Documents
Thingsform Documents is your intelligent document manager. Organise files in structured folders, request electronic signatures and instantly retrieve any document thanks to AI-powered search.
- Folders
- Signature
- AI search
What Documents brings
Folders
Signature
AI search
Documents in your workflow
Documents does not work in isolation: every action can feed the platform's other modules.
Documents → Forms
Build smart forms with conditional logic and structured data collection.
Explore FormsDocuments → Signature
Send electronic signature requests with public links and reminders.
Explore SignatureDocuments → Contracts
Manage quotes, contracts and commercial tracking from a unified space.
Explore ContractsFile, share without making the recipient create an account, get signatures, find things again — and set apart what must not circulate.
Set the sensitive material apart
A folder of documents and a folder of sensitive records are not managed the same way. The vault is a separate folder: you re-authenticate to enter it, what leaves it is controlled, and what is placed in it can be made undeletable for the duration of a proceeding.
- Re-authentication on opening
- An open session is not enough to open a vault. This is the protection that actually matters in practice: a workstation left unlocked for a few minutes does not expose sensitive records.
- Sensitivity level per record
- Each document carries its own level, independently of the folder it sits in. A record therefore stays flagged as sensitive even when moved, which folder-based classification alone never guarantees.
- Controlled sharing, capped at seven days
- A share from a vault requires a code and a password, expires, and limits the number of accesses. Duration is capped at seven days: a forgotten link stops working on its own, which is the only guarantee that holds over time.
- External access log
- Every opening of a link is recorded, with its date and origin. This is what you look for the day someone asks who consulted what, and that question always comes up after the fact.
- Suspension after failed attempts
- Successive failures on a code are counted and the share suspends itself. A public link in circulation therefore cannot be tested indefinitely, with nothing required from whoever issued it.
- Legal hold
- A legal hold can be placed on a folder or on a single record. While it runs, deletion is refused — including to whoever uploaded the document. That is what separates archiving from a good intention.
File
Filing serves the day you search, not the day you tidy. Nested folders, tags, successive versions and a bin: enough to find a record and know which one is authoritative.
- Folders, subfolders and tags
- The tree files, the tags cut across. A contract can belong to a client's folder and carry the tag of its renewal year at the same time, without being duplicated.
- Successive versions
- Each upload of the same document creates a version. The question “is this the one that was sent” stops requiring a search through an inbox, which is the real cost of filing by attachment.
- Bin and permissions
- A deletion goes through the bin, and rights apply to folders as well as documents. A team therefore shares the space without sharing all of its content, which is the normal situation past three people.
Get signatures
The signature request starts from the folder, and the signed document returns to it. This is the step where files usually get lost, between an email send and a manual filing on the way back.
- Send from the document
- The document goes out for signature without leaving the folder, and the signatory receives a secure link with no account to create. Every extra step asked of a client costs a share of the expected signatures.
- Edits before sending
- The PDF editor lets you correct, annotate or complete a record without going through another tool. Switching between applications is what makes a send slip to tomorrow, then to next week.
- The signed document files itself
- It files itself in the original folder, beside its unsigned version. Six months later, the question is no longer where it is but simply to open it.
Find
A document store is worth only the speed at which you can pull a record back out. Search works on the content of documents, not only on their file names.
- Search inside the content
- You search by what you remember — a client, a date, a clause — rather than guessing the name given by someone who has since left. Folder filing alone never allows this.
- Permissions apply to search too
- A result appears only for someone entitled to open the record. A search that revealed a document's existence without granting access would already be a leak.
Receive
Asking a client for a document by email means accepting to file it by hand and chase it yourself. A deposit link reverses the burden.
- The client uploads, with no account
- A link leads to an upload page and the file lands in the intended folder. The recipient has nothing to install or create, which is the condition for the document actually arriving.
- Protected and dated
- A deposit link can require a password and stop being valid on a chosen date. A collection link left open indefinitely always ends up receiving something other than what was expected.
Three situations
Professional practice
The records of a disputed case are placed under legal hold: nobody can delete them while the proceeding runs.
Human resources
Employment contracts live in a vault: re-authentication on opening, and access limited to the people concerned rather than the whole team.
Client
The client uploads their document through a password-protected link, and receives the signed document through a code — without ever creating an account.
Frequently asked questions about Documents
Which modules does Documents work with?
Documents connects natively to Forms, Signature, Contracts and Legal. Data flows from one module to the next with no export or integration to set up.
How is this different from a shared drive?
A shared drive stores; here documents are connected to the rest. A contract comes from a form, goes out for signature, and stays attached to the customer record. AI search finds a document by its content, not just its filename.
Is electronic signature included?
Yes, the signing flow is part of the module. The signed document returns to its original folder, with no third-party service and no manual download.
What does AI search find that ordinary search does not?
It searches inside the content and understands phrasing. "The council's quote" surfaces the right document even if the file is named otherwise — the usual case when several people upload.
Which plan includes Documents?
The module is included from the Essential plan, signature and AI search included.
What does a vault change compared with a folder?
Three things. You re-authenticate to open it, even with an active session. A share leaving it requires a code and a password, expires, and never exceeds seven days. And a legal hold can make deletion impossible there. An ordinary folder does none of the three.
Does the recipient need an account?
No, in both directions. Receiving a document works through a link and a code, uploading one through a deposit link. This is decisive for a client or an occasional subcontractor: every extra step asked loses a share of the expected transfers.
Are documents end-to-end encrypted?
No, and we would rather say so. Exchanges are encrypted in transit and sensitive data encrypted at rest; protection then rests on access controls — re-authentication, code, password, expiry, log. True end-to-end encryption would in fact make content search impossible.
From which plan is the module available?
The Documents module is included from the Essential plan, vault and search included. The standalone signature request belongs to the Pro plan: worth knowing if sending things to be signed is your main use rather than filing.