diff --git a/collector/index.js b/collector/index.js
index 73091efcdee..962ee6f8c65 100644
--- a/collector/index.js
+++ b/collector/index.js
@@ -58,6 +58,39 @@ app.post(
   }
 );
 
+app.post(
+  "/parse",
+  [verifyPayloadIntegrity],
+  async function (request, response) {
+    const { filename, options = {} } = reqBody(request);
+    try {
+      const targetFilename = path
+        .normalize(filename)
+        .replace(/^(\.\.(\/|\\|$))+/, "");
+      const {
+        success,
+        reason,
+        documents = [],
+      } = await processSingleFile(targetFilename, {
+        ...options,
+        parseOnly: true,
+      });
+      response
+        .status(200)
+        .json({ filename: targetFilename, success, reason, documents });
+    } catch (e) {
+      console.error(e);
+      response.status(200).json({
+        filename: filename,
+        success: false,
+        reason: "A processing error occurred.",
+        documents: [],
+      });
+    }
+    return;
+  }
+);
+
 app.post(
   "/process-link",
   [verifyPayloadIntegrity],
diff --git a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asAudio.js b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asAudio.js
index 8b179a52994..dccb2b9522a 100644
--- a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asAudio.js
+++ b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asAudio.js
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ async function asAudio({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "", options = {} }) {
   const document = writeToServerDocuments({
     data,
     filename: `${slugify(filename)}-${data.id}`,
+    options: { parseOnly: options.parseOnly },
   });
   trashFile(fullFilePath);
   console.log(
diff --git a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asDocx.js b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asDocx.js
index 2dfad739d06..6e2133b1e38 100644
--- a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asDocx.js
+++ b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asDocx.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ const {
 const { tokenizeString } = require("../../utils/tokenizer");
 const { default: slugify } = require("slugify");
 
-async function asDocX({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "" }) {
+async function asDocX({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "", options = {} }) {
   const loader = new DocxLoader(fullFilePath);
 
   console.log(`-- Working ${filename} --`);
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ async function asDocX({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "" }) {
   const document = writeToServerDocuments({
     data,
     filename: `${slugify(filename)}-${data.id}`,
+    options: { parseOnly: options.parseOnly },
   });
   trashFile(fullFilePath);
   console.log(`[SUCCESS]: ${filename} converted & ready for embedding.\n`);
diff --git a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asEPub.js b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asEPub.js
index 3b7f7295c3c..15a01b23fc1 100644
--- a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asEPub.js
+++ b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asEPub.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ const {
 } = require("../../utils/files");
 const { default: slugify } = require("slugify");
 
-async function asEPub({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "" }) {
+async function asEPub({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "", options = {} }) {
   let content = "";
   try {
     const loader = new EPubLoader(fullFilePath, { splitChapters: false });
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ async function asEPub({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "" }) {
   const document = writeToServerDocuments({
     data,
     filename: `${slugify(filename)}-${data.id}`,
+    options: { parseOnly: options.parseOnly },
   });
   trashFile(fullFilePath);
   console.log(`[SUCCESS]: ${filename} converted & ready for embedding.\n`);
diff --git a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asImage.js b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asImage.js
index 8bf8adf738b..05eff2d5696 100644
--- a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asImage.js
+++ b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asImage.js
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ async function asImage({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "", options = {} }) {
   const document = writeToServerDocuments({
     data,
     filename: `${slugify(filename)}-${data.id}`,
+    options: { parseOnly: options.parseOnly },
   });
   trashFile(fullFilePath);
   console.log(`[SUCCESS]: ${filename} converted & ready for embedding.\n`);
diff --git a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asMbox.js b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asMbox.js
index 74427046a1f..e5a3a98d60f 100644
--- a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asMbox.js
+++ b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asMbox.js
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ async function asMbox({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "" }) {
     const document = writeToServerDocuments({
       data,
       filename: `${slugify(filename)}-${data.id}-msg-${item}`,
+      options: { parseOnly: options.parseOnly },
     });
     documents.push(document);
   }
diff --git a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asOfficeMime.js b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asOfficeMime.js
index 66a13588530..ac8ae31e7c3 100644
--- a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asOfficeMime.js
+++ b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asOfficeMime.js
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ async function asOfficeMime({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "" }) {
   const document = writeToServerDocuments({
     data,
     filename: `${slugify(filename)}-${data.id}`,
+    options: { parseOnly: options.parseOnly },
   });
   trashFile(fullFilePath);
   console.log(`[SUCCESS]: ${filename} converted & ready for embedding.\n`);
diff --git a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asPDF/index.js b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asPDF/index.js
index db66c7660b4..5971dd4e416 100644
--- a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asPDF/index.js
+++ b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asPDF/index.js
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ async function asPdf({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "", options = {} }) {
   const document = writeToServerDocuments({
     data,
     filename: `${slugify(filename)}-${data.id}`,
+    options: { parseOnly: options.parseOnly },
   });
   trashFile(fullFilePath);
   console.log(`[SUCCESS]: ${filename} converted & ready for embedding.\n`);
diff --git a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asTxt.js b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asTxt.js
index 1abe49532e5..7e3bd92c06e 100644
--- a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asTxt.js
+++ b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asTxt.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ const {
 } = require("../../utils/files");
 const { default: slugify } = require("slugify");
 
