Your file stays on your device
The text is extracted from the PDF in your browser, and only that text is sent to answer your question. The file itself is never uploaded — you can confirm there's no file upload in DevTools → Network.
Privacy & Security
Can AI read my PDF without storing it?
Mostly — and the honest details matter. Your file never leaves your device: the text is extracted in your browser and only that text is sent, never the file. DockDocs doesn't store your document or the conversation on its servers. The one caveat: to answer, that text has to pass through an AI model, so a truly “zero data sent” AI isn't possible.
What actually gets sent to the AI
“AI document chat” sounds like uploading your file, but it doesn't have to be. Here's the real data flow.
DockDocs doesn't store it
The extracted text and the conversation are processed for your request and not retained on DockDocs servers. (If you explicitly save a chat with My Chats, that's your own saved copy — opt-in, not automatic.)
The honest caveat
To generate an answer, the extracted text passes through an AI model. DockDocs can't promise what a model provider does with data in transit, so a truly “zero data sent” AI isn't possible. What you can rely on: the file never leaves your device, DockDocs keeps nothing, and only the minimum — text — is sent.
How to verify what's sent
Open DevTools → Network (F12) and ask a question. You'll see a small request carrying text (your question and the relevant extracted text) — not a large upload carrying your file. If you ever saw the file itself being uploaded, that would be a different, server-upload design.
Where DockDocs fits
DockDocs is built to send the minimum and keep nothing — and to be honest about the part it can't control.
Minimum data — text, never the file
Only the extracted text needed to answer is sent; your original PDF never leaves your device.
Nothing retained by DockDocs
The request is processed and not stored on DockDocs servers. Saving a conversation is opt-in (My Chats), never automatic.
Traceable answers, scoped honestly
When the AI answers, DockDocs shows the source quote from your document when it can locate it — and tells you when it can't. It won't invent a citation.
Does AI chat with a PDF upload my file?+
No. The text is extracted from the PDF in your browser and only that text is sent to answer your question — the file itself is never uploaded. You can confirm there's no file upload in DevTools → Network.
Does DockDocs store my document or conversation?+
The AI request is processed and not retained on DockDocs servers. The one exception is opt-in: if you explicitly save a chat with the My Chats feature, that's your own saved copy — it never happens automatically.
Can AI answer without sending any data at all?+
No — generating an answer requires the extracted text to pass through an AI model, so a truly zero-data AI isn't possible today. The honest goal is to send the minimum (text, not your file) and not retain it. DockDocs is built that way.
Who sees the text that's sent?+
The extracted text goes to the configured AI model provider to generate the answer, and DockDocs doesn't store it. As with any AI tool, avoid pasting secrets you wouldn't want a model provider to process.
How do I keep a PDF completely offline?+
Use the client-side tools — compress, merge, split, redact and similar — which run entirely in your browser and send nothing. AI features inherently send the extracted text, because a model has to read it to answer.