Check that the .dat and .opt files are both present and correctly paired. They should be at the archive root or inside a single volume folder. If one is missing or renamed, August won't recognize the production structure.
Import production archives
August can import document production archives exported from Relativity and similar e-discovery tools, automatically detecting the production format and processing each document individually. Upload your production export as a ZIP file and August extracts, indexes, and makes documents available for analysis, review, and extraction workflows.
What August Detects as a Production Archive
When you upload a ZIP file, August checks whether it's a production export by looking for paired metadata files:
A
.datfile and a matching.optfile at the archive rootOr the same pair inside a volume folder within the archive
If August detects this structure, it recognizes the archive as a production and opens an import modal before processing continues. Standard ZIP files without this structure go through the normal upload path.
Keep the original production export structure intact. Don't rename or move the .dat and .opt files—August relies on their presence and pairing to identify the archive format.
Required Archive Contents
Production archives exported from Relativity and similar tools typically include:
Component | Description |
|---|---|
.dat file | Concordance load file containing document metadata and field mappings |
.opt file | Optimization file specifying page counts and image file references |
Native/Image files | Associated document files (PDFs, TIFFs, native documents) referenced in the load files |
Archives missing the .dat or .opt file will fail validation. Ensure your production export includes all required load files before uploading.
DAT file parsing
August reads the .dat load file and normalizes producer-specific column names to canonical fields. Required fields are: bates_begin, bates_end, custodian, file_name, and native_path. Optional fields include family_begin, family_end, and image_path. Header matching is case-insensitive and tolerant of underscores and whitespace.
OPT shape recognition
August interprets two common OPT formats:
Page-per-row: Typical for TIFF-style image productions where each row describes one page.
Doc-per-row: Typical for PDF-centric productions where each row describes one document.
August infers the format based on the presence of first-page flags and the mix of file extensions in the OPT. When the shape is ambiguous, processing surfaces an error so you can re-export the production with a clearer structure.
Native file handling
When your source preference includes natives, August validates extensions against a curated allowlist and inspects file signatures where necessary:
Allowed: PDF, Office, text, email, and common image-native formats.
Rejected: CAD files, audio/video, executables, and opaque containers such as
.datand.mdb.
If an extension is unsupported or the file cannot be validated, the document is skipped or surfaced as an error so you can address it directly.
The Import Modal
When a production archive is detected, August opens an import modal that shows:
A document count estimate based on the archive contents
Three source preference options for how to process the documents
Source Preference Options
Choose how August should handle the documents in the archive:
Option | What It Does | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
Auto | August selects the best available artifact for each document, preferring native files when available and falling back to images when necessary. | Most productions. Use this when you want August to make intelligent choices based on what's in the archive. |
Native only | Import only documents that have native files (original DOCX, PDF, etc.). Documents without native artifacts are skipped. | When you only need editable source documents and don't want image-based versions cluttering your results. |
Image only | Import only the image representations (TIFF, PDF images) of documents. Uses OCR to extract text from image-based documents. | When you're working with productions where the image version is the official record, or when native files aren't available. |
After selecting your preference, confirm the import to register it with August's processing queue. The modal requires an explicit confirm or cancel action—clicking outside or pressing Escape won't dismiss it.
If you're unsure which source preference to use, select Auto. August will choose the most appropriate version for each document based on what's available.
Upload Flow
To import a production archive:
Navigate to the folder where you want the documents ingested.
Use the upload button or drag-and-drop your ZIP archive.
August detects the production format and opens the import modal.
Select your source preference (Auto, Native only, or Image only).
Confirm the upload to begin processing.
August validates the archive structure and fans out the contents into individual document jobs. Each document from the archive appears as a separate item in your project after processing completes.
Import Progress and Status
Production archive imports use a unified progress display during processing:
Indexing: X/N documents — Shows real-time progress as August reads and indexes each document in the archive.
