Process invoices via the API

This walkthrough shows how to process your first invoices with the ABBYY FlexiCapture for Invoices Cloud API: build the authorization header, upload a file, start a task, and download the results. All endpoints use the base URL https://api-{location-id}.flexicapture.com, where {location-id} is the supported location: us (USA and Canada), au (Australia), or eu (the European Union countries).

Create an account

To interact with the API, you need an account. If you have not created one yet, do so via the ABBYY FlexiCapture Cloud web portal.

Get the authorization header

All requests to the API must contain an authorization header, built from your application ID and token. For instructions, see Authentication. The examples below use the sample header Basic QWxhZGRpbjpPcGVuU2VzYW1l.

Upload a file

Upload a file to the server. You get the file’s identifier and token in the response; they are used in all subsequent requests concerning this file.

curl -X POST \
  --header "Accept: application/json" \
  --header "Authorization: Basic QWxhZGRpbjpPcGVuU2VzYW1l" \
  --form "file=@/path/to/file/Letter.tif" \
  "https://api-{location-id}.flexicapture.com/v2/file"

The project settings for document assembly are ignored when uploading a file via the REST API. A separate document is created for each file.

Start a task

After your document has been uploaded, start a task to begin data extraction. You can specify multiple files in this request. The request may contain the following optional parameters: invoice region, verification type, and the export format for the results. The response contains a task identifier.

curl -X POST \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --header "Accept: application/json" \
  --header "Authorization: Basic QWxhZGRpbjpPcGVuU2VzYW1l" \
  -d '{
    "properties": {
      "region": "US",
      "export_format": "Xls",
      "verification_type": "NoVerification"
    },
    "files": [
      {
        "id": "5ea16ff21b777315586713bf",
        "token": "34FB84AA68684F0F2BF496045224EB6C436F596B"
      }
    ]
  }' \
  "https://api-{location-id}.flexicapture.com/v2/task/capture/invoices"

Get the task status

Processing the task takes some time, so the extracted data is not available immediately. You can check the task status using the identifier you received when starting the task. Wait until the status changes to Done.

curl -X GET \
  --header "Accept: application/json" \
  --header "Authorization: Basic QWxhZGRpbjpPcGVuU2VzYW1l" \
  "https://api-{location-id}.flexicapture.com/v2/task/5ea18adc220e0d1c58177c59"

Download the result

After the task status changes to Done, you can download the output files using their identifiers and tokens. Repeat this request for each input file in the task request.

curl -X GET \
  --header "Accept: application/json" \
  --header "Authorization: Basic QWxhZGRpbjpPcGVuU2VzYW1l" \
  "https://api-{location-id}.flexicapture.com/v2/file/5ea21f6b7a9ae6193831d671/D188E5EFC0042A83529899AC1E1D94400A25DCF6"

Delete the task

After downloading the output data, delete the task to remove all input and output files.

curl -X DELETE \
  --header "Accept: application/json" \
  --header "Authorization: Basic QWxhZGRpbjpPcGVuU2VzYW1l" \
  "https://api-{location-id}.flexicapture.com/v2/task/5ea18adc220e0d1c58177c59"

Administrator's Guide

Administration Guide

Performance Guide

Troubleshooting

Cloud