Receipt Scanning

Workflow fields

We recommend creating this workflow in the anyformat platform where you can test with sample receipt photos and iterate on field descriptions. Copy the workflow ID to use with the API.

Field	Type	Description
`store_name`	string	Name of the store or merchant
`store_address`	string	Store location
`receipt_date`	date	Date of purchase
`total_amount`	float	Total amount charged
`tax_amount`	float	Tax amount
`number_of_items`	integer	Number of items purchased
`payment_method`	enum	How the purchase was paid
`contains_alcohol`	boolean	Whether alcohol was purchased

End-to-end

curl
TypeScript
Python

# 1. Create the workflow
curl -X POST 'https://api.anyformat.ai/v2/workflows/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ANYFORMAT_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Receipt Scanner",
    "description": "Extract receipt details from photos and scans",
    "nodes": [
      {"id": "parse_1", "type": "parse"},
      {
        "id": "extract_1",
        "type": "extract",
        "extraction_schema": {
          "fields": [
            {"name": "store_name",       "description": "Name of the store or merchant",          "data_type": "string"},
            {"name": "store_address",    "description": "Full address of the store location",     "data_type": "string"},
            {"name": "receipt_date",     "description": "Date of the purchase transaction",       "data_type": "date"},
            {"name": "total_amount",     "description": "Total amount charged including tax",     "data_type": "float"},
            {"name": "tax_amount",       "description": "Total tax amount",                       "data_type": "float"},
            {"name": "number_of_items",  "description": "Total number of items purchased",        "data_type": "integer"},
            {
              "name": "payment_method",
              "description": "Payment method used for the transaction",
              "data_type": "enum",
              "enum_options": [
                {"name": "cash",            "description": "Cash payment"},
                {"name": "credit_card",     "description": "Credit card payment"},
                {"name": "debit_card",      "description": "Debit card payment"},
                {"name": "mobile_payment",  "description": "Mobile or digital wallet payment"}
              ]
            },
            {"name": "contains_alcohol", "description": "Whether any alcoholic beverage was included in the purchase", "data_type": "boolean"}
          ]
        }
      }
    ],
    "edges": [{"source": "parse_1", "target": "extract_1"}]
  }'

# 2. Run a receipt photo
curl -X POST 'https://api.anyformat.ai/v2/workflows/WORKFLOW_ID/run/' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ANYFORMAT_API_KEY" \
  -F 'file=@receipt.jpg'

# 3. Poll for results
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $ANYFORMAT_API_KEY" \
  'https://api.anyformat.ai/v2/workflows/WORKFLOW_ID/files/COLLECTION_ID/results/'

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

const af = new Anyformat({ apiKey: process.env.ANYFORMAT_API_KEY! });
const file: File = /* a File with .name set, e.g. new File([bytes], "receipt.jpg") */;

const workflow = await af
  .workflow("Receipt Scanner", "Extract receipt details from photos and scans")
  .parse()
  .extract([
    Schema.string("store_name",       "Name of the store or merchant"),
    Schema.string("store_address",    "Full address of the store location"),
    Schema.date("receipt_date",       "Date of the purchase transaction"),
    Schema.float("total_amount",      "Total amount charged including tax"),
    Schema.float("tax_amount",        "Total tax amount"),
    Schema.integer("number_of_items", "Total number of items purchased"),
    Schema.enum("payment_method", "Payment method used for the transaction", [
      Schema.option("cash",           "Cash payment"),
      Schema.option("credit_card",    "Credit card payment"),
      Schema.option("debit_card",     "Debit card payment"),
      Schema.option("mobile_payment", "Mobile or digital wallet payment"),
    ]),
    Schema.boolean("contains_alcohol", "Whether any alcoholic beverage was included"),
  ])
  .create();

const run = await workflow.run(file);
const result = await run.wait();

console.log(result.field("store_name")?.value);
console.log(result.field("total_amount")?.value);
console.log(result.field("contains_alcohol")?.value);

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

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

workflow = (
    client.workflow("Receipt Scanner")
    .parse()
    .extract([
        Schema.string("store_name",       "Name of the store or merchant"),
        Schema.string("store_address",    "Full address of the store location"),
        Schema.date("receipt_date",       "Date of the purchase transaction"),
        Schema.float("total_amount",      "Total amount charged including tax"),
        Schema.float("tax_amount",        "Total tax amount"),
        Schema.integer("number_of_items", "Total number of items purchased"),
        Schema.enum("payment_method", "Payment method used for the transaction", options=[
            Schema.option("cash",           "Cash payment"),
            Schema.option("credit_card",    "Credit card payment"),
            Schema.option("debit_card",     "Debit card payment"),
            Schema.option("mobile_payment", "Mobile or digital wallet payment"),
        ]),
        Schema.boolean("contains_alcohol", "Whether any alcoholic beverage was included"),
    ])
    .create()
)

result = workflow.run("receipt.jpg").wait()

print(result.fields["store_name"].value)
print(result.fields["total_amount"].value)
print(result.fields["contains_alcohol"].value)

Tips

For receipt photos, good lighting and a flat surface produce significantly better results.
PNG images generally extract better than compressed JPG. If quality matters, prefer PNG.
enum with explicit options constrains the output to known values, preventing free-text variations like “Visa” vs “credit card” vs “CC”.

Workflow fields

End-to-end

Tips

Next steps

Response formats

Errors

​Workflow fields

​End-to-end

​Tips

​Next steps

Response formats

Errors

Workflow fields

End-to-end

Tips

Next steps