**Source URL:** https://general.veevavault.dev/vault-api/guides/creating-documents-bulk.md # Creating & Downloading Documents in Bulk In this guide we’ll discover two ways of creating documents in bulk: * Using the [Create Multiple Documents API](/vault-api/api-reference/26.1/documents/create-documents/create-multiple-documents) * Using the Vault Loader Command Line Interface (CLI). We’ll also look at how to download documents in bulk. Creating multiple documents is a two-step process. 1. First, upload the source files to your Vault’s File Staging with Vault File Manager, Loader CLI, or using the Vault API’s file staging endpoints. 2. Then, use the [Create Multiple Documents API](/vault-api/api-reference/26.1/documents/create-documents/create-multiple-documents) or [Load Data Objects](/vault-api/api-reference/26.1/vault-loader/multi-file-load/load-data-objects) endpoint to set the data attributes (field values) of the documents. These API calls also copy files from File Staging to your Vault. ## Vault Loader CLI {#vault-loader-cli} You can download Vault Loader CLI from the Vault UI. Learn more about [Vault Loader CLI in Vault Help](https://platform.veevavault.help/en/gr/26627#getting-started). ## Create Documents {#create-documents} In the API call, you must provide values for all required attributes, for each document that you’re creating. Learn more about retrieving the required attributes in [Understanding Metadata](/vault-api/guides/understanding-metadata). The request below creates three documents from source files `doc1.txt`, `doc2.txt`, and `doc3.txt`. The required metadata attributes for these documents are `name__v`, `type__v` and `lifecycle__v`. The `file` column and `suppressRendition` are not required: * The `file` attribute tells Vault where to look for the source file in File Staging. Omitting this column or leaving the value blank creates document placeholders. * The `suppressRendition` attribute tells Vault to delay generating a viewable rendition for the document until a user views the document from the UI. This setting reduces the load on your Vault by preventing unnecessary processing. ### CSV Input {#csv-input} Both of the requests below use the `create_documents.csv` input file. ``` file,name__v,type__v,lifecycle__v,suppressRendition doc1.txt,doc1,type,eTMF Lifecycle,true doc2.txt,doc2,type,eTMF Lifecycle,true doc3.txt,doc3,type,eTMF Lifecycle,true ``` ### Request {#request} Using curl: ``` curl -X POST -H "Authorization: {SESSION_ID}" \ -H "Content-Type: text/csv" \ -H "Accept: text/csv" \ --data-binary @"C:\Vault\Documents\create_documents.csv" \ https://myvault.veevavault.com/api/v15.0/objects/documents/batch ``` Using the command line interface: ``` java -jar VaultDataLoader.jar -createdocuments -csv create_documents.csv ``` ### Response {#response} You can see from the response that all documents were successfully created. The `id` column returns the system ID generated for each document and `row_id` maps each row back to the original input. ``` responseStatus,id,name__v,type__v,lifecycle__v,errors,row_id SUCCESS,1634,,,,,1 SUCCESS,1635,,,,,2 SUCCESS,1636,,,,,3 ``` ## CLI Async Mode {#cli-async-mode} You can run the CLI asynchronously and free up the command prompt. The CLI gives you a job ID that you can use to track the job status. When the job is complete, you can use `-jobresults` to download the results, which are similar to the CSV above. In async mode, these don’t download automatically. ### Example: CLI Async {#example-cli-async} These examples show the same document creation process as above, but using the CLI in asynchronous mode: ``` >> java -jar VaultDataLoader.jar -createdocuments -csv createdoc.csv -async Job 10479 submitted. >> java -jar VaultDataLoader.jar -jobstatus 10479 ID Type Status Progress Start Time End Time Expiration Date 10479 create-documents Success 3 / 0 2016-11-28 2016-11-28 2016-12-14 02:23:49AM GMT 02:23:53AM GMT 02:23:53AM GMT >> java -jar VaultDataLoader.jar -jobresults 10479 ``` ## Downloading Documents {#downloading-documents} Vault Loader (UI or CLI) provides the most efficient way to download source files and renditions. This section describes how to accomplish this from the CLI. ### Download Location {#download-location} Vault Loader downloads source files and renditions to File Staging, not your local machine. Once the process is complete, you can download the files from File Staging with Vault File Manager, Loader CLI, or the Vault API. The results indicate where the files reside on the server and which versions were included in the extract. Vault uses the following directory structure for downloaded files: `{job_id}/{doc_id}/{major_version_number__v}/{minor_version_number__v}/` ### Download Limits {#download-limits} Vault File Staging automatically removes downloaded files after the job’s *Expiration Date*. Vault Loader cannot extract more than 2,000 files (source files and renditions) in a single job. ### Example: Downloading with CLI {#example-downloading-with-cli} ``` >> java -jar VaultDataLoader.jar -exportdocument -source -where "id contains (1634, 1635, 1636)" -async >> java -jar VaultDataLoader.jar -jobstatus 10381 ID Type Status Progress Start Time End Time Expiration Date 10381 export-documents Success 3 / 0 2016-11-28 2016-11-28 2016-12-14 04:24:25AM GMT 04:24:25AM GMT 04:24:25AM GMT >> java -jar VaultDataLoader.jar -jobresults 10381 file,id,external_id__v,rendition_type__v,major_version_number__v,minor_version_number__v /10381/1636/0_1/doc3.txt,1636,,,0,1 /10381/1634/0_1/doc1.txt,1634,,,0,1 /10381/1635/0_1/doc2.txt,1635,,,0,1 ``` ## Next Steps {#next-steps} Now that you know how to create and download documents, you can learn how to [query document metadata attributes using VQL](/vql/query-targets/documents). --- **Previous:** [Creating Annotations with Vault API](/vault-api/guides/creating-annotations) **Next:** [Postman Collection](/vault-api/guides/postman-collection)