-async function asTxt({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "" }) {
+async function asTxt({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "", options = {} }) {
   let content = "";
   try {
     content = fs.readFileSync(fullFilePath, "utf8");
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ async function asTxt({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "" }) {
   const document = writeToServerDocuments({
     data,
     filename: `${slugify(filename)}-${data.id}`,
+    options: { parseOnly: options.parseOnly },
   });
   trashFile(fullFilePath);
   console.log(`[SUCCESS]: ${filename} converted & ready for embedding.\n`);
diff --git a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asXlsx.js b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asXlsx.js
index a64e8e20390..832e44a7df7 100644
--- a/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asXlsx.js
+++ b/collector/processSingleFile/convert/asXlsx.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ const {
   trashFile,
   writeToServerDocuments,
   documentsFolder,
+  directUploadsFolder,
 } = require("../../utils/files");
 const { tokenizeString } = require("../../utils/tokenizer");
 const { default: slugify } = require("slugify");
@@ -26,14 +27,16 @@ function convertToCSV(data) {
     .join("\n");
 }
 
-async function asXlsx({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "" }) {
+async function asXlsx({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "", options = {} }) {
   const documents = [];
   const folderName = slugify(`${path.basename(filename)}-${v4().slice(0, 4)}`, {
     lower: true,
     trim: true,
   });
+  const outFolderPath = options.parseOnly
+    ? path.resolve(directUploadsFolder, folderName)
+    : path.resolve(documentsFolder, folderName);
 
-  const outFolderPath = path.resolve(documentsFolder, folderName);
   try {
     const workSheetsFromFile = xlsx.parse(fullFilePath);
     if (!fs.existsSync(outFolderPath))
@@ -68,6 +71,7 @@ async function asXlsx({ fullFilePath = "", filename = "" }) {
           data: sheetData,
           filename: `sheet-${slugify(name)}`,
           destinationOverride: outFolderPath,
+          options: { parseOnly: options.parseOnly },
         });
         documents.push(document);
         console.log(
diff --git a/collector/utils/files/index.js b/collector/utils/files/index.js
index f1b9d93edd9..dd0f9315060 100644
--- a/collector/utils/files/index.js
+++ b/collector/utils/files/index.js
@@ -11,6 +11,16 @@ const documentsFolder =
     ? path.resolve(__dirname, `../../../server/storage/documents`)
     : path.resolve(process.env.STORAGE_DIR, `documents`);
 
+/**
+ * The folder where direct uploads are stored to be stored when
+ * processed by the collector. These are files that were DnD'd into UI
+ * and are not to be embedded or selectable from the file picker.
+ */
+const directUploadsFolder =
+  process.env.NODE_ENV === "development"
+    ? path.resolve(__dirname, `../../../server/storage/direct-uploads`)
+    : path.resolve(process.env.STORAGE_DIR, `direct-uploads`);
+
 /**
  * Checks if a file is text by checking the mime type and then falling back to buffer inspection.
  * This way we can capture all the cases where the mime type is not known but still parseable as text
@@ -102,17 +112,21 @@ function createdDate(filepath) {
  * @param {Object} params.data - The data to write to the file. Must look like a document object.
  * @param {string} params.filename - The name of the file to write to.
  * @param {string|null} params.destinationOverride - A forced destination to write to - will be honored if provided.
+ * @param {Object} params.options - The options for the function.
+ * @param {boolean} params.options.parseOnly - If true, the file will be written to the direct uploads folder instead of the documents folder. Will be ignored if destinationOverride is provided.
  * @returns {Object} - The data with the location added.
  */
 function writeToServerDocuments({
   data = {},
-  filename = null,
+  filename,
   destinationOverride = null,
+  options = {},
 }) {
   if (!filename) throw new Error("Filename is required!");
 
   let destination = null;
   if (destinationOverride) destination = path.resolve(destinationOverride);
+  else if (options.parseOnly) destination = path.resolve(directUploadsFolder);
   else destination = path.resolve(documentsFolder, "custom-documents");
 
   if (!fs.existsSync(destination))
@@ -129,6 +143,7 @@ function writeToServerDocuments({
     // that will work since we know the location exists and since we only allow
     // 1-level deep folders this will always work. This still works for integrations like GitHub and YouTube.
     location: destinationFilePath.split("/").slice(-2).join("/"),
+    isDirectUpload: options.parseOnly || false,
   };
 }
 
@@ -207,4 +222,5 @@ module.exports = {
   isWithin,
   sanitizeFileName,
   documentsFolder,
+  directUploadsFolder,
 };