File Handling

Overview

Aifano accepts documents via public URLs, presigned URLs, or direct file uploads. Uploaded files receive an aifano:// reference that can be used across all endpoints.

Input Methods

Public URL

Pass any publicly accessible URL directly:

{
  "input": "https://example.com/report.pdf"
}

Presigned URL

Use presigned URLs from S3, GCS, Azure Blob, or any cloud storage:

{
  "input": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/bucket/doc.pdf?X-Amz-Signature=..."
}

Aifano File Reference

Upload a file first, then use the returned aifano:// reference:

{
  "input": "aifano://abc123def456.pdf"
}

Job Reference

Reuse results from a previous job to skip re-processing:

{
  "input": "jobid://job_abc123"
}

Using jobid:// references with Extract skips the parsing step entirely, saving time and credits when you’ve already parsed a document.

Uploading Files

Upload documents via POST /upload with multipart form data:

curl -X POST "https://platform.aifano.com/upload" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AIFANO_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@/path/to/document.pdf"

import requests

with open("document.pdf", "rb") as f:
    result = requests.post(
        "https://platform.aifano.com/upload",
        headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {AIFANO_API_KEY}"},
        files={"file": f}
    ).json()

print(f"File ID: {result['file_id']}")
# Use result['file_id'] as input for parse/extract/split

const formData = new FormData();
formData.append("file", fileBlob, "document.pdf");

const result = await fetch("https://platform.aifano.com/upload", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "Authorization": `Bearer ${AIFANO_API_KEY}` },
  body: formData
}).then(r => r.json());

console.log(`File ID: ${result.file_id}`);

Upload Response

{
  "file_id": "aifano://abc123def456.pdf",
  "presigned_url": "https://storage.aifano.com/..."
}

Supported File Types

Format	Extensions	Notes
PDF	`.pdf`	Full support including scanned documents
Images	`.png`, `.jpg`, `.jpeg`, `.tiff`	OCR applied automatically
Word	`.docx`	Microsoft Word documents
PowerPoint	`.pptx`	Presentation slides

File Size Limits

Limit	Value
Maximum file size	50 MB
Maximum pages (sync)	Recommended < 50 pages
Maximum pages (async)	No hard limit

For documents over 50 pages, use the async endpoints (/parse_async, /extract_async, etc.) to avoid request timeouts.

File Extension Override

If your file URL doesn’t have a recognizable extension, specify it explicitly:

curl -X POST "https://platform.aifano.com/upload?extension=pdf" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AIFANO_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@document-without-extension"

Best Practices

Prefer aifano:// references for multiple operations

Upload once, then use the aifano:// reference for parse, extract, split, and edit. This avoids re-uploading the same file.

Use jobid:// to skip re-parsing

If you’ve already parsed a document and want to extract different data, use jobid://job_id as input to skip the parsing step.

Validate file types before uploading

Check that your file extension is in the supported list before uploading to avoid 400 errors.

Get Started

Core Concepts

Configuration

Reference

Overview

Input Methods

Public URL

Presigned URL

Aifano File Reference

Job Reference

Uploading Files

Upload Response

Supported File Types

File Size Limits

File Extension Override

Best Practices

​Overview

​Input Methods

​Public URL

​Presigned URL

​Aifano File Reference

​Job Reference

​Uploading Files

​Upload Response

​Supported File Types

​File Size Limits

​File Extension Override

​Best Practices

Overview

Input Methods

Public URL

Presigned URL

Aifano File Reference

Job Reference

Uploading Files

Upload Response

Supported File Types

File Size Limits

File Extension Override

Best Practices