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Artifacts

An artifact is any document uploaded to a dock — PDFs, images, data files. Docyard stores artifacts with content-addressable deduplication and verifies integrity on every retrieval.

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Deduplication

When you upload an artifact, Docyard computes its SHA-256 hash. If a file with the same hash already exists in the dock, the upload succeeds but no additional storage is consumed. The response includes isDuplicate: true to indicate the match. This means:
  • Upload the same file from multiple systems — stored once
  • Re-upload after a failed batch — no wasted storage
  • Cost is based on unique content, not upload count

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Integrity Verification

Every retrieval verifies the stored artifact’s hash against the original. If the hash doesn’t match — due to corruption, tampering, or storage degradation — the retrieval fails and an audit event is generated.

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Metadata

Artifacts support arbitrary key-value metadata for downstream routing and filtering: 
{
  "filename": "dec-page-2025-Q1.pdf",
  "metadata": {
    "policy_number": "POL-2025-4821",
    "effective_date": "2025-01-01",
    "document_type": "declaration-page"
  }
}
Docks can define a metadata schema that validates artifact metadata at upload time. See Metadata Schema for configuration.

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Upload Methods

MethodUse Case
Single uploadUpload one file via multipart form data
Batch uploadUpload up to 100 files in a single request
Metadata-onlyCreate artifact records without uploading binary content (for external storage)