Configuring SAP Document AI in SAP BTP from Scratch

Open Account Explorer

Fill in Subaccount Details

Create the Subaccount

Click Create to finalize the subaccount.

Confirm Subaccount Details

Open Trust Configuration

Establish Trust

Review the current trust settings. If a Custom Identity Provider for Applications (business users) is not yet present, click Establish Trust.

Complete the Configure Tenant Wizard

Verify All Three Providers Are Active

Open Entitlements

In the left navigation, go to Entitlements, then click Edit.

Open the Service Plan Selection Dialog

Select the Document AI Premium Plan

In the Services search bar, type document. Select SAP Document AI from the results and review the available plans on the right: blocks_of_100, default, and premium_edition. Check the box for premium_edition.

If you see the message “You have already assigned all the available quota for this service plan in your global account,” you must either purchase additional quota or release quota from another subaccount before you can continue.

Select the Correct Document AI Application Entry

Once quota is available, select the correct SAP Document AI entry based on your setup:

• If your customer has IAS configured: Select the entry whose name ends in -ias (for example, document-information-extraction-application-ias) and choose the premium_edition plan.
• If your customer does not have IAS configured: Select the SAP Document AI entry without -ias at the end.

In both cases, ensure the default (Application) plan is checked.

Add the Cloud Foundry Environment Plan

In the same dialog, clear the search bar and type cloud. Select Cloud Foundry Environment, then choose the build-runtime plan on the right.

Add All Three Service Plans

Save the Entitlement Changes

Click Save to apply the entitlement changes. The system displays a “Saving assignments” indicator while it processes.

Navigate to Subaccount Overview

Navigate to the Overview tab of your subaccount. Under “Cloud Foundry Environment,” click Enable Cloud Foundry.

Configure and Create the Cloud Foundry Environment

In the Enable Cloud Foundry dialog, fill in the following fields:

Field	Value
Plan	build-runtime
Landscape	Your current landscape
Instance Name	inclusionclouddemo01
Org Name	PreSales_inclusionclouddemo01

Click Create to activate Cloud Foundry for the subaccount.

Open Your Subaccount

Open SAP BTP Cockpit and navigate to your subaccount (for example, InclusionCloudDemo01). You’ll land on the subaccount Overview page, where you can review details such as entitlements, provider, region, and Cloud Foundry environment status.

Go to Instances and Subscriptions

In the left navigation pane, go to Services > Instances and Subscriptions. The page will be empty at this point — that’s expected.

Open the Create Dialog

Click Create in the top-right corner to open the “New Instance or Subscription” dialog.

Select SAP Document AI as the Service

In the dialog, select SAP Document AI as the service. If the system prompts you that no Cloud Foundry spaces exist, you’ll need to create one before continuing.

Select the premium_edition Plan

For Plan, select premium_edition under the “Instances” section.

Create a Cloud Foundry Space (if needed)

Complete and Submit the Instance Creation

Complete the remaining fields in the dialog:

Field	Value
Service	SAP Document AI
Plan	premium_edition
Runtime Environment	Cloud Foundry
Space	Dev (or your chosen name)
Instance Name	A CLI-friendly name, e.g. docai-premium

Click Create to submit.

Confirm the Instance Is Being Created

Your new instance will appear in the Instances list with the status Creation in Progress.

Create the Application Subscription

Click Create again. In the dialog, select SAP Document AI as the service, then choose default under the “Subscriptions” section for the plan.

Submit the Subscription

Verify Both Entries Are Processing

Both entries now appear on the Instances and Subscriptions page:

• Subscriptions: SAP Document AI | Plan: default | Status: Processing
• Instances: SAP Document AI | Plan: premium_edition | Status: Creation in Progress

Do not proceed to the next sections until both the service instance and the application subscription have finished processing and show as active. This can take up to 30 minutes.

Wait for the Subscription to Become Active

Monitor the Instances and Subscriptions page until the SAP Document AI subscription status changes from Processing to Subscribed. The service instance may still show Creation in Progress at this point.

Open the IAS Administration Console

Open a new browser tab and navigate to your IAS Administration Console URL (for example, XYZ.accounts.ondemand.com/admin/). You’ll see the Administration Console Log On screen.

