Teams often manage a wide variety of documents directly within monday.com, such as invoices, contracts, or project briefs. When these documents are uploaded as files within subitems, extracting specific information from them is crucial for tracking, reporting, and processing.

Imagine your team handles a high volume of client invoices. Each invoice is managed as a subitem on a board, with the actual invoice PDF uploaded to a file column within that subitem. To properly categorize and process these invoices, you need to pull out key details like the invoice ID, issue date, and client address.

Extract AI now supports file extraction from monday.com subitems

Manually opening each invoice PDF from its subitem, identifying the relevant information, and then copying it into separate columns on your monday.com board is a tedious and error-prone process.

This manual data entry consumes valuable time, slows down your workflows, and increases the risk of mistakes, especially with many documents to process.

Jetpack’s Extract AI app integrates seamlessly with monday.com to automate this data extraction process. By leveraging AI, the app can intelligently read specific details from your subitem files—like invoice IDs and addresses from a PDF—and automatically populate corresponding columns on your board. This eliminates manual effort, improves data accuracy, and significantly accelerates your team’s workflow.

Step by step on how to extract data from files into monday.com subitems with Extract AI

Follow these steps to configure the Extract AI app and automate data extraction from your subitem file columns:

1. Add the Extract AI App:

• Navigate to your monday.com board.
• Click the “Add View” button (usually a + icon or “Add View” at the top left of your board tabs).
• Go to the “Apps” section and search for “Extract AI”.
• Add the Extract AI app to your board view.

2. Create a New Extraction Block:
   • Once the app is added, you will see an option to “Get Started with blocks” within the Extract AI view. Click it.
   • Name the Block: Give your extraction block a descriptive name, such as “Invoice Details”.
   • Select Extraction Method: Choose “File Upload” as the method.
   • Specify Item Type: Select “Sub-items” since you are extracting from files within subitems.

3. Configure File and Trigger Columns:
   1. Select File Column: Choose the specific “File” column within your subitems where the documents (e.g., invoice PDFs) will be uploaded.
   2. Choose Trigger Status: Select a “Status” column and a specific status value that will trigger the extraction process (e.g., “Done”). When a subitem’s status changes to this value, the app will automatically extract data from its file.

4. Map Extracted Fields to Columns:
   1. The app will present fields it can extract.
   2. Map Address: If you have an existing “Text” column for the Address, map the extracted Address field to it.
   3. Map Invoice ID: Similarly, map the extracted Invoice ID to an existing “Text” column on your board.
   4. (Note: While the app can extract dates, ensure you have a “Date” column available if you wish to map that information.)

5. Create the Block:
   1. Click “Create Block”. The app will confirm that webhooks have been created and the block is successfully saved.

6. Test the Automation:
   1. Go back to your main table view.
   2. Locate a subitem that has a file uploaded in the designated file column.
   3. Change the status value of that subitem to the trigger status you configured (e.g., “Done”).
   4. After a few seconds, the Extract AI app will run the automation, and the Invoice ID and Address fields on your board should automatically populate with the extracted data.

Tips, Caveats, and Best Practices

• Column Types: Ensure your target columns on monday.com are set to the correct type (e.g., “Text” for Invoice ID and Address, “Date” for dates) to properly receive the extracted data.
• Trigger Status: Choose a trigger status that makes sense for your workflow. For example, “Ready for Processing” or “Review Complete” could also be good triggers.
• Document Consistency: While Extract AI is powerful, its accuracy can be improved with more consistent document layouts. Highly varied invoice designs might require fine-tuning or review.
• Review and Verify: It’s always a good practice to periodically review the automatically extracted data, especially during initial setup, to ensure accuracy.
• Support: If you encounter any issues or have questions, reach out to [email protected] for assistance.

What this data extraction feature enables you to do

With this setup, your team can eliminate the tedious and error-prone task of manual data entry from files within subitems. You can now streamline processes like invoice management, contract review, or document categorization.

Key information from your uploaded files will automatically appear on your board, saving significant time, improving data accuracy, and allowing your team to focus on higher-value tasks rather than repetitive data extraction.