Strip leading dots from names handed to docling

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 # Changelog
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+
+- Dotfiles (`.gitignore`, `.env`) are parsed as their actual format instead of a single unstructured text block. Docling ignores the extension of a name starting with a dot, so converters strip leading dots from the name they hand it.
+
 ## [0.71.0] - 2026-07-29
 
 ### Added

haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/converters/docling_local.py

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, ClassVar
 
 from haiku.rag.config import AppConfig
 from haiku.rag.converters.base import DocumentConverter, vlm_api_url
-from haiku.rag.converters.text_utils import TextFileHandler
+from haiku.rag.converters.text_utils import TextFileHandler, docling_safe_name
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from docling.datamodel.base_models import InputFormat
@@ -287,7 +287,9 @@ class DoclingLocalConverter(DocumentConverter):
                 f"Supported formats: {', '.join(TextFileHandler.SUPPORTED_FORMATS)}"
             )
 
-        doc_name = f"content.{format}" if name == "content.md" else name
+        doc_name = docling_safe_name(
+            f"content.{format}" if name == "content.md" else name
+        )
 
         if format == "plain":
             return TextFileHandler._create_simple_docling_document(text, doc_name)

haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/converters/docling_serve.py

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, ClassVar
 
 from haiku.rag.config import AppConfig
 from haiku.rag.converters.base import DocumentConverter, vlm_api_url
-from haiku.rag.converters.text_utils import TextFileHandler
+from haiku.rag.converters.text_utils import TextFileHandler, docling_safe_name
 from haiku.rag.providers.docling_serve import DoclingServeClient
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -245,7 +245,13 @@ class DoclingServeConverter(DocumentConverter):
                 return f.read()
 
         file_content = await asyncio.to_thread(read_file)
-        files = {"files": (path.name, file_content, "application/octet-stream")}
+        files = {
+            "files": (
+                docling_safe_name(path.name),
+                file_content,
+                "application/octet-stream",
+            )
+        }
         return await self._make_request(files, path.name)
 
     SUPPORTED_FORMATS = ("md", "html", "plain")
@@ -276,8 +282,6 @@ class DoclingServeConverter(DocumentConverter):
         Raises:
             ValueError: If the text cannot be converted or format is unsupported.
         """
-        from haiku.rag.converters.text_utils import TextFileHandler
-
         if format not in self.SUPPORTED_FORMATS:
             raise ValueError(
                 f"Unsupported format: {format}. "
@@ -285,7 +289,9 @@ class DoclingServeConverter(DocumentConverter):
             )
 
         # Derive document name from format to tell docling which parser to use
-        doc_name = f"content.{format}" if name == "content.md" else name
+        doc_name = docling_safe_name(
+            f"content.{format}" if name == "content.md" else name
+        )
 
         # Plain text doesn't need remote parsing - create document directly
         if format == "plain":

haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/converters/text_utils.py

@@ -6,6 +6,16 @@ if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from docling_core.types.doc.document import DoclingDocument
 
 
+def docling_safe_name(name: str) -> str:
+    """Strip leading dots from a filename handed to docling.
+
+    Docling ignores the extension of any name starting with a dot, so a name
+    derived from a dotfile (".gitignore" -> ".gitignore.md") is classified as
+    an unknown format and parsed as one unstructured text block.
+    """
+    return name.lstrip(".") or name
+
+
 class TextFileHandler:
     """Handles conversion of text files to DoclingDocument format.
 

tests/test_converters.py

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ from haiku.rag.converters import get_converter
 from haiku.rag.converters.base import vlm_api_url
 from haiku.rag.converters.docling_local import DoclingLocalConverter
 from haiku.rag.converters.docling_serve import DoclingServeConverter
-from haiku.rag.converters.text_utils import TextFileHandler
+from haiku.rag.converters.text_utils import TextFileHandler, docling_safe_name
 
 
 class TestVlmApiUrl:
@@ -165,6 +165,13 @@ async def test_parse_zip_runs_off_event_loop_thread():
 class TestTextFileHandler:
     """Tests for TextFileHandler utility class."""
 