Log In to IAS

Open the Groups Section

Once logged in, go to Users & Authorizations > Groups in the top menu to view all available groups.

Open the DocumentAI - Admin Group

In the groups list, find the group named DocumentAI - Admin associated with your application. Click on it to open the group details.

Add Your User to the Admin Group

In the Users section of the group, click Add. Search for your user, select them, and click Add to grant admin rights to SAP Document AI.

Return to BTP Cockpit

Return to the SAP BTP Cockpit to check the status of your instance and subscription.

Go to Security > Users

In SAP BTP Cockpit, go to Security > Users in the left navigation menu.

Create the User

Click Create. In the “Create User” dialog, enter the following and then click Create:

Field	Value
User Name	Your user’s email address
Identity Provider	Your IAS tenant URL (business user)
E-Mail	Your user’s email address

Ensure you are creating this as a Business User rather than a platform user. Only business users will have access to the live SAP Document AI application.

Open Assign Role Collection

Locate the newly created user in the list and click on them to open their details panel on the right side of the screen. Locate Role Collections, then click Assign Role Collection under the three dots menu.

Assign the Three Document AI Role Collections

Select the following three role collections:

• Document_Information_Extraction_UI_Document_Viewer
• Document_Information_Extraction_UI_End_User
• Document_Information_Extraction_UI_Templates_Admin

Click Assign Role Collection to apply.

Repeat for Additional Users

If you have multiple users (for example, one using IAS and one using the default identity provider), repeat the role assignment for each user.

Verify Instance and Subscription Status

Confirm Both Statuses Are Ready

Once the instance status shows Created, confirm the subscription is also Subscribed on the Instances and Subscriptions page.

Open the SAP Document AI Workspace

Open the SAP Document AI workspace URL. If the screen loads blank or you see a Permission Denied dialog, don’t worry — this is a common issue related to identity provider mismatches.

Re-authenticate in BTP Cockpit

Return to the SAP BTP Cockpit tab and re-authenticate if needed. When prompted, sign in using the correct identity provider credentials.

Check the User's Identity Provider

If the Permission Denied error persists after signing in, navigate to Security > Users in SAP BTP Cockpit and check which identity provider is listed for your user.

Delete the Incorrect User Entry

Reassign Role Collections to the Correct User

Select the correct user under the business users identity provider. Open their details pane, click Add Role Collection, and assign the required Document AI role collections.

Verify the Role Collections Are Assigned

Confirm the Correct Identity Provider

Confirm that the user with the assigned role collections is using the business users identity provider, not the default identity provider.

Access SAP Document AI

From your BTP Cockpit subaccount applications and subscriptions, access the SAP Document AI application.

Switch to the New UI

Once logged in, navigate to the SAP Document AI interface. You may initially land on the old UI, which displays a simple document list with limited options. To access the full feature set, click Workspace to switch to the new UI.

Explore the New UI

The new UI presents a more modern interface with a sidebar on the left and a blank workspace area. Sidebar options include All Documents, Schemas, Channels, Workflows, and Transports.

Browse Documents

In the sidebar, click All Documents to explore document management features. You can use the search and filter options at the top to locate specific documents. If no documents are found, the system will prompt you to adjust your search or filter criteria.

Open Manage Configuration

Set Document Retention Time

Activate Instant Learning

Under Learning, find the Instant Learning dropdown and select Active.

Activating Instant Learning allows edited extraction results to improve information extraction using generative AI. If you later deactivate this setting, all learning data is deleted immediately and permanently — this action cannot be undone.

Activate Data Feedback Collection

Under Feedback, find the Data Feedback Collection dropdown and select Active.

Activating Data Feedback Collection allows SAP to use your document data for retraining machine learning models. If you later deactivate this setting, all documents already uploaded for retraining are permanently deleted — this action cannot be undone.

Save the Configuration

Click the Save button at the bottom right of the configuration screen. Wait for the Configurations Saved confirmation message to appear before navigating away.

Review Saved Settings

Review your saved settings to confirm everything is configured as intended. You can also browse the Schemas section in the sidebar to review the schemas provided by SAP.

Go to Security > Users

Verify User Details

Verify the details shown for each user, including User Name, Identity Provider, Last Name, First Name, E-Mail, Last Updated, and Last Logon. Confirm that only authorized users appear in the list.