README

AutoDoc

AutoDoc is a server-side document automation platform for teams that repeatedly prepare agreements, letters, forms, certificates, notices, and other .docx documents. Store a reusable template, enter the case-specific values, review the result as a PDF, and download the completed document without relying on Microsoft Word or a member's desktop.

Built for document-heavy professional work, AutoDoc combines controlled template reuse, guided value capture, Excel mail merge, page-aware generation, and member-level document privacy.

Product Highlights

Capability	What it delivers
Reusable template library	Save approved `.docx` templates once and create independent working documents from them.
Automatic field detection	Finds `<placeholder>` and `{placeholder}` tags in document paragraphs and tables.
Flexible value entry	Paste `fieldname: value`, paste two Excel columns, or work field by field.
Validation before export	Check Match identifies missing values before Preview or Download is enabled.
Page-aware output	Keep the original page count where possible through uniform, controlled font reduction.
PDF preview and DOCX download	Review a rendered PDF in the browser, then download the completed Word document.
Excel mail merge	Map spreadsheet headers to template fields, validate every row, correct exceptions, and generate a PDF for each valid row.
Document lifecycle tools	Duplicate a record, retain creation and renewal dates, report upcoming renewals, archive source files, or delete records permanently.
Member management	Administrators manage members, roles, status, upload limits, packages, and usage.
Private workspaces	Documents, templates, and their values are scoped to the member who owns them.

How It Works

Upload a .docx file or select a saved template from the Template Library.
AutoDoc detects its fields and records the page count when LibreOffice is configured.
Enter values manually, paste a list, or import an .xlsx file for a batch.
Select Check Match to identify missing values.
Choose Keep original for page-aware generation or Just replace for the fastest plain merge.
Preview the PDF and download the completed .docx; for mail merge, download each completed PDF as it is generated.

Packages

AutoDoc includes four administrator-assignable usage packages. Limits are applied per configured billing period; package assignment resets the member's document and mail-merge usage counters.

Package	Period	Saved templates	Document records	Mail-merge documents	Storage
Occasional	Yearly	3	100	100	1 GB
Regular	Monthly	10	300	300	2 GB
Professional	Monthly	50	1,000	1,000	10 GB
Enterprise	Monthly	200	2,000	2,000	50 GB

Pricing, billing collection, support commitments, and custom limits are commercial arrangements to be defined by the operator; they are not managed by the application itself.

Roles And Access

Admin: manages members, their roles and active status, package assignments, and the global upload-size limit.
Manager and user: create, fill, preview, download, duplicate, archive, and delete only their own documents and templates.
Privacy boundary: every document and template is filtered by its owner. Members cannot access another member's records through the application.

Important Product Boundaries

AutoDoc supports .docx templates and .xlsx batch files. It does not edit PDFs as templates.
PDF preview, reliable page counting, page-fit generation, and batch PDF output require LibreOffice to be configured on the server. Standard DOCX merging remains available when it is not configured.
Keep original aims to retain the uploaded template's page count by reducing explicitly sized text uniformly down to an internal 8pt floor. A warning is returned if a result still cannot fit at that floor.
AutoDoc automates documents; it does not provide legal, financial, or professional advice. Template owners remain responsible for the accuracy and suitability of their templates and values.