+    def test_docling_safe_name(self):
+        """Leading dots are stripped, other names are untouched, and a name of
+        nothing but dots is kept rather than reduced to an empty filename."""
+        assert docling_safe_name(".gitignore.md") == "gitignore.md"
+        assert docling_safe_name("notes.md") == "notes.md"
+        assert docling_safe_name("...") == "..."
+
     def test_text_extensions_defined(self):
         """Test that text extensions list is defined."""
         assert len(TextFileHandler.text_extensions) > 0
@@ -338,6 +345,21 @@ class TestTextToDoclingWithFormat:
             assert "section_header" in labels
             assert "list_item" in labels
 
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_dotfile_derived_name_parses_as_markdown(self):
+        """Docling ignores the extension of a stream name starting with a dot,
+        so a name derived from a dotfile (".gitignore" -> ".gitignore.md") must
+        be normalized or the whole document collapses to one plain-text block.
+        """
+        config = AppConfig()
+        converter = DoclingLocalConverter(config)
+
+        text = "Overview.\n\n## History\n\n- First item\n- Second item"
+        doc = await converter.convert_text(text, name=".gitignore.md")
+        labels = [str(getattr(item, "label", "")) for item, _ in doc.iterate_items()]
+        assert "section_header" in labels
+        assert "list_item" in labels
+
     @pytest.mark.asyncio
     async def test_plain_text_without_markdown_syntax_fallback(self):
         """Test that plain text without markdown syntax falls back gracefully.
@@ -1305,6 +1327,48 @@ class TestDoclingServeConverter:
             call_kwargs = mock_client.post.call_args.kwargs
             assert "files" in call_kwargs
 
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_dotfile_uploads_with_detectable_name(self, converter):
+        """docling-serve runs the same format detection on the uploaded
+        filename, which ignores the extension of any name starting with a dot.
+        """
+        doc_json = create_mock_docling_document("test")
+        submit_resp, poll_resp, result_resp = create_async_workflow_zip_mocks(doc_json)
+
+        with patch("httpx.AsyncClient") as mock_client_class:
+            mock_client = AsyncMock()
+            mock_client.post = AsyncMock(return_value=submit_resp)
+            mock_client.get = AsyncMock(side_effect=[poll_resp, result_resp])
+            mock_client.__aenter__ = AsyncMock(return_value=mock_client)
+            mock_client.__aexit__ = AsyncMock(return_value=None)
+            mock_client_class.return_value = mock_client
+
+            await converter.convert_text("# Test", name=".gitignore.md")
+            uploaded_name = mock_client.post.call_args.kwargs["files"]["files"][0]
+            assert uploaded_name == "gitignore.md"
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_dotfile_path_uploads_with_detectable_name(self, converter, tmp_path):
+        """A dotfile with no extension is uploaded under a name docling can
+        still probe by content rather than one it refuses to classify.
+        """
+        doc_json = create_mock_docling_document("test")
+        submit_resp, poll_resp, result_resp = create_async_workflow_zip_mocks(doc_json)
+        dotfile = tmp_path / ".customrc"
+        dotfile.write_bytes(b"\x00binary")
+
+        with patch("httpx.AsyncClient") as mock_client_class:
+            mock_client = AsyncMock()
+            mock_client.post = AsyncMock(return_value=submit_resp)
+            mock_client.get = AsyncMock(side_effect=[poll_resp, result_resp])
+            mock_client.__aenter__ = AsyncMock(return_value=mock_client)
+            mock_client.__aexit__ = AsyncMock(return_value=None)
+            mock_client_class.return_value = mock_client
+
+            await converter.convert_file(dotfile)
+            uploaded_name = mock_client.post.call_args.kwargs["files"]["files"][0]
+            assert uploaded_name == "customrc"
+
 
 class TestDoclingServeConverterPictureDescription:
     """Tests for DoclingServeConverter picture description support."""