A document production index
Published October 27, 2026
A production index, also called a production log, lists what was handed over in discovery: one row per document or file, with its Bates range, page count, a short description and the date it went out. Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure does not require one. It is still the simplest way for both sides to know what was produced and to find it again. This is general information, not legal advice.
What a production index lists
| Column | Example | Why it is there |
|---|---|---|
| Bates begin | SMITH-000001 | Where the document starts |
| Bates end | SMITH-000036 | Where it ends |
| Pages | 36 | A check: end minus begin, plus one |
| Description | Checking account statements, January to December 2025 | What it is, without opening it |
| Request number | 3 | Ties the document to the request it answers |
| Date produced | May 4, 2026 | Which batch it went out in |
| Volume | SMITH-VOL001 | For productions sent in batches |
| SHA-256 | 3f2a…91c0 (64 characters in full) | A fingerprint of the exact file |
Court orders on production format ask for many of the same facts. The federal court order on productions in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill litigation (Pretrial Order No. 16, Eastern District of Louisiana, 2010) asked for each document's start Bates number, end Bates number and page count in its data fields. It also asked that each piece of production media show the producing party, the production date and the Bates ranges on it.
The request number column matters more in some courts than others. Federal Rule 34(b)(2)(E)(i) allows documents to be produced "as they are kept in the usual course of business" or organized and labeled "to correspond to the categories in the request". California's Code of Civil Procedure section 2031.280(a) says produced documents "shall be identified with the specific request number to which the documents respond." An index with a request column does that labeling in one place.
File fingerprints (SHA-256)
A SHA-256 fingerprint, or hash, is a 64-character code computed from every byte of a file. The same file always gives the same code. Change anything in it, even one character, and the code changes. SHA-256 is defined in a U.S. federal standard, NIST's FIPS 180-4, which says: "The digests are used to detect whether messages have been changed since the digests were generated."
In a production index that does one job. Months later, if anyone asks whether a file is the one that was sent, compute its fingerprint and compare. A match means it is the same file, byte for byte. A mismatch means something changed. On a Mac, shasum -a 256 file.pdf in Terminal prints it; on Windows, PowerShell's Get-FileHash file.pdf uses SHA-256 by default.
What a fingerprint does not do: it does not show that what a document says is true, who wrote it, or that the other side received it. It only shows whether a file has changed since the fingerprint was taken.
Production index vs privilege log
A production index lists what was handed over. A privilege log lists what was held back, or redacted, as privileged, for example letters between a party and their lawyer. Federal Rule 26(b)(5)(A) says a party withholding information on a claim of privilege or trial-preparation protection must "expressly make the claim" and "describe the nature of the documents, communications, or tangible things not produced or disclosed", in a way that "will enable other parties to assess the claim" without revealing the protected information itself.
| Production index | Privilege log | |
|---|---|---|
| Lists | Documents produced | Documents, or parts of them, withheld as privileged or protected |
| Federal rule | None; Rule 34 does not mention one | Rule 26(b)(5)(A) |
| Describes | Bates range, pages, contents, date, fingerprint | Enough about each item for the other side to assess the claim, without revealing it |
Keeping the index useful
- One row per produced file, in Bates order, with no gaps. If a number is skipped, a note says why.
- Descriptions that use the same words as the written response.
- One index for the whole case, extended with each batch (see rolling productions).
- Saved as a PDF to read and send, and as a CSV to sort and search.
- Kept with the produced files themselves, exactly as sent.
Whether to send the index to the other side is the producing party's choice, unless an order or agreement says otherwise. Some people send it as a cover list with each batch; either way it is their own record. For the whole response, see responding to a request for production or, without a lawyer, Bates numbering a discovery response without a lawyer. For the number format, see Bates number format.
BatesNumbering.app writes this index as a PDF and a CSV each time it numbers a set: Bates begin and end, page count, a description of each file, and the SHA-256 of each produced file. It does not make privilege logs or decide what is privileged.
Common questions
What is a production index?
A list of documents handed over in discovery, one row per document or file, with its Bates begin and end numbers, page count, a description and the date produced. Some also list the request each document answers and a SHA-256 fingerprint of the file.
What is the difference between a production log and a privilege log?
A production log lists what was produced. A privilege log lists what was withheld or redacted as privileged; in federal court, Rule 26(b)(5)(A) says a party withholding information that way must expressly make the claim and describe what was withheld.
Why put a SHA-256 hash in a production index?
A SHA-256 fingerprint is computed from every byte of a file, so any change to the file changes it. Listing it in the index lets anyone check later that a file is the same one that was produced.
How do I get the SHA-256 hash of a PDF?
On a Mac, run shasum -a 256 followed by the file name in Terminal. On Windows, PowerShell's Get-FileHash command uses SHA-256 by default.
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