> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.aifano.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Invoice Processing

> Extract structured data from invoices — line items, totals, vendor details, and payment terms.

## Overview

This cookbook shows how to extract structured data from invoices using the Aifano `/extract` endpoint. You'll define a JSON schema for the data you need, and Aifano will extract it from any invoice format — PDF, scanned image, or digital document.

## What You'll Build

A script that:

1. Uploads an invoice to Aifano
2. Extracts vendor info, line items, totals, and payment terms
3. Returns clean, structured JSON ready for your accounting system

## Step 1: Define the Extraction Schema

Create a JSON schema that describes the data you want to extract:

```json theme={null}
{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "invoice_number": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The invoice number or ID"
    },
    "invoice_date": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Invoice date in YYYY-MM-DD format"
    },
    "due_date": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Payment due date in YYYY-MM-DD format"
    },
    "vendor": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "name": { "type": "string" },
        "address": { "type": "string" },
        "tax_id": { "type": "string" }
      }
    },
    "line_items": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "description": { "type": "string" },
          "quantity": { "type": "number" },
          "unit_price": { "type": "number" },
          "total": { "type": "number" }
        }
      }
    },
    "subtotal": { "type": "number" },
    "tax": { "type": "number" },
    "total": { "type": "number" },
    "currency": { "type": "string" }
  }
}
```

## Step 2: Extract Data from an Invoice

<CodeGroup>
  ```python Python theme={null}
  import requests
  import json

  AIFANO_API_KEY = "ak_live_your_key_here"
  BASE_URL = "https://platform.aifano.com"

  # Define the extraction schema
  schema = {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
          "invoice_number": {"type": "string", "description": "Invoice number"},
          "invoice_date": {"type": "string", "description": "Date in YYYY-MM-DD"},
          "vendor": {
              "type": "object",
              "properties": {
                  "name": {"type": "string"},
                  "address": {"type": "string"}
              }
          },
          "line_items": {
              "type": "array",
              "items": {
                  "type": "object",
                  "properties": {
                      "description": {"type": "string"},
                      "quantity": {"type": "number"},
                      "unit_price": {"type": "number"},
                      "total": {"type": "number"}
                  }
              }
          },
          "subtotal": {"type": "number"},
          "tax": {"type": "number"},
          "total": {"type": "number"},
          "currency": {"type": "string"}
      }
  }

  # Extract data
  result = requests.post(
      f"{BASE_URL}/extract",
      headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {AIFANO_API_KEY}"},
      json={
          "input": "https://example.com/invoice.pdf",
          "schema": schema,
          "system_prompt": "Extract all invoice data. Use YYYY-MM-DD for dates. Use the document currency."
      }
  ).json()

  print(json.dumps(result["result"], indent=2))
  ```

  ```javascript JavaScript theme={null}
  const AIFANO_API_KEY = "ak_live_your_key_here";
  const BASE_URL = "https://platform.aifano.com";

  const schema = {
    type: "object",
    properties: {
      invoice_number: { type: "string" },
      invoice_date: { type: "string" },
      vendor: {
        type: "object",
        properties: {
          name: { type: "string" },
          address: { type: "string" }
        }
      },
      line_items: {
        type: "array",
        items: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            description: { type: "string" },
            quantity: { type: "number" },
            unit_price: { type: "number" },
            total: { type: "number" }
          }
        }
      },
      subtotal: { type: "number" },
      tax: { type: "number" },
      total: { type: "number" },
      currency: { type: "string" }
    }
  };

  const result = await fetch(`${BASE_URL}/extract`, {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "Authorization": `Bearer ${AIFANO_API_KEY}`,
      "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      input: "https://example.com/invoice.pdf",
      schema: schema,
      system_prompt: "Extract all invoice data. Use YYYY-MM-DD for dates."
    })
  }).then(r => r.json());

  console.log(JSON.stringify(result.result, null, 2));
  ```

  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  curl -X POST "https://platform.aifano.com/extract" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer ak_live_your_key_here" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{
      "input": "https://example.com/invoice.pdf",
      "schema": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "invoice_number": {"type": "string"},
          "vendor": {"type": "object"},
          "line_items": {"type": "array"},
          "total": {"type": "number"}
        }
      }
    }'
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Step 4: Batch Processing Multiple Invoices

For processing multiple invoices, use async endpoints to maximize throughput:

```python Python theme={null}
import time

invoice_urls = [
    "aifano://invoice-001.pdf",
    "aifano://invoice-002.pdf",
    "aifano://invoice-003.pdf",
]

# Submit all jobs
jobs = []
for url in invoice_urls:
    job = requests.post(
        f"{BASE_URL}/extract_async",
        headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {AIFANO_API_KEY}"},
        json={"input": url, "schema": schema}
    ).json()
    jobs.append(job["job_id"])
    print(f"Submitted: {job['job_id']}")

# Poll for results
results = []
for job_id in jobs:
    while True:
        status = requests.get(
            f"{BASE_URL}/job/{job_id}",
            headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {AIFANO_API_KEY}"}
        ).json()

        if status["status"] in ("COMPLETED", "FAILED"):
            results.append(status)
            break
        time.sleep(2)

print(f"Processed {len(results)} invoices")
```

## Tips

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Use system_prompt for better accuracy">
    Add context like currency format, date format, or language to the
    `system_prompt` to improve extraction accuracy.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Reuse parsed results with jobid://">
    If you need to extract different fields from the same invoice, use
    `jobid://` to skip re-parsing and save credits.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Handle missing fields gracefully">
    Not all invoices have every field. Check for `null` values in the response
    and handle them in your application logic.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next Steps

* [Contract Analysis](/cookbooks/contract-analysis) — Extract clauses and terms from legal documents
* [Multi-Document Pipelines](/cookbooks/multi-document-pipelines) — Process bundled document packages