> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mercora.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How Mercora works > Follow a document from arrival to approval, and learn the trust model: Mercora reads, checks and recommends, and a person approves. A single physical trade generates a stack of paper. Veltana Commodities SA's sugar trade VCS-S-2026-0714 (27 MT of white refined sugar, bought FOB Laem Chabang from Kanchana Siam Sugar and sold CIF Singapore to Meridian Foodstuffs) comes with twelve documents: the purchase and sales contracts, the letter of credit ILC26SG04582, the supplier and customer invoices, the B/L (bill of lading, the carrier's receipt for the cargo) RCLLCH2607841, a packing list, and certificates of origin, quality, weight, phytosanitary condition and insurance. Someone has to read all of it, file it against the right trade, catch what contradicts what, and keep the numbers honest. Mercora does the reading and the checking. You make the decisions. This page explains what happens to a document, and where a person stays in control. ## From document to trade **1. A document arrives** Documents reach Mercora when you [upload them](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/uploading.md) or when they come in by [email](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/email-ingestion.md). A saved email you upload is opened up and each attachment is handled as its own document. If one file holds several documents, for example a scanned pack with an invoice, a B/L and three certificates, Mercora splits it into separate documents. If your admin has turned on **Bundle review**, Mercora holds the pack in the Inbox until someone confirms the split. **2. Mercora reads and classifies it** Mercora works out what kind of document it is and reads the fields that matter for that type: parties, references, commodity, quantities, weights, prices, dates, vessel and so on. See [Document processing](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/processing.md). **3. Mercora matches it to a trade** Mercora looks for the trade the document belongs to, and only links it on its own when the evidence leaves no real doubt: * **A reference matches exactly one trade.** The document carries a trade reference, contract number, deal reference or B/L number that belongs to one trade and no other. Mercora links it and shows the reason, for example "Contract VCS-S-2026-0714 on the document". * **The match is highly confident.** Without a unique reference, Mercora links the document only when the evidence for one trade is strong, and again shows why. Otherwise Mercora doesn't link the document. It recommends: the most likely trade is pre-selected in the trade picker with a **Recommended** label and the reason, and you click **Match** to confirm it or choose another trade. When a reference is shared by more than one trade, Mercora never picks the first one; it asks you. When nothing fits, the document stays **Unmatched**. You can always change the trade a document is matched to, or mark it as belonging to no trade. See [Matching documents to trades](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/matching.md). ![The Match step with a recommended trade and the Match button](https://mintcdn.com/placeholder-f4ffdeec/22McaegbdDRSI41b/images/documents/match-step-recommended.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=22McaegbdDRSI41b\&q=85\&s=02a8088829f6d0daa68f1aa1f8624703) Purchase contract VCS-P-2026-0688 doesn't carry the trade's reference, so Mercora recommends VCS-S-2026-0714, says why, and waits for you to click Match. **4. Mercora checks it for discrepancies** Once a document is matched, Mercora compares it with the trade and with the trade's other documents and flags anything that doesn't line up, like a quantity outside the contract tolerance, a weight that differs between the B/L and the invoice, or a container seal number that differs between the weight certificate and the trade. See [Discrepancies](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/discrepancies.md). **5. You review and approve** In the [Inbox](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/inbox.md), you see what Mercora read next to the original document. You correct any field that's wrong, settle the trade it belongs to, review the flagged discrepancies, and click **Approve**. **Approve** stays unavailable until the document is matched and its checks have run. Only when a person approves does the document's information count: until then, it isn't part of your trade records, even if Mercora linked it to a trade on its own. ![A document open in the Inbox with the original beside the extracted fields](https://mintcdn.com/placeholder-f4ffdeec/22McaegbdDRSI41b/images/getting-started/walkthrough-02-review-sales-contract.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=22McaegbdDRSI41b\&q=85\&s=a7bb863ab92fe4b36cfdba72eb644b67) Sales contract VCS-S-2026-0714 beside its extracted fields: matched to its trade, checked with no differences, and waiting for Approve. From there, the approved data feeds the rest of Mercora: the trade's documents and discrepancies, its financials and invoices, shipments, and the P\&L, depending on which [modules](https://docs.mercora.io/concepts/modules.md) your workspace uses. The [walkthrough](https://docs.mercora.io/getting-started/walkthrough.md) follows VCS-S-2026-0714 through every one of these steps. ## The trust model Mercora is built on one rule: **AI recommends, a person approves.** > **Nothing counts until approved** > > Mercora links a document to a trade on its own only when a reference matches exactly one trade or the match is highly confident. It never approves a document or changes your trade records by itself. Workflows such as deal capture, hedging and automations start switched off, and your admin turns each one on deliberately. > **You make the call** > > When Mercora isn't sure, it recommends and ranks the likely answer first. Matching and approving are your clicks, and Mercora records who approved each document and who matched it by hand. > **Everything is visible** > > Mercora shows what it read, where it read it, and why it matched or recommended a trade. When something is uncertain, it says so instead of guessing. > **Decisions can be changed** > > You can correct an extracted field, move a document to a different trade, or reclassify it. Your corrections and decisions are kept when a document is processed again. The same rule applies beyond documents: * **Copilot** answers questions using only the data your role can see. Anything it would do outside Mercora on your behalf, such as sending an email or changing a shared spreadsheet, waits for you to click **Approve**. * **Workflows** such as [deal capture](https://docs.mercora.io/workflows/deal-capture.md), [hedging](https://docs.mercora.io/workflows/hedging.md) and [freight rates](https://docs.mercora.io/workflows/freight-rates.md) put their proposals in the Inbox for a person to confirm. * **Automations** report what they find, and anything they would change waits for a person. * **The API** lets your own systems send requests to Mercora, but what they create lands in the Inbox for an operator. For example, a hedge request sent through the API is not sent to your broker until someone in your team sends it. ## Why it works this way Physical trade finance depends on accountability. A missed discrepancy can cost far more than the time it takes to check one, so Mercora is careful about what it claims to know. As each workflow proves itself on real books, more of the routine work can be handled for you, and that is always something your workspace opts into. Whatever Mercora does stays visible and explained. ## Next steps > **[Walkthrough](https://docs.mercora.io/getting-started/walkthrough.md)** > > See the whole flow on the sugar trade VCS-S-2026-0714. > **[Matching documents to trades](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/matching.md)** > > How matches and recommendations work, and how to change them. > **[Modules](https://docs.mercora.io/concepts/modules.md)** > > Which parts of Mercora your workspace uses. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.