Create a Searchable Document Archive with Telegram, Drive, OCR and Airtable

Description

This n8n workflow receives files sent in a Telegram chat, uploads them to Google Drive, extracts text using OCR (for images and PDFs), and stores the extracted content in Airtable for quick search and retrieval.
Users can later search through documents using a Telegram /search command.

Key Features

Accepts images and documents from Telegram
Uploads files to Google Drive automatically
Detects file type and runs OCR if eligible
Extracts text from images & PDFs via Google Vision
Stores file metadata + text in Airtable
Search documents using /search command in Telegram
Sends result previews and file links
Error handling & user notifications included

Use Cases

Personal document vault with search
Team knowledge filing system
Receipt & invoice OCR archive
Legal documents store & retrieval
Research papers & notes indexing
Company file inbox for AI knowledge base

Workflow Steps

| Step | Action | Description |
| ---- | --------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| 1 | Telegram Trigger | Detects incoming docs/images or /search command |
| 2 | Filter File or Search | Routes based on whether message has file or search command |
| 3 | Extract Metadata | Reads file info such as name, MIME type, user |
| 4 | Download File | Downloads file via Telegram API |
| 5 | Upload to Drive | Saves file in Google Drive |
| 6 | OCR Check | Determines if file supports OCR |
| 7 | Google OCR | Runs OCR for images/PDFs |
| 8 | Extract Text | Pulls text output from OCR |
| 9 | Merge OCR Text | Combines file data + text |
| 10 | Save to Airtable | Indexes with metadata + text |
| 11 | Success Reply | Sends link + success message |
| 12 | /search Flow | Parse search query |
| 13 | Airtable Search | Full-text search for records |
| 14 | Send Results | Sends matches to Telegram |
| 15 | Error Handler | Notifies user on failure |

Input Formats

File Messages Supported

Images
PDFs
Documents

Search Command

/search keyword

Example:

/search invoice

Output

After Upload:

✅ File saved & indexed successfully!
🔗 Drive Link: <link>

After Search:

Returns structured result:

File name
Preview text snippet
Google Drive link

Data Stored in Airtable

| Field | Description |
| ------------- | ------------------------- |
| File Name | Original name |
| File Link | Google Drive link |
| MIME Type | File type |
| Telegram User | Sender info |
| OCR Text | Extracted searchable text |
| Uploaded Date | Timestamp |

Technical Requirements

Telegram Bot Token
Google Drive API connection
Google Vision API key
Airtable API key & table

Benefits

Automatically organizes Telegram files
Makes PDFs & images searchable
Saves manual sorting and indexing time
AI-ready data storage (future LLM integration)
Fast search experience right in Telegram

Enhancement Ideas

Add Whisper for voice message transcription
Add chat GPT summarization for large docs
Build dashboard for uploaded files
Auto-tag documents (invoice, ID, receipt etc.)
Multi-language OCR support

Status

✅ Ready for production
✅ Handles images, PDFs, and files
✅ End-to-end automation
🛠 Optional: add more AI enrichment later