The archive appears as a single logical upload in your upload list, not as separate upload and extraction rows. This keeps your upload history clean and makes it easy to track the status of the entire production.
Processing Statuses
During ingestion, the archive job progresses through several statuses:
Status | Description |
|---|---|
pending | The archive has been uploaded and is waiting to begin processing. |
extracting | August is extracting the ZIP archive and validating the load file structure. |
processing_documents | Individual documents from the archive are being processed as separate jobs. This status may persist for large archives. |
completed | All documents from the archive have been processed and are available in your project. |
error | The ingestion failed. Check the error details for validation failures or processing issues. |
Skipped Documents
Some documents may be skipped during import. When this happens, you'll see:
skipped (no usable artifact) — The document had no supported file type available based on your source preference. For example, if you chose Native only and a document only has an image representation, it will be skipped.
You can expand the upload row to see which documents were skipped and why.
Failed Documents
When individual documents fail during import, August surfaces structured failure information:
File name: The name of the document that failed to process.
Reason: A description of why the document failed (for example, extraction errors or format issues).
Extension: The file extension, when relevant to the failure.
Failed documents are reported individually, allowing you to identify and address specific files without re-uploading the entire archive.
Long-Running Ingestion
Large archive ingestions may take considerable time, especially for productions containing hundreds or thousands of documents. August uses task-scale protection for long-running processing jobs to prevent interruption during document fan-out and handling.
If you notice a job remaining in processing_documents status for an extended period, this is expected behavior for large archives.
Using Imported Documents
Once indexing completes, imported documents appear in your project folders and are available for:
Assistant for analysis, Q&A, and drafting
Tabular Review for structured extraction across document sets
Platform Search to find documents across your project
Admin configuration
Operators can tune production-archive loader concurrency via the PRODUCTION_LOADER_CONCURRENCY environment variable. The older RELATIVITY_LOADER_CONCURRENCY variable name is deprecated but still honored during the transition.
Troubleshooting
The archive wasn't detected as a production export
Import stalled or not progressing
Check that the upload record associated with your ZIP file is valid. Imports require a valid upload record to track progress. If the record is missing or corrupted, the import cannot update status. Contact support if your import appears stuck without progress updates.
More documents were skipped than expected
Review your source preference choice. If you selected Native only, documents that only have image representations will be skipped. Try importing again with Auto to let August select the best available artifact for each document.
Some documents failed to import
Review the failed item details for each document. Common causes include user-password-protected files, unsupported formats within the archive, or corruption in individual documents. Note that PDFs with owner/permissions restrictions but no user password upload without issue. Address the specific file issue and re-upload that document separately if needed.
Archive uploaded but no documents appeared
The production archive ZIP is a container and does not appear in folders. Only extracted documents appear in your workspace. If status shows completed but no documents are visible, check that documents were successfully extracted. If status shows processing_documents for an extended period, contact support.
Missing .dat or .opt file errors
Archives missing these required files cannot be processed. Re-export from your e-discovery platform with the correct Concordance production format to ensure all load files are included.
Corrupt archive errors
The ZIP file cannot be extracted. Re-create the export from your source platform and verify the archive opens correctly on your local machine before uploading.
OPT shape could not be determined
August could not infer whether the OPT file is page-per-row or doc-per-row. This typically happens when the file lacks clear first-page flags or contains a mixed bag of extensions. Re-export the production from your e-discovery platform with a standard Concordance/Relativity production format and try again.
Supported Archive Formats
August supports production archives exported in Concordance/Relativity production format, including both page-per-row image productions and doc-per-row PDF productions. The archive ingestion pipeline recognizes the structure and applies appropriate extraction rules.
Generic ZIP files containing documents are processed as standard uploads, not as production archives. Only archives with paired .dat and .opt files receive the specialized ingestion treatment described here.
What to Read Next
Document Management Overview for general document organization guidance
Supported File Formats for details on file types August can process
Tabular Review for analyzing ingested document sets
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