuses as Pending, Indexed, Skipped, and Failed.
Most documents finish processing in 30–90 seconds. Big PDFs (200+ pages, scanned) can take 2–3 minutes.
What "Not indexed" means
The document uploaded and the file is safe, but the indexing step was skipped — usually because the search service couldn't be reached at the time. You can still open and download the file, but chat can't search it yet. Click Re-index for AI search on the document's card (or Re-index in its detail view) to try again.
What "Failed" means
Relm couldn't add the document to AI search (Vector failed on the card, FAILED in the File Processing panel). Common causes:
- Encrypted / password-protected PDF. Strip the password and re-upload.
- Image-only PDF that's heavily watermarked. OCR can't see through the watermark.
- Corrupted file — try opening it locally first to verify it's valid.
Click Re-index for AI search on the document's card to try again. If it consistently fails, report the issue and attach a redacted copy of the document.
Files over 50 MB can't be uploaded at all — split them and upload the parts.
Re-indexing
You can re-index any document — useful if it shows Not indexed or Vector failed, or if chat seems to be missing its contents:
- Click the document to open it.
- Click Re-index.
You can also click Re-index for AI search (the database icon) on the document's card. Re-indexing replaces the existing index for that document.
Can I use the document while it's processing
Mostly no — chat won't return results from a not-yet-indexed document. You can read the source file directly in the document viewer while it indexes.
If a document shows Indexed but chat finds nothing in it, the file may have little readable text (for example, a photo or a faint scan). Upload a cleaner copy.
Multiple documents at once
You can upload up to 50 documents in one session — they queue and process in parallel (up to a small concurrency limit per org). The File Processing panel and the Documents page show each document's status independently.