API quickstart

Three steps: create a workflow, run a document through it, read the values. The invoice extractor below pulls invoice_number, total_amount, and issue_date.

Prefer to click? The Quickstart builds the same workflow at app.anyformat.ai with no code. Building your first workflow there is faster, and you can call it from the API afterwards with its workflow ID.

Before you start

Get an API key from app.anyformat.ai/api-key. The snippets below read it from the environment. Both SDKs also take the key as a constructor argument. The Python SDK page carries the Python version pin.

export ANYFORMAT_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"

npm install @anyformat/sdk   # Node 18+
export ANYFORMAT_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"

pip install anyformat        # Python 3.13
export ANYFORMAT_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"

1. Create a workflow

A workflow is a typed graph of nodes. The smallest extraction shape is a parse node feeding an extract node: two nodes, one edge. Both SDKs expose a fluent builder over that same graph. Nodes covers the other node types, including Classify and Split.

curl -X POST 'https://api.anyformat.ai/v3/workflows/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ANYFORMAT_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
  "name": "Invoice Processing",
  "description": "Extract key data from invoices",
  "nodes": [
    {"id": "parse_1", "type": "parse"},
    {
      "id": "extract_1",
      "type": "extract",
      "extraction_schema": {"fields": [
        {"name": "invoice_number", "data_type": "string",
         "description": "The unique invoice identifier"},
        {"name": "total_amount", "data_type": "float",
         "description": "Total invoice amount"},
        {"name": "issue_date", "data_type": "date",
         "description": "Date when the invoice was issued"}
      ]}
    }
  ],
  "edges": [{"source": "parse_1", "target": "extract_1"}]
}'

import { Anyformat, Schema } from "@anyformat/sdk";

const af = new Anyformat({ apiKey: process.env.ANYFORMAT_API_KEY! });

// .create() persists the workflow and returns its id.
const workflowId = await af
  .workflow("Invoice Processing", "Extract key data from invoices")
  .parse()
  .extract([
    Schema.string("invoice_number", "The unique invoice identifier"),
    Schema.float("total_amount",    "Total invoice amount"),
    Schema.date("issue_date",       "Date when the invoice was issued"),
  ])
  .create();

console.log(`Created workflow: ${workflowId}`);

import os
from anyformat.sdk import Client
from anyformat.workflow import Schema

client = Client(api_key=os.environ["ANYFORMAT_API_KEY"])

workflow = (
    client.workflow("Invoice Processing")
    .parse()
    .extract([
        Schema.string("invoice_number", "The unique invoice identifier"),
        Schema.float("total_amount",    "Total invoice amount"),
        Schema.date("issue_date",       "Date when the invoice was issued"),
    ])
    .create()  # persists and returns a Workflow handle
)

print(f"Created workflow: {workflow.id}")

Keep the workflow ID. Over HTTP it arrives as id, alongside the name, description, and timestamps:

{
  "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "name": "Invoice Processing",
  "…": "…"
}

2. Run a document

Upload and run uploads the file and starts a run in one call. Replace WORKFLOW_ID with the ID from step 1.

curl -X POST 'https://api.anyformat.ai/v3/workflows/WORKFLOW_ID/upload/run/' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ANYFORMAT_API_KEY" \
  -F 'files=@invoice.pdf'

// The TS SDK collapses submit and poll into one .run(file).wait() chain.
// Build the same shape, or look the workflow up by id with the low-level client.
// `file` must be a File with .name set.
const file = new File([bytes], "invoice.pdf");

const result = await af
  .workflow("Invoice Processing", "Extract key data from invoices")
  .parse()
  .extract([
    Schema.string("invoice_number", "The unique invoice identifier"),
    Schema.float("total_amount",    "Total invoice amount"),
    Schema.date("issue_date",       "Date when the invoice was issued"),
  ])
  .run(file)
  .wait();  // continues into step 3

run = workflow.run("invoice.pdf")  # Path | str | bytes

The 202 response carries the run_id. Keep it to poll for results. status: "queued" means the run was accepted, not that extraction has finished.

