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AI Documents - Azure Blob Storage

Feature NameAI Documents - Azure Blob Storage
Feature IDCrestApps.OrchardCore.AI.Documents.Azure

Provides an optional storage provider for uploaded AI documents. When enabled and configured, the feature replaces the default local file-system document store with Orchard Core's Azure Blob Storage file store.

Overview​

By default, AI document uploads are stored on the local file system under:

wwwroot\<tenant-name>\AIDocuments

This applies to uploaded documents from:

  • AI Chat Interactions
  • AI Profiles
  • AI Chat Sessions
  • AI Chat Widgets (admin and frontend)

If you want those uploaded files to live in Azure Blob Storage instead, enable CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI.Documents.Azure.

What the feature changes​

When the feature is enabled and valid Azure settings are present:

  • uploaded AI documents are written to Azure Blob Storage instead of the tenant web root
  • the default IDocumentFileStore is replaced with an Orchard Core BlobFileStore
  • Orchard Core can create the blob container automatically when the tenant starts
  • tenant removal can optionally remove the entire container or just the configured base path

If the Azure configuration is missing or incomplete, the default local file-system storage remains active.

Getting started​

  1. Enable the AI Documents - Azure Blob Storage feature in Orchard Core.
  2. Add the CrestApps:AI:AzureDocuments settings under the tenant's OrchardCore configuration section.
  3. Restart the tenant or application if needed so the updated configuration is applied.
  4. Upload documents normally through AI Chat Interactions, AI Profiles, or AI Chat Sessions.

Configuration​

Configure the feature under the Orchard Core shell configuration section:

{
  "OrchardCore": {
    "CrestApps": {
      "AI": {
        "AzureDocuments": {
          "ConnectionString": "",
          "ContainerName": "somecontainer",
          "BasePath": "some/base/path",
          "CreateContainer": true,
          "RemoveContainer": true
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Settings reference​

SettingDescription
ConnectionStringAzure Storage account connection string.
ContainerNameAzure Blob container name. This must follow Azure container naming rules and should be lowercase.
BasePathOptional subdirectory inside the container where AI documents are stored.
CreateContainerWhen true, the feature creates the blob container automatically if it does not already exist.
RemoveContainerWhen true, the container is removed when the tenant is deleted.

Optional cleanup behavior​

The feature also supports:

SettingDescription
RemoveFilesFromBasePathRemoves only the configured BasePath contents when the tenant is deleted. Use this instead of RemoveContainer when the container is shared with other content.

RemoveContainer takes precedence over RemoveFilesFromBasePath. If both are enabled, the whole container is removed.

Configuration example with comments​

{
  "OrchardCore": {
    "CrestApps": {
      "AI": {
        "AzureDocuments": {
          // Set to your Azure Storage account connection string.
          "ConnectionString": "",
          // Set to the Azure Blob container name. It must be lowercase and follow Azure container naming rules.
          "ContainerName": "somecontainer",
          // Optionally, store documents under a subdirectory in the container.
          "BasePath": "some/base/path",
          // Creates the container automatically if it does not already exist.
          "CreateContainer": true,
          // Deletes the entire container when the tenant is removed.
          "RemoveContainer": true
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Notes​

  • BasePath supports Orchard Core liquid shell-token formatting through Orchard's blob-storage options pipeline.
  • Container names are normalized to lowercase during configuration.
  • This feature changes only where uploaded files are stored. AI document indexing, chunking, embeddings, and retrieval behavior stay the same.
  • Use local file-system storage unless you specifically need shared cloud storage, container-managed retention, or Azure-hosted deployments.