{
  "run_id": "069dcc2c-e14c-7606-8000-2ee4fb17b4f9",
  "document_packet_id": "069dcc2c-e14c-7606-8000-2ee4fb17b4e1",
  "workflow_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "status": "queued"
}

3. Read the values

Poll the run. It always returns 200. results is null until status is processed, and then the results envelope arrives inline on the same read. Stop polling when status is processed, error, or cancelled.

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $ANYFORMAT_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.anyformat.ai/v3/runs/RUN_ID/"

// `result` was awaited in step 2.
console.log(result.field("invoice_number")?.value);
console.log(result.field("total_amount")?.value);
console.log(result.field("issue_date")?.value);

result = run.wait()
print(result.fields["invoice_number"].value)
print(result.fields["total_amount"].value)
print(result.fields["issue_date"].value)

A finished run reports status: "processed", and each extracted field carries a value and a confidence:

{
  "status": "processed",
  "results": {
    "parse": {"…": "…"},
    "extractions": [{"fields": {
      "invoice_number": {"value": "INV-2024-0847", "confidence": 97.0},
      "total_amount":   {"value": "4087.50",       "confidence": 96.0},
      "issue_date":     {"value": "2024-03-15",    "confidence": 93.0}
    }}]
  }
}

results holds one section per node type that ran. This workflow has a parse node and an extract node, so parse and extractions are filled.
extractions is a list. One entry per extraction the run produced.
fields is keyed by the field names you defined in step 1.
value is a string on the wire, including for float and date fields. confidence is a number from 0 to 100.
parse is trimmed above. It holds the parsed markdown, the plain text, per-page blocks, and their bounding boxes.

Each field also carries evidence: the snippet and page number the value came from. Runs & results is the full envelope, section by section, and Get run lists every field.

The whole thing as one script

TypeScript

import { Anyformat, Schema } from "@anyformat/sdk";

const af = new Anyformat({ apiKey: process.env.ANYFORMAT_API_KEY! });
// `file` must be a File with .name set.
const file = new File([bytes], "invoice.pdf");

const result = await af
  .workflow("Invoice Processing", "Extract key data from invoices")
  .parse()
  .extract([
    Schema.string("invoice_number", "The unique invoice identifier"),
    Schema.float("total_amount",    "Total invoice amount"),
    Schema.date("issue_date",       "Date when the invoice was issued"),
  ])
  .run(file)
  .wait();

console.log(result.field("invoice_number")?.value);
console.log(result.field("total_amount")?.value);
console.log(result.field("issue_date")?.value);

Python

import os
from anyformat.sdk import Client
from anyformat.workflow import Schema

client = Client(api_key=os.environ["ANYFORMAT_API_KEY"])

workflow = (
    client.workflow("Invoice Processing")
    .parse()
    .extract([
        Schema.string("invoice_number", "The unique invoice identifier"),
        Schema.float("total_amount",    "Total invoice amount"),
        Schema.date("issue_date",       "Date when the invoice was issued"),
    ])
    .create()
)

result = workflow.run("invoice.pdf").wait()

print(result.fields["invoice_number"].value)
print(result.fields["total_amount"].value)
print(result.fields["issue_date"].value)

Where to go next

API reference

Every endpoint, every response, every error code

Runs & results

The full results envelope, confidence, and evidence

Recipes

End-to-end examples: invoices, resumes, contracts, receipts, and more

Coding assistant

Let Claude Code build and run anyformat workflows from your editor

Get started

Nodes

Workflows

Schema & fields

Documents

Outputs & integrations

Health

Billing

Before you start

1. Create a workflow

2. Run a document

3. Read the values

Where to go next

API reference

Runs & results

Recipes

Coding assistant

​Before you start

​1. Create a workflow

​2. Run a document

​3. Read the values

​Where to go next

API reference

Runs & results

Recipes

Coding assistant

Before you start

1. Create a workflow

2. Run a document

3. Read the values

Where to go next